The City of Raleigh is currently in the process of phase two of the Hillsborough Street Renewal Project. The construction site extends from Gardner Street to Rosemary/Shepherd Street, which includes the area of Hillsborough Street directly in front of NC State.
The construction includes three new traffic circles, raised medians and marked bike lanes, as well as many other small improvements. The roundabouts will be located at Brookes Avenue, Dixie Trail/Friendly Drive and Rosemary/Shepherd streets.
Mike Kennon, the assistant director of Planning and Operations for NCSU Transportation, believes that as phase two comes to a close, congestion will improve.
“During the construction, there have been times when there’s been congestion because they’ve had to shut down lanes and put in detours,” Kennon said. “Some of the side streets have been closed for long periods of times so there have been some challenges during the construction, but when the work is totally completed, I don’t expect congestion to be any worse than it is on the other side of Hillsborough Street that was finished a couple of years ago in phase one.”
Kennon says phase two’s main effect on the university will be at the Dan Allen Drive intersection.
“We did not have to change any bus routes,” Kennon said “The biggest permanent effect on the university is the Dan Allen/Hillsborough Street intersection is going to change so that you cannot make a left hand turn from Dan Allen onto Hillsborough. But the buses didn’t make that maneuver so they weren’t really effected. If you want to go westbound from Hillsborough onto Dan Allen you’ll now make a right, go to the traffic circle at Brooks, go around that circle to make a U-turn and then go back out Hillsborough Street.”
However, since the start of construction in fall 2016, many have had issues with traffic and road closures, including Kim Altman, the owner of Curious Goods, a gift shop located near the corner of Dixie Trail and Hillsborough Street.
“The last year and half has been really tough,” Altman said. “It’s like a warzone here. For a long time it was even hard to get in and out of our parking lot.”
According to Altman, the construction has been negatively impacting her business.
“I can see that sales have been down,” Altman said. “I’m beside East Village and they redid the sidewalks, and it’s just been crazy. They would dig holes — I guess they’re doing sewage — they would dig and then cover them up in the next week or so.”
Students have also been affected by the ongoing construction. Haley Magel, a third-year studying political science and a resident of Stanhope Apartments, says the construction has been very difficult for people living on Hillsborough Street.
“The construction on Hillsborough Street has been a huge inconvenience especially when the road has been closed altogether,” Magel said. “My family came to visit me one weekend and Hillsborough was fully closed which made it difficult to navigate to where we wanted to go. There has been recent progress with the traffic circles which is promising, but it is disappointing to see the construction to continue to take away from NC State’s campus and make it less attractive.”
Kennon feels that despite this, the traffic circles will be beneficial for Hillsborough Street.
“[Phase one] was an improvement for vehicles because you do don’t stop; there’s no delay,” Kennon said. “It benefits pedestrians because all traffic is slower. I think you’re going to see benefits very similar to what you saw in phase one.”
Kennon also feels that the city did its best to deal with the construction and work around it.
“The city has worked with the university very closely, trying to keep us informed of lane closures and things that would be affected, such as when Brooks Avenue was going to be closed for a period of time,” Kennon said. “The city’s done its absolute best to keep us in the loop and informed about what’s going on.”
Expected completion dates are between the end of spring and the beginning of summer; more information can be found at the Hillsborough Street Renewal Project website.
