Hillsborough Street Final Plan Available
The City of Raleigh has released the final documents outlining the Hillsborough Street renovation plans, and they are posted at hillsboroughstreet.org. The plan calls for eliminating the outer lanes of traffic and converting the space to parallel parking. Only one lane in each direction will remain open, and two roundabouts will anchor the project.
While the streetscape plans look like a nice improvement, I have grave concerns about traffic flow. The concept behind one lane in each direction works in places where there are only traffic circles at the intersections (because the traffic only comes to a dead stop when there is congestion at the circles). I am not a fan of traffic signals clogging up major arteries, and unfortunately the new plan retains traffic signals at the intersections with Pogue and Horne. This will cause enormous backups and invite dangerous maneuvers by impatient drivers in a highly pedestrian-oriented zone. A better plan would be to close these streets to inbound Hillsborough Street traffic, allowing only right-in or right-out activity. Perhaps a Michigan turn (dedicated U-lane) could have been installed near the Pogue intersection where land is available. map it
The traffic circle at Pullen Drive will be a nice gateway to the area, and will afford the chance to showcase a piece of public art later, as well as invite some interesting redevelopment on the north border (where Steve’s and Zack’s were).
A second, unnecessary circle will be implemented at Oberlin and Groveland Streets (access to Groveland, a one-way street, should be closed and the remaining portion of Oberlin, in front of the Player’s Retreat, should be treated as a parking lot.) Without the roundabout and Groveland access, Oberlin would be a straighter, simpler, and safer street. map it
The project is slated to begin next week (on May 20).
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8 Comments
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May 12th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I think that the parking spots are great, but should be used for regular traffic during ‘rush’ hours (7-9 & 4-6). Similar to (say) 5-points.
May 12th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
I have never quite understood the change that was made to the original plan. People were scared of traffic circles, so they reduced the number to two. (which includes the unnecessary one mentioned on Oberlin) Now there will be both traffic lights and circles, which will defeat the purpose of the traffic circles (continuous movement). I was hoping that the first two circles were just phase one so that people would get used to the idea, but it looks like it is the final plan. It is another situation where decision makers try to appease everyone and therefore do not get anything right.
The improvements to Hillsborough St. are definitely needed, but I wish the city could have been a little bolder. I hope it still works out well.
The city is trying to create a more pedestrian friendly area so opening it up to four lanes of traffic would go against the spirit of the entire project. There has been a push to move traffic off Hillsborough St. for a long time (when were Western/MLK joined and improved?) and this is the final means. Hillsborough St. is also not really operating on regular rush hours, because the traffic is largely based upon class times.
I also wish they could have added bike lanes to this project, since this area probably has the highest bike traffic in the city. Hopefully they will at least give us some sharrows.
May 12th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Thanks for the followup, Ken. You articulated much better what I was trying to say in regards to the “continuous movement” theory.
The whole point of putting in a series of roundabouts was to not only calm traffic, but establish continuous movement. The theory is that with a series of roundabouts one could get from Red Hot & Blue to Meredith in less time, and at a higher average speed, than with a series of annoying traffic lights.
I am so glad that they put in the roundabout on Pullen drive (on the NCSU campus). A signal would have been a real nuisance compared to the roundabout offered.
The problem with moving traffic over to Western is that at times, it is extremely congested. The city need to address students walking into the road any ol’ place they feel. They also need to remove the signal at Avent Ferry road and either put in an overpass, a pedestrian tunnel, a bridge, or a traffic circle. As it stands now, it is poised to be the second-most annoying (Glenwood/Blue Ridge is #1) and one of the most dangerous intersections in Raleigh.
May 12th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I fully understand the “continuous movement” theory, however, students continously cross Hillsborough Street throughout the day and traffic will have to stop at some point and time to allow for students to cross.
May 12th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
I love the roundabout idea, but it seems like taking away the extra lane to navigate around people who can’t parallel park would slow the street down more than it already is.
May 12th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Creating a more pedestrian friendly environment has nothing to do with the street traffic (the existing lights and narrow two lanes are sufficient to slow traffic to acceptable speeds for pedestrians). Instead, pedestrian friendly-ness and walkability is about horizontal scale. Spaces with large distances between doors/storefronts are out of scale for pedestrians. Parking lots (even those disguised by bushes) are therefore unwelcoming for pedestrains. So are single use buildings with only one entrance.
NCSU is the worst offender on these points, as its properties north of Hillsboro St. are (a) not built to the Hillsborough St. lot line (b) monolithic with single entrances or (c) parking lots. NCSU should sell all university property north of Hillsborough St. for private use. In turn, the city should encourage redevelopment to build to the full lot line fronting Hillsborough St. This encouragement should come in the form of waiving or reducing parking requirements and giving special consideration for mixed-use properties with pedestrian scale along the street.
NCSU could also take a few simple steps to improve its interaction with Hillsborough st.
First, NCSU should open a library entrance fronting Hillsborough St. (at least during the day). Many doors exist at D.H. Hill, but all are currently locked. This funnels the thousands of daily library users away from Hillsborough St. (and down the valley into the Brickyard).
In addition, NCSU should encourage local businesses to accept the NCSU Allcampuscard for students to use to make purchases.
3.
May 13th, 2009 at 7:22 am
I am not fundamentally against traffic circles, and I think Hillsborough Str is a good candidate for 2-3 of them, but if a light-rail line is to run along the street in the future, I wonder how big deal it would be to accomplish this without ruining the roundabouts. Just a thought…
BTW, I agree with what Chris said.
May 13th, 2009 at 10:44 am
As someone who drives Hillsborough St. daily I think the original plan was well designed but I think they compromised on some major aspects that will cause trouble. Some problems I see occurring:
1) Where will delivery vehicles unload for businesses? Currently 18 wheelers block one travel lane to unload.
2) Why are they still allowing Left turns? Currently one lane already backs up for several minutes when a car attempts a left turn and the proposed knock outs aren’t large enough to prevent backups.
3) Where are the Bike lanes?
4) Where is the carpool lane for all the lazy students that have their friends drop-off or pick-up from class and create traffic backups?
I am excited by the work being done, but in the end I think it will be a traffic disaster that will cause more people to utilize public transit at NCSU which in the end is a good thing.