Category / Transit/Transportation

by Leo Suarez

Save The Date, November 8, 2016, For A Vote On Transit in Wake

The Wake County Board of Commissioners are in on the recommended transit plan for the county and they want voters to approve a tax increase in order to pay for it.

This week, the vote passed and on the November 8 ballot, we’ll have an opportunity to approve or not a 1/2 cent sales tax increase that will be used for transit. A similar vote has taken place, and passed, in Durham and Orange counties so now it is our turn.

You can read more at WakeTransit.com.

We’ll cover more parts of the plan here on the blog leading up to the vote as downtown Raleigh’s central location and urban nature is poised to be a hub of bus and rail activity if voters approve the tax increase.

Stay tuned.

by Leo Suarez

Completing the Lenoir and South Street Two-way Conversion

South Street at South Saunders Street

South Street at South Saunders Street

The two-way conversion of South and Lenoir Streets have begun. You could loosely call this a phase 2 project as parts of Lenoir and South were converted to two-way years ago when the Raleigh Convention Center opened. Now, the city is finishing the conversion so that the streets operate as two-way from end-to-end.

For all the details, jump over to the Lenoir & South Street Two-Way Conversion project page on the city’s website.

Going west to east, South Street is two-way in Boylan Heights but flips to one-way (east bound) at South Saunders. Shown in the photo above, utility work is taking place and throughout the year the street in this area will contain bike lanes, landscaped medians, and travel lanes going in both directions (of course) up to Dawson. At Dawson is where South flips back to two-way.

Along South through downtown, the street flips back to one-way (east bound) at Wilmington Street. There will be one travel lane in each direction from here all the way to East Street. The traffic light at Bloodworth Street will be removed and replaced with a four-way stop.

Lenoir Street looks less complicated. No conversion work is needed on the west side of downtown and the work begins at Wilmington Street. The east bound one-way street between Wilmington and East will be converted to one-lane in each direction. The traffic lights at both East and Bloodworth will be replaced with four-way stops.

Click for larger

As someone who travels in this area by car and bicycle, this conversion is very much welcomed. It’ll also be a nice alternative when Fayetteville Street is completely closed during event season.

by Leo Suarez

Municipography, Food Trucks and Raleigh Bikeshare

title

Municipography is a summary of current issues going through the Raleigh City Council and other municipal departments in the city. The point is to try to deliver any video, photos, and text associated with the discussions happening at City Hall or elsewhere. Since this is a downtown Raleigh blog, the focus is on the center of the city.

No embedded videos this week as for some reason, the city’s streaming video service is auto-playing the videos. I’m not into that.

Two long-talked topics were approved at this week’s city council meeting. The food truck debate has been a long one and a new pilot program will be rolled out to see how they operate on public property in and near downtown. Also, Raleigh will get its first bike share system in the coming years.

Food trucks

To watch/hear the discussion, click here.

The latest in the food truck saga is over the mobile food businesses operating in the public right-of-way. The plan is to designate five “zones” where the trucks can operate during the lunchtime hours. (10am-3pm) First Fridays will extend those hours to 8pm.

The five locations include:

  • The Warehouse District
  • Polk Street near the State Government Center
  • South State Street near the NC DMV
  • Bloodworth Street between Martin and Davie
  • The northern end of Moore Square

At this time, the Moore Square zone was dropped due to all the construction from the GoRaleigh Transit Station and Moore Square renovation.

The plan with the four zones passed unanimously and the new food truck pilot could be in place in 2-3 months.

Raleigh Bike share
To watch the video, click here and jump to around the 48th minute.

We talked about bike share in Raleigh recently and after a work session earlier in the day, the council decided to vote on it.

The plan was approved after a few brief comments. While councilors recognized that the city has needs outside of funding a bike share, the opportunity to have 80% of the installation costs covered by a federal grant was one they felt had to be taken. There was also lots of interest from the private sector to sponsor the system and the bike community was very vocal about their support.

