994 replies to this topic

[NcSc74]

I guess I will put my 2 cents in. Add lanes to 40 from downtown to the wade ave exit. Install lighting becaues no metro expressway should be that dark. Build interstate extension from east 440 to 85 north of Durham.

[Jerseyman4]

http://www.wral.com/...800/detail.html

All i have to say is, WHY NOT MAKE US 1 a freeway to the Henderson Bypass!? ;P

[Tayfromcarolina]

There has been talk of doing this for a few years now.  Capital Blvd. can be the worst, as seen during the freakish snow storm traffic which happened back in January over only and inch of snow. It wouldnt hurt to get the study underway.

[StevenRocks]

Jerseyman4, on Jul 23 2005, 10:32 AM, said:

All i have to say is, WHY NOT MAKE US 1 a freeway to the Henderson Bypass!? ;P

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Because it would make too much sense, that's why!

[cosmoboy]

I haven't really traveled the road. Is it necessary? Your talking about quite a few pennies here!

[orulz]

Capital Boulevard in Raleigh south of I-540 is extremely similar in every aspect to Independence Boulevard in Charlotte. It's a heavily travelled commuter road, with too many stoplights to move efficiently and lots of congestion. There are plenty of malls/strip malls/big boxes, but the stuff closer to town is generally older and dilapidated. The worst intersection, Louisburg Road, has already been turned into an interchange (similar  to Albemarle Road in Charlotte). I-440 bleeds off lots of the traffic, and within two or three miles of downtown it turns into a 1950s-era Jersey freeway.

I would say that a freeway upgrade (Jersey Freeway, like Independence - I'm not talking "interstate" here) between I-540 and I-440 is every bit as essential as the Independence freeway in Charlotte.

North of 540 I wouldn't say it's essential yet because things still flow smoothly all the way to the Henderson bypass. But the idea is to make it a freeway before it becomes overrun with development.

[avery]

I personally think that they need to go ahead and make the area north of I-540 an expressway before development prevents it.  The area around Wake Forest and north of I-540 is exploding (thanks in part to I-540) and it will be just as bad as Capital is south of 540 if they wait.  Personally, I hate Capital Blvd and avoid it at all costs.  Two months ago, coming home from Richmond it took me 1 hour to go from Wake Forest to I-440 at 2:30 in the afternoon.  What a headache!

For the area south of I-540, I don't know if anything can be done about it?  This actually might be a good thing as Raleigh grows.  It may boost development closer to the city core if people weigh the pros and cons of commuting time.  I also see this as a plus to the TTA and plans for future rail lines to northern Wake.  I just don't think the answer is to spend billions of dollars on a road system if it will only encourage further sprawl and cookie-cutter developments.  Those who work in RTP use 540 anyhow and will continue to contribute to the growth here.  It would be nice to displace those persons not working in western wake/RTP by making newcomers re-evaluate their place of residence.

Just an initial thought...I would enjoy feedback if you think this might be a poor idea.

[triguyrdu]

Here's the Link.  I posted some highlights as well (seems like the Triangle got the shaft).



Construct I-540 from NC 55 South to NC 55 North $8,800,000 High Priority


Durham and Chatham Counties, NC Completion
of American Tobacco Trail.
$1,600,000 High Priority


Construct bicycle and pedestrian trails, Durham
and Durham County
$1,600,000 High Priority

US 64 upgrade and improvement between
Raleigh, NC and Rocky Mount
$5,000,000 High Priority

Acquisition of rail corridors for use as bicycle and
pedestrian trails, Durham
$2,000,000 High Priority

[RiverwoodCLT]

Good luck on US1 north. If progress goes like Independence Blvd. in Charlotte, it will tale 40 or 50 years.  The state highway fund has been robbed of over one billion $ by the state to run other programs in the state beside roads. This must stop, and put the money where we voted to put the gas tax in roads not pork for elected officals

US1 should be a freeway from downtown Raleigh to I95.

