Raleigh City Council to mull five options on how to widen, improve Six Forks Road
Raleigh transportation planners are offering five options for city council to consider over one of Raleigh's busiest roads.
Raleigh leaders have been working on plans to widen a 2-mile stretch of Six Forks Road for several years, hoping to ease traffic congestion from North Hills to Lynn Road. However, a number of road blocks, including skyrocketing costs, has delayed the project several times.
On Tuesday, planners presented city council with the five options. Two of those involve widening parts of Six Forks Road.
The most expensive option would widen the road between Rowan Street and Millbrook Road at a cost of more than $66 million.
Or the city could widen Six Forks from Rowan to North Glen Drive for about $36 million.
Two other options would add either a bike path and sidewalk or multi-use path, without adding lanes of traffic.
The city could also cancel the entire project and start all over.
"Canceling and restarting the project given how long it’s been, I want to let people at the table know I don’t like that one," said Raleigh City Councilor Mary Black.
"This has been something the public has been expecting, and there’s a lot of anxiety – particularly the folks who are along some of these routes – and I don’t want people to feel stuck in limbo," said Raleigh City Councilor Jonathan Melton.
Allen Oakley is one of those property owners left in limbo.
"We’re held hostage," Oakley said. "The city has held eight of us hostage."
Oakley's home along Six Forks Road is in the path of the project. His family has been waiting for an offer from the city to buy their property.
"For the last five years, we’ve not been able to do anything with the house," Oakley said. "No need to spend money on it because we knew it was going to be torn down."
The project is going to be a lot more expensive than what the city originally planned:
- Original plans were estimated at around $31.3 million
- Cost is now estimated to be around $119 million
With nearly a $73 million funding gap, we may find out if moving forward with the project is even an option.
The city might be able to make smaller improvements, but the full widening project may not happen due to costs.
"The only thing they have to show for it is survey stakes in peoples yards and some drawings," Oakley said. "And who knows how many millions of dollars have been spent and wasted?"
Over the next few weeks, the city wants to hear from the community about which option they prefer. The project will come back for city council to consider in November.
