A History of Raleigh Transportation Bond Projects

Jayne Kirkpatrick, Director, Public Affairs
Prepared by: John Boyette, Senior Public Affairs Specialist

For more information: Eric Lamb, Manager, Office of Transportation Planning,
919-996-2161

Sept. 10, 2013

A History of Raleigh Transportation Bond Projects
 
Maintaining a quality transportation system is a top priority of the City of the Raleigh and its residents. Raleigh voters have approved six major transportation referenda totaling $250 million in the last 29 years, and are being asked to support another bond issue on Oct. 8.

Past transportation bond referenda approved by Raleigh voters were in 1984, 1987, 1998, 2000, 2005 and 2011. The improvements in these bond issues, like the projects proposed in the Oct. 8 transportation bond referendum, are scattered throughout the Capital City.

The City’s last transportation bond referendum in 2011 provided $40 million in funding for major projects. The funds provided for bicycle lanes, greenways, new sidewalks and sidewalk repairs, and general street resurfacing projects.

The following are projects funded by the 2011 transportation bond referendum and their status:

• Tryon Road widening and realignment. Status: in design;
• Street resurfacing program. Status: ongoing;
• South Street/Lenoir Street Two-Way Conversion. Status: in design;
• Hillsborough Street Streetscape planning from Gardner Street to Rosemary Street. Status: in design;
• Blount/Person Corridor study. Status: in design;
• City-initiated new sidewalk construction. The following projects are in design:
>Green Road from New Hope Church Road to Spring Forest Road;
>Clark Avenue from Woodburn Road to Bellwood Drive;
>Chapanoke Road Illeagnes Road to east of Wilmington Street;
>New Hope Church Road from Atlantic Avenue to Wake Forest Road;
>Poole Road from Donald Ross Drive to Sunnybrook Road;
>Blue Ridge Road from Beryl Drive to Faber Drive; and,
>Rock Quarry Road from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Bart Street;
• Citizen petition process for new sidewalk construction. Status: ongoing;
• Sidewalk repair reserve. Status: ongoing;
• Moore Square Transit Center facility improvements in Downtown Raleigh. Status: in design;
• Transit corridor improvements (shelters and benches). Status: ongoing;
• Union Station improvements. Status: in design;
• Walnut Creek Greenway from New Hope Road to the Neuse River. Status: under construction;
• Lumley/Westgate Road corridor greenway and bicycle lane improvements. Status: in design; and,
• Rosengarten Greenway. Status: in design

The following are projects funded by the $60 million 2005 bond referendum and their status:

• Signal system upgrade. The signal system upgrade allows for citywide signal coordination and improved air quality. This project is funded jointly with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). Status: under last phase of construction, implementing new timing plans to improve signal synchronization and decrease motorists’ travel times;
• Traffic calming and pedestrian safety projects. Traffic calming is the transportation engineering term for features designed to reduce the speed of traffic on neighborhood streets. A portion of these funds is being used on several residential streets that had documented chronic incidences of speeding motorists. The remaining funds are used to improve pedestrian safety features along various Raleigh streets, including new sidewalks, crosswalks, medians and pedestrian signal improvements. Status: ongoing;
• Rock Quarry Road widening. This project widens Rock Quarry Road to five lanes from Sunnybrook Road to Jones Sausage Road. There also will be curb and gutter and sidewalks. Status: substantially complete;
• Perry Creek Road widening. This project widens Perry Creek Road to five lanes from Capital Boulevard (U.S. 1) to Louisburg Road (U.S. 401) curb and gutter and sidewalks on both sides. Status: complete;
• Falls of Neuse Road widening and realignment. This project improves the Falls of Neuse Road corridor north of Raven Ridge Road. Phase I includes the realignment and construction of New Falls of Neuse Road as a four-lane, median-divided thoroughfare with curb and gutter and sidewalks across the Neuse River. This will be a new dual bridge over the river. Phase II widens Falls of Neuse Road from Raven Ridge Road to Fonville Road to a four-lane, median-divided thoroughfare with curb and gutter and sidewalks. Status: Phase I complete; Phase II is substantially complete;
• Tryon Road widening, Part D. This project widened Tryon Road to four lanes with a divided median from Campbell Road to Dillard Drive. Curb and gutter and sidewalks also were added. Status: complete;
• Hillsborough Street improvements. This project constructed two roundabouts along Hillsborough Street from Gardner Street to Oberlin Road. The project also improved sidewalks, lighting and on-street parking on this stretch of Hillsborough Street. Status: complete;
• Leesville Road widening. This project will widen Leesville Road to four lanes with a median divide from Interstate 540 to New Leesville Boulevard. There will also be curb and gutter and sidewalks. Status: in design, not funded for construction;
• Buck Jones Road widening. This project will widen Buck Jones Road to three lanes with curb and gutter from Farmgate Road to Xebec Way. Sidewalks also will be added. Status: in design, not funded for construction; and,
• Mitchell Mill Road widening. This project will widen Mitchell Mill Road to four lanes with a divided median from Louisburg Road (U.S. 401) to east of Forestville Road. Status: not funded for construction.

