When I heard construction was coming to Hillsborough Street, I got excited. I know this is an unusual reaction for an NC State student who lives off campus and commutes to school each day. Construction and development have been no friend to me in the past. I have been thwarted from cutting across campus during business hours by the gate on Dan Allen; I have seen the huge, ugly tarps blocking Thurman Drive, which force me to travel all the way up Sullivan to Lee Lot to visit the residence halls; and perhaps worst of all, I have seen the various student housing projects over the years which buy up spaces that could foster local businesses or farmer’s markets and instead pump out “luxury” apartment complexes that are totally unaffordable for students.
However, like the majority of NC State students, I am not a native resident of Raleigh. We all bring the experiences we have in our hometowns to bear when considering new initiatives for this city. I am from Charlotte, and as such, I have some experience with infrastructure disasters. Perhaps most notoriously, our outer belt, the Interstate 485, took a grand total of 27 years to complete, with the last section finally opening in 2015.
When I first moved to Raleigh in fall of 2018, I was immediately blown away by the traffic circles on Hillsborough, which I learned later had been newly installed. Compared to south Charlotte’s Highway 51, Pineville-Matthews Road, traffic flowed so much more smoothly during rush hour and was organically slowed the rest of the day, making the street that much more walkable. The walkability of Hillsborough also takes cars off the road, creating a positive feedback loop. In Charlotte, you need a vehicle just to cross the street.
I’ve heard concerns that the construction, which is slated to begin this year, will slow down traffic on Hillsborough even more than its current steady crawl. This is not guaranteed; however, improvement upon the current situation is. The construction in question involves an underpass being carved out under Hillsborough Street at Blue Ridge Road. If you attended last year’s North Carolina State Fair, you may have noticed the fairgrounds sit right on this intersection. You may have also noticed it took 20 minutes to cross the street, and traffic was backed up for miles whenever the train came through.
This intersection needs work, and Raleigh residents, your city is doing something about it, completely unasked. When you whined about its expansions coming a little too close to your clubhouse pool, it revised those plans. As a native of a city which built a light rail that no one uses, I could tell you a thing or two about the importance of that kind of communication and connectivity.
That’s not to say Raleigh doesn’t have its problems. Housing is still a disaster; in last year’s mayoral election, all six candidates cited affordable housing as one of the biggest issues plaguing this city. But somehow, it seems to keep finding ways to make being a commuter awesome. Raleigh is working hard, staying grounded, and most importantly, it’s listening to you. Y’all don’t know what it looks like to be stuck in the dark ages — so quit crying about progress.
