Capital Boulevard serves commuters, neighborhoods, and businesses every day. NCDOT is planning improvements that will enable more people to travel without needing their car for daily travel or shopping trips.
The primary improvement for pedestrians will be to cross Capital Boulevard safely. Some intersections will feature pedestrian bridges, while others will be rebuilt as interchanges to provide larger waiting areas while decreasing exposure to fast-moving vehicles.
It is a major thoroughfare in Wake County.
Capital Boulevard has seen numerous deaths due to distracted drivers; however, the City has increased safety by lowering speed limits and increasing police patrols. While residents living near Capital Boulevard have expressed disapproval about pedestrians and drivers alike, the North Carolina Department of Transportation recently unveiled plans to redesign it into something safer for both. They include segregating local from regional traffic lanes while turning major signalized intersections into interchanges – changes will help the roadway become more resilient against congestion and accidents.
The plan also incorporates bicycle facilities on cross streets; bikes will soon be physically separated from car lanes rather than sharing painted stripes with them. Furthermore, this study strengthens support for the City’s long-term bike plan by prioritizing improvements for bike facilities; future bike facilities will become more visible and located across more streets than today.
The Corridor Study recommends that new development shift activity away from Capital Boulevard and towards streets connected to it to encourage more walkable activity for walkers and conform with Urban Form policies recommended in the City’s Street Plan map. Such approaches promote pedestrian-friendly designs with buildings close to sidewalks with active uses on their ground floors; parking usually occurs behind or in decks behind these streets, making these streets equally welcoming to pedestrians and cars.
At present, the Capital Boulevard North Corridor Study is soliciting public input. Residents can provide information online and at various open houses or public hearings; additionally, they can subscribe through My Raleigh Subscriptions for updates about this project.
The planned improvements will transform I-65 into a multi-way boulevard with multiple medians that separate local and regional traffic, enabling more local traffic to flow while decreasing vehicle lanes and speeds. Furthermore, these upgrades will create additional connections to other roadways; Huntleigh Drive and Calvalry Drive will meet Capital Boulevard at diamond interchanges, while Old Wake Forest Road and New Hope Church streets, like Old Wake Forest Road, will feature SPUI interchanges.
It is a major artery.
The North Capital Boulevard Corridor Study aims to increase pedestrian safety, facilitate mixed-use development in Raleigh’s North Capital Boulevard corridor area, and provide high-quality bus service and new sidewalks. Its plan for the corridor’s future draws upon both Raleigh 2040’s vision and Downtown Core Strategy plans; once completed in 2020, Raleigh City Council will consider whether to make it official city policy.
Rebuilding intersections as interchanges, which allow pedestrians to cross roads safely, is the primary goal of these pedestrian improvements. Wider sidewalks explicitly designed to make walking more comfortable are also part of this plan. At the same time, interchanges offer larger waiting areas for people between crossings to reduce exposure to fast-moving vehicles.
Some intersections along the corridor will feature secondary pedestrian improvements such as striping, signs, and signals to help drivers better understand what’s happening on the street and encourage people to walk more than drive. These adjustments should allow drivers to quickly understand what’s happening while encouraging more people to walk instead of driving.
These upgrades will enhance the walking environment but won’t solve all issues. For instance, existing sidewalks already serve well in this area but often lack sufficient width or proper design – car-centric Capital Boulevard’s layout and frequent interactions with driveways may prove stressful to pedestrians.
The Town Board also voiced concerns that NCDOT plans would deprive the Westinghouse area, a significant contributor of property tax revenue in town, of affordable homes that make up its core. Voting against it, the Town Board requested further discussions between themselves and NCDOT on this plan.
NCDOT is soliciting public comments on its draft plan to renovate an aging bridge that connects Capital Boulevard to Peace Street. This study aims to leverage state initiatives by improving intersections while proposing modifications to the bridge itself.
This interactive map illustrates the proposals from the Capital Boulevard corridor study. Click, move, and zoom to gain more details about each area; further exploration can be achieved through reading study documents.
It is a major bus route.
Raleigh commuters rely on Capital Boulevard as a critical link between downtown and Raleigh’s north side, serving neighborhoods, businesses, and shopping districts along its route. A new study seeks to enhance Capital Boulevard’s appearance and capacity for this vital commuting corridor.
The first step will be converting existing multi-way streets to single lanes in each direction, with the center reserved for future Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes; outer lanes will be used for local trips with traffic signals controlling access to cross streets; an outer median will separate all areas to facilitate car movement between different types of lanes.
A new lane configuration will reduce congestion and improve safety in this multi-way intersection by 2021, including sidewalks, bike lanes, wider buffer zones between multi-ways, adjacent streets, and improved pedestrian connections. The project will be complete, and pedestrian connections along the entire corridor will have improved significantly.
Other enhancements include intersection modifications that will help ease congestion on the corridor and expand space for buses to pass through; bus bulbs and landscaped medians will also be installed along the route, making the hall more accessible for all users.
This project will add over one mile bus lanes between Capitol Boulevard station and Triangle Town Center Mall at Orvis. These new lanes will increase trip frequency while providing better service for riders, with many connections available throughout the day to other bus services.
The new lane configuration will also create an urban form more closely aligned with historic streets in the area, encouraging more people to walk and allowing smaller streets near Capital Boulevard to become vibrant shopping and neighborhood centers. Furthermore, developers will now have more opportunities to construct buildings closer to sidewalks for pedestrians’ sake.
It is a major commercial street.
The Capital Boulevard corridor connects downtown Raleigh to northeast suburbs via commuters and local businesses and neighborhoods, as well as economically supporting them. The Capital Boulevard North Corridor Study, currently seeking public comment, aims to encourage investment by making the street safer for pedestrians while improving pedestrian amenities; plans include new parks at Devereux Meadow and changes to the road itself.
Interchanges to Capital Boulevard alter how traffic moves in the area. New streets provide pedestrians with somewhere other than Capital Boulevard to walk safely. More minor roads could become vibrant shopping districts or mixed-use neighborhoods if this corridor is upgraded or host future Bus Rapid Transit routes!
This area would benefit from having a more pedestrian-friendly streetscape, with buildings closer to the sidewalk and parking behind them. Such development is encouraged by Urban Form policies, which promote active uses such as shops and restaurants on the ground floor of these developments. Unfortunately, this style shouldn’t be permitted next to Capital Boulevard’s multi-way section – instead, this style should be limited solely to newly created streets.
Increased street population helps create an environment in this area that balances pedestrians, cars, and buses equitably. Furthermore, expanding street networks provides businesses and pedestrians with additional travel options. It decreases crossing speeds at high speeds – something incredibly significant in an area like Capital Boulevard, where vehicles recently killed two pedestrians.
This plan involves redirecting traffic away from two aging bridges on Capital Boulevard and installing a square loop interchange using Johnson and Harrington Streets instead. This change should help reduce bridge congestion while simultaneously helping prevent collisions with pedestrians.
One change to the street includes the addition of a larger center median that will reserve space for improved transit services in the future, including potentially extending Bus Rapid Transit routes along Capital Boulevard closer to downtown. Additionally, additional lanes have been designated for cars and bicycles while an outer median separates through lanes from local lanes.