In 2000, Raleigh voters approved $45 million in transportation bonds. Among the projects funded by the bond referendum were:

• Widening Falls of Neuse Road north and south from Strickland Road to I-540 and from Litchford Road to Raven Ridge Road;
• Widening Lake Boone Trail from I-440 to Wycliffe Road;
• Extending Edwards Mill Road from Trinity Road to Chapel Hill Road;
• Widening Leesville Road from Millbrook Road to Lynn Road;
• Widening and realigning Jones Sausage Road from I-40 to Rock Quarry Road;
• Improving I-440 interchange ramps and turn lanes at Six Forks Road, Wake Forest Road and Capital Boulevard;
• Widening Newton Road from Six Forks Road to Falls of Neuse Road;
• Widening Sunnybrook Road from Falstaff Road to Poole Road; and,
• Rebuilding and resurfacing Wilmington Street from south of Western Boulevard to South Saunders Street.

The 1998 transportation bond referendum also totaled $45 million. The projects included:

• Improving the Western Boulevard corridor from Ashe Avenue to Jones Franklin Road;
• Widening Buffaloe Road from New Hope Road to Southall Road;
• Widening Litchford Road from Gresham Lake Road to Falls of Neuse Road;
• Extending Lead Mine Road from Strickland Road to Six Forks Road;
• Widening Duraleigh Road from Ebenezer Church Road to Glenwood Avenue;
• Widening Strickland Road from Creedmoor Road to Falls of Neuse Road; and,
• Widening Garner Road from Tryon Road to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

In 1987, Raleigh voters approved a $40 million bond referendum that funded the Martin Luther King Jr./Western Boulevard extension to Wilmington Street; the Six Forks Road extension to Atlantic Avenue, New Hope Road widening, Lynn Road widening, Poole Road construction and other road improvements.

Raleigh voters approved a $20 million bond issue in 1984 to upgrade the Capital City’s road system.

