Plan would limit access, increase speeds on Capital Boulevard

A new plan for Capital Boulevard aims to get residents from Raleigh to Wake Forest faster, but not everybody is a fan of the proposed change.

The plan is to make Capital Boulevard a limited-access highway for 10 miles between Interstate 540 and Purnell Road, but while some say it would cut travel time, others would lose direct access to the highway.

U.S. Highway 1 runs from Key West, Fla., to Fort Kent, Maine, but Triangle area drivers know the stretch of road as Capital Boulevard, and they know it’s often more like a parking lot during the morning and afternoon commutes.

“It’s taken me an hour to get someplace that’s supposed to be 40 minutes away,” driver Lawson Flood said.

“It’s a mess,” driver James Cobb said.

The state wants to make 10 miles of Capital Boulevard into a limited-access highway, meaning businesses, homes and cross-streets would no longer make a direct connection to the road.

“I don’t like that because we can’t get off on side streets and get where we are going,” resident Sheryl Pratt said.

On- and off-ramps would be added for major intersections like Perry Creek and Durant roads. The ultimate goal is to keep traffic moving.

“It’s a good idea. It would be much better,” resident Drew Green said of the plan.

The DOT is collecting feedback on the idea at meetings, and the feedback will be rolled into the overall plan.

Some drivers, however, are skeptical that there is any hope to improve traffic conditions on the road.

“Pretty much it’s like new people coming into the city. They don’t know how to drive,” he said.

A Tuesday night meeting on the issue was scheduled to run until 7 p.m. Another meeting is scheduled from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Renaissance Center at 405 Brooks Street in Wake Forest.

Comments may also be submitted by email at dstark@ncdot.gov or by phone at 919-707-6605.