[Jones133]

avery, on Aug 5 2005, 11:27 AM, said:

I personally think that they need to go ahead and make the area north of I-540 an expressway before development prevents it.  The area around Wake Forest and north of I-540 is exploding (thanks in part to I-540) and it will be just as bad as Capital is south of 540 if they wait.  Personally, I hate Capital Blvd and avoid it at all costs.  Two months ago, coming home from Richmond it took me 1 hour to go from Wake Forest to I-440 at 2:30 in the afternoon.  What a headache!

For the area south of I-540, I don't know if anything can be done about it?  This actually might be a good thing as Raleigh grows.  It may boost development closer to the city core if people weigh the pros and cons of commuting time.  I also see this as a plus to the TTA and plans for future rail lines to northern Wake.  I just don't think the answer is to spend billions of dollars on a road system if it will only encourage further sprawl and cookie-cutter developments.  Those who work in RTP use 540 anyhow and will continue to contribute to the growth here.  It would be nice to displace those persons not working in western wake/RTP by making newcomers re-evaluate their place of residence.

Just an initial thought...I would enjoy feedback if you think this might be a poor idea.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Living close to downtown and having a short against-the-grain commute to work, I have always thought that mass grid lock outside of downtown was great. Pay the price for making poor decisions I say to those stuck in traffic. The mess outside of town will hopefully send the value of my place sky high as people start to vie for limited downtown space, so when I retire one day I can have a nice spread way out in the wilderness with solar panels, pure well water, and all the trappings that allow me to be self sufficient and off the grid.

The likely scenario for Capital Blvd. is one where there are no more stoplights but property access will remain, albeit only on one side of the road or the other.

There is also the 'jug handle' concept that NJ used on US 1 where there are no left turns, making the left lanes truly the fast lane with (haha) Jersey barriers separating the highway all along its length.

[NCMike1981]

Yeah apparantely the state is going to be shifting funding away from the fast growing urban centers of the state and moving that money to the economically depressed towns down east in hopes of spurring development there....*sigh*

[NCMike1981]

Can businesses really survive long term on a Jersy Freeway type road where people can't make left turns? I suppose that the state can turn enough major intersections into interchanges if they had the money, allowing people to do semi u-turns, but that seems like a very expensive option....

[orulz]

Slightly off topic, but another large thoroughfare in the triangle that desperately needs to be upgraded with a few grade separations is US15/501 between Chapel Hill and Durham. The traffic there is pretty awful.

Next up should be completion of the US64 freeway between Cary and Apex.

[Tayfromcarolina]

Hwy 401 improvements from Raleigh to Fayetteville is another good "High Priority" Project on that list.

Wondering when it says 55 North to 55 South does that mean that I-40 to 55 North will be left out. That be sort of dumb to have a gap there right throught the research triangle park?

Any insights into this?

[ChiefJoJo]

One thing to consider on US1, is the opening of US64/264 around knightdale.  It now creates a freeway link to I-95 from I-440, which probably makes any upgrades of US 1, betw 440 and 540 redundant, from a regional and interstate perspective.  Any expressway upgrade of Capital Blvd in this stretch would be uber-expensive (see Independence in Clt) and time consuming.  I also think TTA should take advantage of the gridlock on US1 with the regional rail system--eventually, they may be able to provide time competitive travel alternative to Capital.

Quote

Living close to downtown and having a short against-the-grain commute to work, I have always thought that mass grid lock outside of downtown was great. Pay the price for making poor decisions I say to those stuck in traffic. The mess outside of town will hopefully send the value of my place sky high as people start to vie for limited downtown space, so when I retire one day I can have a nice spread way out in the wilderness with solar panels, pure well water, and all the trappings that allow me to be self sufficient and off the grid.

     That's why I live DT and walk to work each day!

[ChiefJoJo]

Quote

Wondering when it says 55 North to 55 South does that mean that I-40 to 55 North will be left out. That be sort of dumb to have a gap there right throught the research triangle park?

That means the Western Wake Freeway, from NC55 in RTP through Cary and Apex to NC 55 in Holly Springs.