UPCOMING TRANSPORTATION BOND REFERENDUM
On the Oct. 8 ballot for municipal elections, Raleigh voters will be asked to approve $75 million in transportation general obligation bonds. Projects that are intended to be funded in the transportation bond referendum are:
• Six Forks Road Corridor improvements. This project would implement street and transit improvements along Six Forks Road from Rowan Street
to Sandy Forks Road. Length: 1.44 miles. Vehicles per day: 44,000. Bond funding would be for design of the project, $1.6 million;
• Widening of New Hope Church Road to a three-lane section from Green Road to Deana Lane. Bicycle lanes, sidewalks and streetlights also would be added. Length: 0.4 of a mile. Vehicles per day: 22,000. $3.65 million;
• Hillsborough Street Phase 2. Streetscape improvements and roundabouts would be added from Rosemary Street to Gardner Street. Length: 0.47 of a mile. Vehicles per day: 19,000. $6 million;
• Widening of Old Wake Forest Road North to a four-lane, median-divided section from Litchford Road to Capital Boulevard. Bicycle lanes, sidewalks and streetlights also would be included in the project. Length: 1.15 miles. Vehicles per day: 18,000. Bond funding would be for design and right-of-way acquisition, $4.8 million;
• New Bern Avenue Corridor improvements. Pedestrian facilities, transit shelters and streetscape improvements would be installed from Tarboro Road to Sunnybrook Road. Length: 1.9 miles. Vehicles per day: 17,800.  $4 million;
• Rock Quarry Road widening, Part A. This project would widen Rock Quarry Road to a four-lane, median-divided section from Old Birch Road to Sunnybrook Road. Bicycle lanes, sidewalks and streetlights also would be included in the project. Length: 1.19 miles. Vehicles per day: 15,000. Bond funding would be for design and right-of-way acquisition, $2.99 million;
• Widening of Mitchell Mill Road to a four-lane divided section from Louisburg Road (U.S. 401) to Forestville Road. Bicycle lanes, sidewalks and streetlights also would be installed. Length: 1.46 miles. Vehicles per day: 14,000. $13 million;
• Widening of Poole Road to a four-lane, median-divided section from Maybrook Drive to Barwell Road. Bicycle lanes, sidewalks and streetlights also would be included in the project. Length: 0.94 of a mile. Vehicles per day: 13,000. Bond funding would be for project design, $881,000;
• Tryon Road widening, Part C. This project would initiate design and right-of-way acquisition to widen Tryon Road to a four-lane, median-divided section from Lake Wheeler Road to Par Drive. Bicycle lanes, sidewalks and streetlights also would be added. Length: 1.1 miles. Vehicles per day: 13,000. $4.47 million;
• Widening of Sandy Forks Road to a three-lane section from Six Forks Road to Falls of Neuse Road. Bicycle lanes, sidewalks and streetlights also would be installed. Length: 1.29 miles. Vehicles per day: 10,000. $9 million;
• Widening of Buck Jones Road to a three-lane section from Farmgate Road to Xebec Way. Bicycle lanes, sidewalks and streetlights also would be added. Length: 1.03 miles. Vehicles per day: 9,500. $4 million;
• Widening of Blue Ridge Road to a three-lane divided section from Duraleigh Road to Crabtree Valley Avenue. Bicycle lanes, sidewalks and streetlights also would be included in the project. Length: 1.58 miles. Vehicles per day: 8,900. Bond funding would be for project design, $1.37 million;
• Blount Street/Person Street Corridor improvements. Road diet/restriping of Blount and Person streets from Atlantic Avenue to Hoke Street. Length: 5.7 miles. Vehicles per day: 8,300. $700,000;
• Widening of Pleasant Valley Road to a three-lane section from Duraleigh Road to Glenwood Avenue. Bicycle lanes, sidewalks and streetlights also would be added. Length: 0.55 of a mile. Vehicles per day: 3,500.  $3.76 million;
• Sidewalk improvements. This program would install new sidewalks citywide on existing streets, $1.5 million;
• North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) project participation. These funds would provide local matches for current NCDOT projects regarding new sidewalks, bridge improvements and upgraded noise walls, $10 million;
• Streetscape Projects. This program helps retrofit existing streets to improve sidewalks, street lighting and street furniture, $1.7 million; and,
• Neighborhood Traffic Management Program. This program would continue funding the City’s traffic-calming and speed-reduction efforts on residential streets, $1.5 million.

Voter approval of the $75 million transportation bond issue would necessitate a 1.12-cent increase in the City of Raleigh’s property tax rate. For example, there would be an annual increase of $33 on a property valued at $300,000, if the transportation bonds are approved.

For more information about the transportation bond issue, contact Eric Lamb, manager of the City of Raleigh’s Office of Transportation Planning, at 919-996-2161, or visit the City’s website at www.raleighnc.gov.