“It’s up to you guys to use the system,” said Councilor Thompson. After three year, the system will be evaluated. It will most likely take two years to finalize the details and roll out the bike share system.

by Leo Suarez

Council Discusses Bikeshare in Raleigh

Denver Bike Share Station by David McSpadden

Denver Bike Share Station by Mikeshoup

During last week’s city council meeting, discussions about a possible bike share system in Raleigh took place. A presentation by Eric Lamb, the Transportation Planning Manager, took the council through a brief recap of what has been done so far, for the benefit of the newer council members, and where we stand today. The presentation and council discussion can be seen in the video below.


If the embedded video does not load for you, see it here.

No decision was made and the converation will continue at a March 15 work session.

The scenario we’re in includes an April 1, 2016 deadline to accept a federal grant. The council just needs to endorse accepting it as the grant is approved and ready to go. The grant would cover $1.6 million of the $2 million total cost to launch the proposed bike share system.

Covering the rest of the cost as well as annual maintenance could be covered by interested sponsors but that isn’t set in stone. This is where the council, with the exception of a minority of members, have expressed concern.

Councilors Thompson, Crowder, and Cox seem to be most concerned about operating costs and that accepting this grant puts the city on the hook for propping up the bike share system.

Crowder states “I don’t want the city to be in the bike business.” She used Seattle as an example where the local bike share system is asking for the City of Seattle to bail them out.

Councilor Gaylord stated that there was local interest to help sponsor the system. He’s worked to get this lined up and the totals from the private sector could be around $250,000 annually. The only companies that have publicly come out to support the bike share system were Citrix and Rex Healthcare.

The proposed system does not have station locations set yet but would include 30 stations between the neighborhoods around Downtown, NC State, and the NC Museum of Art. The recommended plan was done in 2014, before the Dix Park deal so reevaluating a few stations may take place.

For me, I’m torn with my support with bike share.

On one hand, I want Raleigh to roll out this 30 station system, no less. With 80% of the launch cost covered by a federal grant and a good portion of the operating cost covered by private companies, I feel it is worth investing in and seeing if it sticks.

There’s so much talk of transit going on right now and I disagree with Councilor Crowder’s statement. The city IS in the bike business only it’s called something different.

The city is in the mobility business. The city does have an interest in allowing people to move around our city in the healthiest, safest, easiest way possible. A bike share system today could expand in the future creating more trips that support sustainable neighborhoods and communities.

Then, the other side of me kicks in.

We do have quite a bit of projects going on. I want to see the city get Dix Park right. I want to see them get this Transit Referendum passed this year. I want to see Union Station become a great success. I want to see the expansion of the bicycle network. Aren’t these projects predecessors for a bike share system?

A part of me wants to see transit, the network, and downtown become a little more mature before we try this bike share.

In the end though, perhaps juggling even more projects at the same time is how a bigger city operates. The city did in fact pay a consultant that told us a bike share system in Raleigh is feasible. Plus, it is a recommended action item in the 2030 Comprehensive Plan.

I’d like to see us take that risk. If it doesn’t work, lesson learned and move on.

by Leo Suarez

GoRaleigh Station Renovation Groundbreaking on Feb. 19

From my inbox to yours.

Mayor Nancy McFarlane is the featured speaker for the GoRaleigh Station renovation groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 19, at Moore Square Transit Mall, 214 S. Blount St. She will be joined by City Council member Corey Branch who is also the Raleigh Transit Authority’s Council liaison, and by Raleigh Transit Authority Chairman Jason Horne.

Formerly named Moore Square Station, the GoRaleigh Station renovation is scheduled to take nine to 12 months to complete. Renovations will improve the transit experience for riders in several ways, including expanded passenger waiting areas; new restroom facilities; a new information booth; Wi-Fi; real time passenger information; aesthetic improvements to the reconstructed courtyard and more. Visuals will be on-site to display the final project.

The new GoRaleigh station will be reflective of the new GoRaleigh brand. The goal is to enhance the future of transit in Raleigh and the Triangle by building a positive impression, not only with daily riders and commuters, but with the many visitors who frequent the city.

*Mayor McFarlane to Kick-off GoRaleigh Station Renovation Groundbreaking on Feb. 19