Hundreds of fans were left stranded at Carter-Finley—with no way for them to get out, or for rideshares to get in.
Raise your hand if you were stranded at Carter-Finley Stadium following Noah Kahan’s sold-out July 25 concert. Now raise your other hand if you sat in traffic for an hour to get in—whether you were making your way to a parking spot or navigating the rideshare dropoff.
Despite Carter-Finley, Lenovo Center and the State Fairgrounds playing host to plenty of hockey and football games, the annual NC State Fair, and a smattering of other events throughout the year, concert traffic somehow remains a huge headache. While July 23’s Guns N’ Roses show faced similar traffic delays, it was Noah Kahan’s post-concert struggles that received the most backlash, with multiple fans taking to social media to voice their concerns. And as someone who attended the show myself and didn’t get out of the parking lot until almost 1am, I can concur it was indeed a mess.
Getting into the stadium was a cluster in and of itself, with traffic backed up around Trinity Road, Blue Ridge Road, Edwards Mill Road and I-40 hours before the concert even started—never mind police officers on scene directing cars in a disorderly and confusing fashion.
Charlotte resident Peter Allen Rowe, who came to the concert by Uber, noted the rideshare dropoff situation was confusing from the get-go, with concerns already rising about getting out of the area as soon as he showed up to the venue. As it turns out, his anxiety was right.
With ~60,000 people trying to get out of the stadium at the same time, naturally, chaos ensued. Multiple fans were stuck outside Carter-Finley either piled up in a line of cars to get out or stranded on the side of the road waiting for an absurdly priced Uber or Lyft—only to face several cancellations, poor service and/or dead phone batteries.
“It’s just sad to see people have a legitimately incredible concert night and then you leave that and go straight into an incredibly stressful situation. If you can’t get home or what you’re planning on using doesn’t work, now all the sudden you’re in a tough spot—especially because you don’t have a lot of other options at that venue.” —Peter Allen Rowe
“I was at the concert alone and my husband, who was supposed to pick me up after, couldn’t get to the stadium and I ended up having to walk alone on the side of the highway at around midnight to find him,” says one TikTok user in attendance. “It was scary and infuriating.”
Allegedly, numerous roads were blocked getting into Carter-Finley, with rideshares and designated friends or family pickups circling for hours because there was no way to get near the stadium or pickup/dropoff area. Case in point: Rowe says he encountered an Uber driver who was forced to cancel 10 rides as he had no way to get to them.
Many fans tried to walk over to nearby sports bar The Local to catch a ride—hoping it would be far enough from the traffic cluster happening around the stadium—only to be left in the same position. “It was absolutely awful… worst experience of my life,” said another attendee. “I will never go to another event at Carter-Finley ever again.”
Photo by @hannah_shel
Rowe adds that the whole situation felt disconnected, and he never saw any posted road closure maps for anyone to be able to navigate where to go. Essentially, fans were thrown to the wolves—either resorting to waiting at the designated pickup area across the street or walking miles and miles away in the hopes of maybe being able to find a ride that could get to them.
Despite the cluster, NC State Acting Director of News and Media Relations Lauren Barker tells RM the university worked closely with numerous partner agencies for several months leading up to the concerts to develop “comprehensive operational and traffic management plans.” “Following the Noah Kahan concert, the high volume of concertgoers using rideshare services simultaneously caused delays to some patrons leaving the venue,” she says.
Still stranded by 2am (read: three hours after the show ended), some fans resorted to snagging rides from random strangers—which proved to be a safety concern of its own.
“It definitely creates opportunities for people who are looking to take advantage of someone that’s desperate,” emphasizes Rowe, who was lucky enough to find a ride—after getting far enough away from the stadium—from an Uber driver that began asking people if they needed a car. “It creates a really dangerous situation on so many levels, and opens people up to a lot of risk.”
