Raleigh proposal calls for roundabouts

Backers hope for a revitalized Hillsborough Street; others simply confused

RALEIGH -- In 10 years, the car-dodging, bus-honking, no-parking chaos that defines Hillsborough Street will transform to a pedestrian's paradise -- suitable for Birkenstocks or jogging strollers.

At least that's the hope behind a Raleigh plan that calls for up to eight roundabouts -- or British-style traffic circles -- along the city's shopworn strip.

Next week, the City Council could vote on the first set of roundabouts -- possibly four, more likely two, costing between $3 million and $7 million.

For supporters, the idea is to change Hillsborough Street's very nature. For years, it has functioned less as a slow drive past N.C. State University and more as a pass-through between downtown and Cary.

Squish the street's four lanes down to two, build the sidewalks 8 feet wide and replace the red lights with roundabouts, the thinking goes, and people might stop for a cup of fair-trade coffee.

"We want it to be a place to drive to, not to drive through," said Kevin Jennings, who owns the popular Porter's and Frazier's restaurants on Hillsborough. "That's the whole point."

But more than a few people on Hillsborough Street -- and some on the council -- are scratching their heads.

The street now averages about 19,000 cars a day -- close to capacity. How, critics ask, does Raleigh avoid epic congestion when it squeezes those cars onto two lanes divided by a 7-foot median?

And eight roundabouts?

"I want to make sure we don't have another Fayetteville Street Mall and have to go in and change it in 10 years," council member Joyce Kekas said, referring to Raleigh's new downtown street.

Most backers prefer starting with two roundabouts, one at Horne Street (near Marrakesh Cafe) and one at Logan Court (near Bruegger's Bagels).

(A third roundabout, financed separately, is planned for Morgan Street closer to downtown.)

The Horne/Logan option would cost $3.7 million if the work includes burying utility lines. The money would come mostly from the road bonds that Raleigh voters approved in 2005.

If the council adopts that plan and the state Department of Transportation approves it, it would start transforming one of Raleigh's most recognized streets into a boulevard like no other.

A street without mercy

Most would agree that Hillsborough Street has seen better days.

Walk it west, and ghosts call from empty storefronts. Cream & Bean. The Record Exchange.

Crossing it involves a daring game of Frogger, dodging Wolfline buses stuck halfway into intersections and cars ignoring the 35 mph speed limit.

"I'm always afraid I'm going to get hit," said Blake Schlukbier, a recent N.C. State graduate who manages the nearby Buddha's Belly shop.

Roundabouts and a 25-mph speed limit should fix that, said Roger Henderson of the Raleigh design firm Kimley-Horn and Associates, which is involved in the planning. He notes that:

* With a roundabout, cars are always moving -- albeit slower. They aren't jerking to a stop at red lights or revving to zoom through a yellow.

* Because the new street will have a 7-foot median strip, cars will not turn left anymore. They will just proceed ahead to the roundabout and make a safe U-turn. If they need to pass someone parking, the lanes have an extra 5 feet of buffer space.

But most of all, slowing down cars will discourage drive-through traffic and shunt most of it south to Western Boulevard. About 30 percent of the cars on Hillsborough today are heading somewhere else, Henderson said.

Hillsborough Street once hovered around 26,000 cars a day, but has since fallen. Engineers don't expect the traffic count to rise much beyond 19,000 by the year 2030.