North Raleigh Growth Adds To Traffic Woes

There are several highway projects on or near Falls Of Neuse area, whichaim tohelp that congestion, but there is no guarantee that they will.

Newlyweds Kim and Dave Tucker welcome the Kohl's and the new strip mall, even thoughit sits right next to their apartment building.

"It's going to be a nice shopping center for this area, because there's really not much in Wake Forest," says Mrs. Tucker.

The Tuckers know the new stores could have a big price tag in terms of congestionin an area they have seen explode inthe last decade.

"I've lived in Wake Forest before, so I'm real accustomed to the Falls Of Neuse traffic, and it's just going to continue to getworse," Kim says.

"Obviously, this is going to create more traffic and more problems," David adds.

The Tuckers have somewhat different opinions on how much the Outer Loop and a half-a-dozenroad widenings will helptraffic problems in North Raleigh.

"I do think widening the road will help," Dave says. "Obviously, you have double the flow you usually do."

"I hope that and [the Outer Loop] will solve it, but I guess we won't knowuntil it gets here," Kim says.

Even John Nantz, a Division Director for the Department Of Transportation, admitsthat this still may not solve all the problems, but he and his colleaguesare very interested to see how traffic patterns will change.