While many attendees who experienced the struggles have voiced they refuse to go to a Carter-Finley concert ever again, Rowe argues that instead of accepting it as a bad situation, the entire scenario needs to be improved. Following the concert, he took it upon himself to email the NC State Institute for Transportation Research and Education at NC State, who responded saying a group is already looking at broader traffic implications for large events across Lenovo Center, Carter-Finley and the Fairgrounds. Barker also stated the weekend operations will be thoroughly reviewed as part of a post-event assessment process to identify opportunities for improvement at future events.
“If there’s anyone who seems like they have the expertise to think of a system that works, it should be NC State,” maintains Rowe. “If NC State can’t figure out a better system, we have other problems.”
If Noah Kahan, Guns N’ Roses, and Chris Brown’s shows are any indication, Carter-Finley’s transportation plans are struggling to keep pace with the major touring acts the venue continues to attract. For Raleigh to keep landing those shows, getting fans out safely and efficiently has to become part of the experience.
Driving down the Beltline at night these days makes me want to pull a Carrie Underwood and take a Louisville Slugger to the headlights of oncoming traffic.
What used to be a peaceful endeavor now feels like a survival challenge. If you drive after dark, you’ve likely noticed that shit has gotten a whole lot worse over the last few years.
It feels like everyone drives with their high beams on—but the LEDs are the culprit. They’re just SO much brighter!
People say the South is slow to change, but I refuse to let my eyes be burned out of their sockets in the name of innovation. These newfangled lights are out of control and I’m plum tired of it.
If you have LED headlights, it’s not your fault—but your car is blinding the rest of us. Manufacturers have been taking advantage of outdated regulations, and now we’re stuck staring at headlights 4 times brighter than they were 20 years ago.
My momma used to yell at my brother and me for turning on the car’s interior lights at night to look for a dropped Bojangles fry or lost toy. She said we’d get pulled over by the State Trooper because the glare would distract her from driving and get us in an accident. If the glare from that little overhead light is dangerous, these new LED headlights are a matter of national security.
With all the construction and new diamond interchanges on 440, the last thing any of us needs is to be temporarily blinded whenever a car is driving toward us. If bright headlights have ever pissed you off, please take two minutes out of your day to call Rep. Deborah Ross at 202.225.3032 and ask her to cosponsor the LIGHT Safety Act so we can see clearly on our roads again.
Raleigh already knows which intersections are most dangerous. The question is how quickly the City can redesign them before the next crash becomes another data point.
For pedestrians, Raleigh’s streets are a gamble. Six Forks and Millbrook. South Wilmington and East Davie. New Bern and Sunnybrook. These aren’t just intersections—they’re choke points.
Now, for the first time, the City knows exactly where the danger is. Raleigh has formally mapped where severe crashes cluster. The newly finalized Comprehensive Safety Action Plan identifies the intersections where fatal and serious injury crashes happen most often—and outlines the infrastructure changes officials believe could prevent future deaths and injuries. But even the City admits the scale is massive.
DTR
Of the city’s ~10,000 intersections, just 200 account for roughly half of all fatal and serious injury crashes. And while intersections like Six Forks and Millbrook, South Wilmington and East Davie, and New Bern and Sunnybrook rank among the city’s most dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists and scooters, Raleigh’s newly developed High Injury Intersection list makes clear the danger isn’t isolated to a few notorious crossroads.
This is not anecdotal—this is a decade of crash mapping. The City built a formula to pinpoint where risk clusters most heavily. Raleigh’s High Injury Intersections are defined not by fatalities alone, but by a combined crash score factoring in fatal, serious, moderate and minor injury crashes. For pedestrians and bicyclists, Raleigh used a separate 10-year dataset tracking all pedestrian-involved crashes regardless of severity.
It’s not random—it’s a formula. These wrecks happen in predictable places with predictable conditions. “Fast growth intensifies road safety challenges as travel patterns, traffic volumes and transportation modes evolve,” said Mayor Janet Cowell. Raleigh’s risk equation boils down to speed + sprawl + split attention. Heavy traffic volumes, high-speed roads, constant turning traffic, poor visibility and long crossing times all contribute to the danger. The pattern is remarkably consistent: multilane roads built for speed colliding with growing pedestrian activity, bus stops, commercial driveways and cars turning in every direction.