[willrusso]

Charles Meeker has refused to endorse the state's spending plan that spans seven years for transportation improvements in Wake County.  High priority projects include a 12 mile section of I-540, a traffic signal upgrade, and the extention of Falls of the Neuse Rd.  The state plans to postpone the new section of 540 and did not pledge the expected amount toward the signal upgrade.  Story can be read in full here:

http://www.newsobser...p-9241557c.html

On a side note, why the heck is the state spending all this money building 4 lane highways to nowhere in Eastern NC.  I'm sure farmer joe doen't have to deal with traffic jams every day while sitting on his tractor.  I just don't understand.  This new policy of taking money from urban areas and giving more money to the rural areas doesn't make sense to me.  Do they expect Eastern NC to magically turn into this economic engine?  I see no one burning up the road to live in the middle of a tobacco field LOL.  Okay, I'm off my soap box now.  Just my $0.02.

[closeminded]

It's funny they would do something like that, especially since Raleigh's roads are already behind times.

[Jerseyman4]

willrusso, on Sep 21 2005, 12:21 AM, said:

On a side note, why the heck is the state spending all this money building 4 lane highways to nowhere in Eastern NC.  I'm sure farmer joe doen't have to deal with traffic jams every day while sitting on his tractor.  I just don't understand.  This new policy of taking money from urban areas and giving more money to the rural areas doesn't make sense to me.  Do they expect Eastern NC to magically turn into this economic engine?  I see no one burning up the road to live in the middle of a tobacco field LOL.  Okay, I'm off my soap box now.  Just my $0.02.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are taxpayers east of I-95 and I-40 that deserve a fair share of highway improvements since eastern carolina is large part of the state since two lane roads is not the way to travel today. If there are little to no projects to go around instead by bringing a large chunk exclusively to the metro areas only, it would make eastern carolina and the remaining rural areas of the state undesirable for new commerce and new residents to establish anything while increasing travel time. In eastern carolina, US 64, US 264, US 117, US 17 and in my opinion on the last one, NC 11 are major eastern carolina routes connecting the major towns. The tourism industry is also growing along the coastline as well so highways leading to the coast and within the eastern carolina region needs to have reliable transportation. By looking at Virginia, many highways are four laned statewide so pretty much anywhere you go in the state, theres no place that is seriously economicly depressed along its major arterials. That is fairness to bring economic oppurtunity for the all residents living in urban and rural areas.

[kcdavis88]

Jerseyman4, on Sep 21 2005, 10:45 AM, said:

There are taxpayers east of I-95 and I-40 that deserve a fair share of highway improvements since eastern carolina is large part of the state since two lane roads is not the way to travel today. If there are little to no projects to go around instead by bringing a large chunk exclusively to the metro areas only, it would make eastern carolina and the remaining rural areas of the state undesirable for new commerce and new residents to establish anything while increasing travel time. In eastern carolina, US 64, US 264, US 117, US 17 and in my opinion on the last one, NC 11 are major eastern carolina routes connecting the major towns. The tourism industry is also growing along the coastline as well so highways leading to the coast and within the eastern carolina region needs to have reliable transportation. By looking at Virginia, many highways are four laned statewide so pretty much anywhere you go in the state, theres no place that is seriously economicly depressed along its major arterials. That is fairness to bring economic oppurtunity for the all residents living in urban and rural areas.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, exactly.  I don't think we should underestimate the economic impact of our rural neighbors in Eastern NC.  Depriving outlying areas of transportation resources not only decreases their economic viability but also stymies potential arteries of transportation INTO Raleigh, further depressing our own economic flow.  

There must also be some recognition of the reality that a certain percentage of our urban populations will be drawn to more rural areas over time, due to cheaper land.  Whatever you think of suburban sprawl, thousands of people choose to live in these areas because they provide an opportunity for investment in land and property that would otherwise be unavailable in more urban areas.  This process of diffusion into more rural areas also helps keep urban real estate prices somewhat in check.  If everyone remained in the cities, there would be fewer available units of real estate which would drive the prices up even more which affects those of us who DO want to live in the cities.  

I think providing sufficient funding for transportation projects outside of Raleigh helps to keep this in check, while lifting the economic prosperity of the state overall.