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Published: 2012-11-07 14:49:55
Updated: 2012-11-07 14:49:55

Posted: November 7, 2012

Hillsborough Street bridge to be removed in west Raleigh

Road Construction (generic)
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Raleigh, N.C. — Work is expected to begin after Thanksgiving on realigning Hillsborough Street and Western Boulevard at Jones Franklin Road in west Raleigh, officials said Wednesday.

The state Department of Transportation awarded a $2.7 million contract to Fred Smith Co. to tear down the eastbound Hillsborough Street bridge over westbound Western Boulevard and eliminate the curved roadway there. The project calls for realigning Hillsborough Street to a right-angle, level-grade intersection with Western Boulevard and adding sidewalks on all three roads.

The 70-year-old bridge being demolished is considered functionally obsolete and structurally deficient. Officials said the bridge is safe, but it wasn't built to current design standards and is unable to properly handle the volume of traffic it carries.

Lanes on Western Boulevard and Hillsborough Street won't be closed during rush hours, and lane closures also won't be allowed during nearby special events at the State Fairgrounds, PNC Arena and Carter-Finley Stadium, officials said.

The project is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 1.

Copyright 2012 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Latest Comments
The bridge over the Neuse River on 64 scares the life outta me. That thing has been around since God was a baby.
Click to view my profile shortcake53
November 9, 2012 1:09 p.m.
Wow. I am just impressed by how efficiently all these North Carolinians are at designing roads & bridges.

Traffic engineering geniuses. Just imagine how efficient I could be by telling you how to do *your* job.

NOTE: I am not a state employee or even a contractor with any company. I have nothing to do with the DOT. I just amazed by the sheer audacity of people who think they can be efficiency experts.
Click to view my profile Lone Voice in the Wilderness
November 8, 2012 2:32 p.m.
Great, tearing down a flyover to add a traffic light. I'm sure that will really "help" with congestion...
Click to view my profile chivegas
November 8, 2012 12:01 p.m.
"Here is proof, tearing down a bridge designed to make traffic flow more smoothly in favor of yet another traffic light"

Did you even bother to read the article? This bridge is 70 years old, not built in the 80's as you are implying.
Dafuq
November 8, 2012 11:28 a.m.
When leaders at the city and state level were pitching the virtues of "growth" in the 1980's (i.e., money for themselves and their developer friends), I knew this growth would not pay for itself. Here is proof, tearing down a bridge designed to make traffic flow more smoothly in favor of yet another traffic light. Perhaps they can also install a red light camera at the newly created "intersection" to offset the cost.

More bridges they could tear down: Capital Blvd and Old Wake Forest, Capital Blvd and Fairview Rd., etc. These are antiquated remnants of the prosperous pre-growth Raleigh that is now just a faded memory.
cushioncritter
November 8, 2012 9:34 a.m.
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