In many cases, the danger isn’t a single catastrophic design flaw—it’s cumulative friction: a fast-growing city layered onto infrastructure originally designed to move cars quickly, not necessarily people safely. “The City of Raleigh—both elected officials and staff—is committed to eliminating all fatal and serious injury traffic crashes and creating a safer, more resilient transportation network,” said Cowell, acknowledging their pledge to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries by 50% by the year 2040 and 100% by 2055.
CBRE
Beyond identifying where these crashes happen—the question is how fast the City can fix them. To address the problem, Raleigh is leaning into what transportation planners call the Federal Highway System’s “Safe System Approach”—a strategy focused less on perfect driver behavior and more on making roads themselves more forgiving when mistakes happen.
The strategy was formally presented to Raleigh City Council this spring as part of the City’s Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, which prioritizes projects based on crash severity, risk patterns and resident feedback.
In practice, that means protected left turns, high-visibility crosswalks, refuge islands, upgraded signal timing, curb bump-outs and lower DTR speed limits—as well as better signage on street signs, pavement markings and improved lighting. “A lot of accidents happen at night,” noted Cowell. “We can also increase things like the median so pedestrians have a safe place to stop in the middle of a really wide street.”
Projects are prioritized using more than crash history alone, says Vision Zero Program Manager Sean Driskill, including pedestrian volumes, feasibility, anticipated costs and overlap with infrastructure projects.
But redesigning dangerous intersections is rarely fast—or cheap. Many of Raleigh’s proposed improvements remain tied to larger corridor projects, state partnerships or funding mechanisms that could take years to materialize. “Roughly half of the top 200 High Injury Intersections have already had some level of safety improvement completed in recent years or planned as part of a future project,” says Driskill. Still, many remain conceptual, unfunded or tied to larger infrastructure efforts that could extend the timeline.
Since 2022, the City says it has improved roughly 40 intersections through signal upgrades, enhanced lighting, pavement markings and other safety measures. While “no single intervention has been identified as universally most effective,” says Driskill, “instead, improvements are tailored to the specific crash patterns and roadway conditions present at each location.”
In one recent successful example at Bland Road, Falls of Neuse Road and Pacific Drive, converting a southbound left turn to protected-only movement during certain times reduced total crashes by 38% and injury crashes by 83%, with serious injuries dropping from two to zero.
Raleigh doesn’t have a mystery on its hands. It has a map. The challenge now is how quickly the City can redesign its most dangerous roads before the next crash becomes another data point.
CBRE
How the City Built the Map
Raleigh’s crash rankings are based on years of traffic data—not just headlines.
Overall rankings use crash data collected between 2019–2023
Pedestrian and bicyclist rankings use a separate 10-year dataset (2014–2023)
Unlike the broader rankings, the pedestrian list includes all pedestrian-involved crashes—not just fatal or serious injuries
Rankings will be updated periodically as new crash data becomes available
CBS 17
Safety Playbook
Raleigh’s “Safe System Approach” focuses less on perfect drivers—and more on roads that leave less room for catastrophic mistakes. What the City is doing:
Protected left turns
High-visibility crosswalks
Median refuge islands
Signal timing changes
Curb bump-outs
Improved lighting
Bus stop relocation
Lower DTR speed limits
Danger Zones
Highest-risk intersections for pedestrians & cyclists—and what the City says it’s doing about them.
