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Raleigh City Council votes to reduce downtown speed limit to improve pedestrian safety

In an effort to make the streets safer for pedestrians, Raleigh leaders are looking to change how people drive downtown.

Posted Updated

By
Matt Talhelm
, WRAL reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — Drivers in downtown Raleigh should start slowing down.

The Raleigh City Council on Tuesday approved a measure that would reduce downtown's speed limit from 35 mph to 25 mph.

The city also approved removing double-turn lanes at seven intersections throughout downtown.

Drivers should start seeing these roadway changes by the end of October.

These changes are a result of the Downtown Pedestrian Safety Project, a study ordered by Gov. Roy Cooper after a state worker was killed walking in 2019 at the intersection of McDowell and Lane streets.

Over the past 15 years, 335 pedestrian crashes have been reported in downtown Raleigh, according to data from the state Department of Transportation. Forty-two percent involved turning vehicles hitting people crossing the street. One person died while 18 received serious injuries.

"We want everyone to feel safe, and we always want to provide folks options so if you don’t have a car or don’t want to use a car, we have to make it accessible for you to get where you’re going," said Raleigh City Council Member Jonathan Melton.

The changes would take effect between Glenwood Avenue and East Street, and Peace Street to just south of Martin Luther King Boulevard.

City council members also discussed making right turn on red illegal in downtown Raleigh, but that will not be approved until later this fall. The city would have to print and install more than 300 signs before that could happen.

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