Durham residents clamor for safety improvements to North Duke Street 'mini-freeway'

Sixteen crashes occurred on North Duke Street between West Morgan Street and West Club Boulevard between Aug. 1, 2020, and July 31, according to state Department of Transportation data. Four people were injured in the incidents, which also caused a total of $88,800 in damage to the 27 vehicles involved.

"This road is fast. That’s the first word I would use to describe it," resident Sam Rosenthal said Wednesday, adding that he usually doesn't see crashes, but he often hears them.

"We’re in our house, usually the living room, and we’ll hear a loud bang," Rosenthal said. "This guy was speeding through [last year], dodged someone who was trying to cross the road, hit my friend’s car, then went right into a telephone pole and took out all the power here."

The speed limit on the one-way street is 35 mph, but DOT data shows vehicles involved in the crashes – a tractor-trailer, a box truck and a bus were among the 27 vehicles – were traveling as fast as 55 mph.

Erik Landfried, a Bike Durham board member, said he would rank North Duke Street "up near the top" in terms of danger for pedestrians and cyclists.

"I’m a pretty confident cyclist, but I would never ride my bike on these streets," Landfried said of North Duke Street and nearby Gregson Street, also a one-way thoroughfare.

"Right now, they’re really sort of one-way mini-freeways that go through downtown and residential neighborhoods, and that’s really not appropriate use of the street," he said.

A design firm hired by the city recommended a number of safety improvements for North Duke Street between Interstate 85 and University Drive last year. Much of the area is residential.

Short-term suggestions included improving pedestrian crossings, repairing sidewalks, banning right turns on red and implementing a "speed management plan" to gradually reduce the speed limit to 25 mph.

Longer-term recommendations included converting Duke Street to two-way traffic, restricting left turns at some intersections, improved lighting and better connections with nearby bicycle routes.

A Durham spokeswoman said none of the improvements is currently funded.

"We have sort of a budding campaign which we are calling Safe and Healthy Streets," Landfried said. "One of the big things we are pushing for in that campaign is increased funding for pedestrian safety, cyclist safety and transit."

Rosenthal said he supports the idea of making Duke Street a two-way street, which he thinks would help slow drivers down.

"That makes a ton of sense," he said. "That sounds like a good idea."

Mayor Steve Schewel said North Duke Street is maintained by the DOT, so the state would have to approve making it a two-way street. He said he supports making it two-way, and Durham could ultimately assume control of the street to make that possible.