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Six Forks Road is getting a face-lift.
If you’ve ever been stuck in traffic on Six Forks Road at 5pm on a weekday, celebration is in order. After years of planning and speculation, Raleigh City Council voted unanimously Feb. 20 to widen the stretch between Rowan Street and Millbrook Road.
The current four-lane road will be expanded to six lanes, with the addition of a median and a combined walking and biking path. The initial project—the first transportation bond for which was approved in 2013—was slated to update a 2-mile span of Six Forks, but the approved plan was slashed by ~50% to keep within the city’s budget.
The future design of the improvement plan is a boon for more than just motorists, as pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and emergency vehicles will all reap the benefits. Rather than having separate sidewalks and bike paths as initially planned, the updated plan opts for a multiuse path to accommodate both. To wit, the path will be situated 8 feet from the road to ensure the safety of pedestrians and bikers while also leaving space for utility poles and trees.
Adapted due to rising costs, the project has already spent $3.8 million toward planning and design, with a total price tag clocking in at $56.1 million. Now that the next phase is in motion, Raleighites with businesses, churches and homes lining Six Forks have answers as to what might happen to their properties after years of uncertainty.
That said, Midtown traffic may get worse before it gets better. The project is scheduled to begin construction in late 2025 after obtaining approval from the NC Department of Transportation and will take two years to complete. Until then, it may be time to opt for an alternative route.
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Kind of a fluff piece here.
The costs of this project, in addition to $50 million to change a road that already works, includes hundreds of mature trees, many on private land, all to be timbered to add lanes and a median of useless grass. Air on this stretch will be hotter and dirtier for decades- a ‘boon’ to bikers. walkers and residents?
Also unreported is that there actually is no more traffic on this stretch of road than in 2003. And there is no evidence that additional lanes for one mile or road will really solve any traffic issues when done.
We just can’t help ourselves, I guess, got to spend that 50 million.
So nobody finds it odd that after all this time the final solution ends up being that they get to tare down all the old houses or buildings!!! Everything around us is getting replaced with new and fancy but we haven’t decided to “upgrade” yet because we are happy the way it is. So the majority around us found a way to get it done anyways. Because all the new people moving into the fancy expensive homes around us think we are just ruining their property value. Ummm we were here first! But hey with enough connections and money you can make anyone do anything right!