Construction around State Farmers Market causing headaches for some shoppers
Construction on Lake Wheeler Road near North Carolina State University is causing some headaches for people trying to get to the State Farmers Market from the direction of downtown Raleigh.
Depending on which direction drivers are coming from, they could end up having to follow a detour that adds more time to their trip.
Effective Monday, the construction site at Lake Wheeler Road and Centennial Parkway closed lanes along the stretch in both directions, forcing some patrons to take a detour to reach the market.
WRAL News spoke with Farmers Market customers, and some said they spent 15 minutes guessing how to get around the detour. In one case, a customer gave up and went home.
Cary Close, a regular shopper, said the detour is long and the signs are hard to follow. "We just happened to know what to do," Close said. "For someone who is from not around here, they would be frustrated to know that the detour signs led to nowhere."
As a detour, City of Raleigh engineers recommend taking Western Boulevard to Avent Ferry Road to Centennial Drive from downtown Raleigh.
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A spokesperson with the City of Raleigh said the detour was chosen to ensure that the alternate roads could handle increased traffic.
"There is one consistent detour throughout the project instead of having to switch from partial lane to full road closures at different stages of the project," Julia Milstead, Raleigh's public information officer, sent WRAL in an email.
"The City of Raleigh and State Farmers Market have been coordinating schedules for this project. Our goal is to work efficiently and in the shortest time possible so that residents and Farmers Market patrons aren’t impacted too heavily."
According to Milstead, using the full road closure is safer for motorists, pedestrians and bikers while crews replace a storm water pipe. The project is estimated to take 8 to 12 weeks.
The construction comes at the start of the busiest season for the State Farmers Market. According to the N.C. Department of Agriculture, about 270,000 people visited the market in April of 2018.
Market leaders hope the construction won't prevent thousands of people from coming to visit this year.
