You may be wondering why the cover image of this article is just a GoogleMaps snip when I’ve taken so many pictures of Raleigh. That’s because our “money shot” is only accessible by car when coming up a six-lane, 45 mph, sidewalkless stroad.

There’s an easy fix to this though! The Rocky Branch Trail runs under Dawson / McDowell Streets right at the point of the best view.

By constructing a statement pedestrian bridge, the city could create a thriving destination that would instantly become a go-to place for photographers, visitors, or anyone who wants to take in Raleigh’s ever growing skyline.

It would also serve as a placemaking piece to further announce to travelers on McDowell Street that you have arrived Downtown and that we take walking and biking trails seriously.

Like most major cities in the United States, the City of Raleigh is facing a housing crisis. The Raleigh metropolitan area is one of the fastest growing areas in the country, causing many home seekers further and further from the core. This accelerates urban sprawl which leads to increased traffic and a multitude of other problems. With Raleigh being a relatively newer “boom town”, the core of the city itself is very spare density wise.

While there are plans for several BRT lines and commuter rail, those items alone can only do so much. The City of Raleigh is also working on text changes to encourage density along the planned frequent transit corridors.

In order to position the city for a sustainable future, it is vital that we ensure there are adequate housing options within the core of the city. By building out Raleigh’s street grid in strategic underused spaces, over 7500 new residential units would be constructed, not including a multitude of already planned developments. These units would vary from mid-rise apartment and condo buildings, to apartment over retail, to single family residential blocks.

Connectivity and Accessibility

The backbone of the plan would first fall onto connectivity. Several new connections would provide ease of access to, from, and around the core of the city. All of which would feature dedicated bike facilitates and greenway connections to ensure accessibility for all users.

Some of the more notable connections, many of which I’ve already wrote full stand-alone plans on would be

• I-87 – New Bern Connector – Read the full stand alone plan here
• Capital Blvd North Superblocks – Read the full stand alone plan here
• South Raleigh Superblocks – Read the full original plan here *Note I have revised greatly since the original post. A full updated post will be released soon
• Midtown Superblocks and Freeway Cap – Read the full stand alone plan here
• Union Station Park – Read the full stand alone plan here

Building the Blocks

Raleigh suffers from a lack of street grid from the moment you leave the commercial core. As a city that didn’t start to grow until sprawl was the way, the inner city neighborhood grids that line most cities isn’t really present.

Identifying the underused areas of the city allowed for the addition of at least 100 new blocks to the city.

Placing the Density

Now that we have our connections and blocks in place how do we determine where we should target single family and mixed use neighborhood nodes vs high density mixed-use.?

To promote as little car dependency as possible, even the medium density single family areas should contain neighborhood parks, greenway connections, and mixed commercial uses. Along the main roadways and transit facilities should be reserved for high density uses.

Some of the planned new neighborhoods:

Medical District – A collection of Apartments, Medical Offices, Condos, Residential, Commercial, Parks, and Light Industrial adjacent to Wake Med.

Walnut Creek – Repurposing the North Carolina Correctional Facility for Women into mixed use residential and commercial.

Stitch Central – View the full stand alone plan here.

While the City of Raleigh is taking steps toward a more dense, vibrant city, we must take further steps and maximize the underused land we have in place. To view the full interactive Google Map, please click any of the map images or click here.

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

The North Hills area of Raleigh has been booming with development since the conversion of North Hills Mall into a lifestyle center in the early 2000s.

As the North Hills area has grown and densified, the lack of greenspace and connectivity usually seen in urban environments continues to hold the area back.

A combination of new connections, green bridges, and 20 acre freeway cap would enhance the lifestyle and connectivity of the area.

New Connections

A series of new connections are proposed to enhance the street grid of the area. All new connections should be constructed as shared streets complete with wide sidewalks, bike facilities and street trees.

Currently, the only crossings of I-440 in North Hills are Wake Forest Rd, Six Forks Rd, and Lassister Mill Rd. The first two being major commuter exits to and from North Raleigh and beyond. With the proposed connections, pressure would be alleviated from the current major crossings and the interstate would be seen as less of a barrier.

The Barret Drive extension should be constructed as a Green Bridge similar to 5th Street in Midtown Atlanta.

Freeway Cap

Freeway caps are beginning to gain traction in areas where full highway removal is deemed unfeasible.

Adding a cap over the Interstate Right of Way from just West of Lassiter Mill Rd to the New Connection East of Six Forks would add over 20 acres of greenspace to North Hills. It would instantly become a beacon and center of activity for Raleigh’s Midtown, while also bridging together neighborhoods.

Currently, the bridge on Six Forks road is uninviting, and lacks proper multi-modal accommodations.

The cap will allow for the addition of seating areas, play areas, a greenway trail, and proper bike facilities throughout.

The elevation works out for the freeway cap as well with the Six Forks and Lassiter Mill Rd bridges both passing over I-440.

The City of Raleigh is getting set to embark on a Six Forks Rd enhancements project where bike lanes, medians, and safety improvements will be installed from Lynn Rd to Rowan St. These improvements should be carried down to past the interstate with the cap plan. In addition, a signature pedestrian bridge should be added to further connect the two sides of North Hills at the Main St intersection.

View the interactive Google Map and sketches below.

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

With the East End Connector nearly complete in Durham, the idea of transforming the Durham Freeway through Downtown is a feasible one. While browsing local development news I came across an amazing three part series exploring the possibility in depth. Give the series a read at

http://www.buildingbullcity.com/2022/02/147-from-freeway-to-boulevard-pt-4-new.html?m=1

http://www.buildingbullcity.com/2021/07/147-from-freeway-to-boulevard-pt-1.html.

To further develop the idea, I conceptually drew it up.

The limits of construction would stretch from Anderson Street near Duke Hospital to Briggs Ave – just west of the East End Connector interchange.

The Durham Blvd would transform roughly 4 miles of urban freeway to an urban boulevard.

Features would include:

– First signal on the West End is at Anderson near Duke Hospital
– Last signal on the East End is at Briggs Ave
– A linear Park with Greenway alongside Durham Blvd from the West end to the Lakeland Street pedestrian bridge
– A two-way median 8′ cycle track from the West end to the Lakeland Street pedestrian bridge. This would ensure dedicated signals and as few conflicts as possible at every intersection
– A total of 18 new signalized intersections of “Durham Blvd” – this ensures any through traffic will use East End Connector, and that Durham Blvd is a slow speed urban gateway- First signal on the West End is at Anderson near Duke Hospital
– Last signal on the East End is at Briggs Ave
– A linear Park with Greenway alongside Durham Blvd from the West end to the Lakeland Street pedestrian bridge
– A two-way median cycle track from the West end to the Lakeland Street pedestrian bridge. This would ensure dedicated signals and as few conflicts as possible at every intersection
– Split to one-way pairs in the heart of Downtown
– A total of 18 new signalized intersections of “Durham Blvd” – this ensures any through traffic will use East End Connector, and that Durham Blvd is a slow speed urban gateway
– Approx 20 new development parcels from the elimination of the on / off ramps
– Durham Crossing Park just south of DBAP
– Tree lined boulevard with sidewalks on both sides

View the conceptual drawings below and head back over to Building Bull City for more background on this awesome idea.