Road construction hurts Hillsborough Street businesses

Raleigh, N.C. — Business owners along Hillsborough Street in Raleigh said an improvement project along the thoroughfare has negatively impacted sales.

Ric Colruss, general manager of Schoolkids Records, 2114 Hillsborough St., said the business has seen sales cut in half since the construction started.

Right outside the store’s window, construction often clogs up traffic and blocks the road.

“There are people who’ve been on the street who’ve worked their entire lives, who brought the atmosphere to the street itself, and they’re the very ones who are being hit the worst here,” Colruss said.

Hillsborough Street is being converted to a two-lane section with a median from Gardner to Oberlin roads, according to the project’s Web site. A two-lane roundabout is being added at Hillsborough Street and Pullen Road. A single-lane roundabout is being added at the Oberlin Road and the extension of Pullen Road.

View Hillsborough Street construction in a larger map

The project will also make on-street parking available on both sides of Hillsborough Street. More than 100 parking spaces will be added to the 77 currently available.

New sidewalks will be installed and there will be more crosswalks and pedestrian crossing signals. Bicyclists will be able to travel on a 5-foot-wide buffer lane between parked cars and street traffic.

Construction is expected to be complete by September 2010.

Last week, supporters of the project and city leaders gathered at North Carolina State University’s Bell Tower to let the public know that despite construction, businesses on Hillsborough Street are open.

Jon Choi said he is concerned about the impact the construction will have on his new restaurant, but he hopes his food can entice even the most frustrated driver to stop in.

“I mean, they have to eat,” Choi said.

Business owners hope when college students return in a few weeks that will help business some. But many believe, as long as the construction hangs around so will sluggish sales.

Colruss said he is worried about losing the long-term customers.

“If we inconvenience the people who have been so loyal to the street in the first place over such a long period of time, will we ever get them back?” he said.

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Latest Comments

We all need to remember this is more than just a roundabout project. The length of construction in time is based on the rehabitilation of outdated water/sewer lines and the undergrounding of utilities (clearly heard as necessary from citizens and business owners), as well as the street work and streetscaping.

Hillsborough Street was once a thriving corridor for students, workers, residents, and visitors alike, but its traffic issues slowly degraded that atmosphere. The current porject meshes handling all traffic (cars, transit, bikes, and pedestrians) with business and access needs, as well as the start of the business improvement district.

While 15 months is a long time to have construction barrels on the street, let's keep our heads up and work to sustain the corridor until we see the new and improved Hillsborough Street in summer 2010.

todddelk
August 3, 2009 2:16 p.m.

Are these the same business owners who thought narrowing Hillsborough Street in the first place was a great idea? Well, welcome to reality; if the construction doesn't kill off many of the businesses, the narrow road, congestion, roundabouts, etc, will once it's finished. Taking a major city arterial and route into downtown and turning it into a slow, two lane road simply because some brain-dead city planner managed to convince NCSU to back this plan and get Federal money to build it is just stupidity personified. I drive Hillsborough weekly and the construction zone is a mess, as they always are. But, the alternatives to Hillsborough for traffic are inadequate to carry the extra cars, and don't lead to the same destinations.

That means nonstop congestion on Hillsborough, and lots of bankrupt businesses. Except for the bars of course; as long as there's students at NCSU they'll do fine.

Bendal1
August 3, 2009 1:01 p.m.