New Bern Ave. + Trawick Rd. New pedestrian crosswalk added; more upgrades tied to New Bern BRT corridor
Millbrook + Six Forks Rd. Pedestrian improvements planned through revised Six Forks Road Improvements project
Capital Blvd. + Calvary Dr. Crosswalks & lighting upgrades complete; redesign plans include bus stop relocations, intersection geometry & median fencing
Capital & Crabtree Blvd. Signal timing changes in place; broader pedestrian safety overhaul in development
New Bern Ave + Hill St. + Sunbury St. Planned upgrades alongside BRT project
New Bern Ave. + Shanta Dr + Sunnybrook Rd Safety improvements tied to future BRT construction
South Saunders St. + Pecan Rd. + Carolina Pines Ave. Seeking federal funding through Safe Streets for All Implementation grant application
Kent Rd + Method Rd + Western Blvd Signal upgrades complete; new pedestrian crosswalk planned after nearby I-440 work wraps
GlenwoodAve. + Brier Creek Pkwy. Future upgrades planned through NCDOT’s broader US-70 improvement project
The Raleigh Commons
Where Speed Wins
These intersections rank among Raleigh’s most dangerous overall for all modes, where speed and volume collide—literally.
S. Wilmington St. + Tryon Rd. Planned upgrades include high-visibility crosswalks, signal timing improvements, curb bump-outs & sidewalk gap fixes
New Bern Ave. + Trawick Rd. New pedestrian crosswalk installed; additional upgrades coming in conjunction with BRT corridor.
Capital Blvd. + Huntleigh Dr. Backplates, signal timing upgrades, new concrete curb ramps, additional signal heads & signal hardware upgrades planned through NCDOT partnership
CBS17
Capital Blvd. + Calvary Dr. Crosswalks & lighting upgrades complete; redesign plans include bus stop relocations, intersection geometry & median fencing
Poole Rd. + Rose Ln. Conceptual redesign complete; City exploring funding options
Forestville + Louisburg Rd. Converted into “Reduced Conflict Intersection” designed to limit dangerous turning movements, plus pedestrian crossing across Louisburg Rd.
Hammond Rd. + Rush St. Planned improvements include new pedestrian crossings, signal timing upgrades, backplates & additional signal heads
Saunders St. + Ileagnes Rd. Seeking federal funding through Safe Streets for All Implementation grant application
Glenwood Ave. + Brier Creek Pkwy. Future upgrades tied to NCDOT’s US-70 Improvement Project
Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. + S.Salisbury + S. Wilmington St. Improvements planned as part of an NCDOT Spot Mobility Project
OK… last year I ranted about 440—or, as I call it, the Beltline. You gave me some good answers, but I’ve still got a good rant left in me!
I’m glad we have three lanes open in each direction now, and I’m happy the graffiti has finally been cleaned up. But what is the deal with all of the lights in the median that don’t light up? And the trash—why is it still everywhere, lining the shoulders and clogging the drainage areas? And while we’re at it, what’s with the massive mounds of dirt just… sitting there?
And for God’s sake, the freaking traffic barrels all over Western Boulevard at the interchange? I thought the diamond was supposed to be easier and safer for all of us—but clearly people are struggling. Daily!
And don’t even get me started on the Hillsborough/Wade exit. How many of us have missed that Wade slideover more than once?
I just really want some answers dammit! Cut on the lights! Clean up the gutters and shoulders—and, oh, my God… Western Boulevard! Remember the Barrel Monster from back in the day? Can we just get this finished already?! Please!
—Beltline Bitcher
This rant has been lightly edited for style and space and is not endorsed by Raleigh Magazine.
Got a rant OR RAVE? Email it to [email protected] for print consideration.
Good news for Raleigh commuters: The U.S. DOT announced a $417 million loan has been approved to improve traffic flow in the City of Oaks. Dubbed theComplete 540 Phase 2, the project will finish the last section of the Triangle Expressway loop—extending the toll road 10.8 miles and spanning from I-40 to the preexisting I-540 at I-87/ U.S. 64/U.S. 264.
“This important infrastructure project will provide congestion relief by allowing local north-south travelers options to avoid the busiest segments of 540 in Southwest Raleigh,” says Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg. “Completing the route will also ensure the community has an additional evacuation route to help during emergencies such as hurricanes on the coast.” Here’s to smoother commutes ahead!
