InPhil Designs – Union Park: Downtown Raleigh

Increasing the sense of place in the center of booming Downtown Raleigh may be hiding in plain sight

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Some of the best views of Downtown Raleigh are from the Boylan Bridge over the vast railroad junction.

The bridge itself however is a two-lane road with standard sidewalks and doesn’t rise to the potential or provide much of a sense of place.

Building a platform over the rail junction while maintaining existing (and hopefully expanding) operations underneath will provide a central gathering space in the heart of Downtown as well as connect to the multimodal hub of Union Station.

The park would capitalize on the City and train view opportunities with a tiered overlook adjacent to Union Station.

NOTE: I do not own, control, have actual say, etc over any of the proposed redeveloped parcels. This is just an idea and just a sketch.

Other aspects of the park could include landscaped pathways and playgrounds. These features could serve as a lynchpin for possible future trail connections to Dix Park, Pullen Park, NC State and to the north.

Some ideas I’ve introduced include a mix of already proposed infill and opportunistic infill on adjacent properties. Also – a bricked, curbless shared-street concept for Hillsborough Street to guide users from the park or surrounding trails to the Capitol and Faytteville Street on a safe, signature flush-street.

Raleigh is missing that central “go-to” spot that every successful Downtown needs. Union Park would build off of the budding multimodal hub of Union Station while also offering connections to some of the biggest destinations in the City.

FURTHER READING

InPhil Designs: InPhil Designs

All ideas: The Urban Connector

All things Raleigh: Triangle Articles

Prison site plan: Stich Central

Phil Veasley is a Professional Engineer and CNU accredited member working to design safer multimodal infrastructure in cities throughout the US.

My goal is to create cities that are safe and effective for all people to move about outside of cars. To achieve that we have to focus on creating equitable, dense, and vibrant cities full of walkable neighborhoods with a various mix of housing choices, schools, restaurants, transit, and services. We cannot have safe multimodal infrastructure without the density to support it and we cannot have equitable density without safe multimodal infrastructure. Outside of designing safe streets, my passions are sketching ideas for infill neighborhoods, floor plans, urban photography, and exploring our cities on foot or bike. Please check out the menus above for all of my ideas and also check out my YouTube, Instagram,  BlueSky Social, and Twitter accounts.

Opinions and insights are my own and are not representative of my employer or any organization.