Leaders break ground on Hillsborough Street project

Raleigh, N.C. — Raleigh city leaders held a groundbreaking at noon Wednesday to celebrate the kickoff of Phase I of the Hillsborough Street renovation.

In March, the City Council approved spending $9 million to install roundabouts on Hillsborough Street between Oberlin Road and Gardner Street.

North Carolina State University also contributed money to the project. The N.C. State campus runs along Hillsborough Street for the entire stretch.

Voters approved the roundabouts four years ago as part of a $60 million bond referendum for road improvements. The City Council has debated the details of the project ever since.

The traffic circles are seen as a way to make Hillsborough Street more pedestrian-friendly and to revitalize the area for businesses.

The project will also include more greenery. Workers will plant trees along the road, which will create a living canopy along the street.

City leaders said a small group of people meeting in a neighborhood church conceived the idea for the project years ago.

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Latest Comments

NCcarguy,

As I said before, I've designed roundabouts and am well versed in their benefits in reducing crashes at intersections, as well as keeping traffic moving for the main street. After all, the side street no longer has a protected move like it would at a signal, so the main street is basically a 'free flow' movement due to the level of traffic compared to the side street.

As I said, they work BEST when the traffic is fairly balanced among all the streets; if there's a big difference on the two streets then the one with the lesser traffic is going to have longer queues then it would have with a signal.

Overall though, below a certain traffic volume, they work better than signals when looking at the intersection as a complete entity. I just happen to think that they won't work as well on Hillsborough Street as expected.

Bendal1
May 21, 2009 11:19 a.m.

"Then put the traffic lights on flash (yellow for Hillsboro St., red for cross streets)this is basicly what a traffic circle will create.Sit back and see what happens!" No thats not what a roundabout is........they are everywhere in Europe and the UK and work really well to speed traffic flow up. I was kidding about Americans not being smart enough for them....but with some comments here I'm not so sure now.....

haggis basher
May 20, 2009 3:56 p.m.

"This is an idea that will not work, because it's designed to IMPEDE auto traffic rather than INCREASE auto traffic." How does a roundabout impede traffic? They dramatically increase it until you get to a critical point and then you need traffic lights. This is well understood engineering. I understand concerns for pedestrians, I agree roundabouts and pedestrians don't usually mix. crossings need to be some distance away....but again this is all well proven tech.

haggis basher
May 20, 2009 3:51 p.m.

Can honestly say that as a resident of that area, I will NOT be encouraged to travel or frequent Hillsborough Street because of this. If anything, I will avoid it. There isn't enough parking and let's be honest, there isn't really anything on that strip other than bars and restaurants...oh, and a pawn shop. I'll stick to Cameron Village and Mission Valley thank you.

dwntwnboy
May 20, 2009 3:09 p.m.

Are Americans too dumb to be able to manage a roundabout?...they are really easy and work very well.......

Chevy Chase is a bad example (Hey look, there's Big Ben!!!)