How would you make Capital Boulevard better?

Capital Boulevard in North Raleigh is probably not many people's idea of attractive. But as one of the busiest commercial thoroughfares in the city, it's indispensable to tens of thousands of people who use it each day to commute or get to stores and other businesses along its route.

Now the city is kicking off a study of a five-mile stretch of Capital that would guide city policies on development, transit and road improvements that would affect drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. The Capital Boulevard North Corridor Study will cover the busiest stretch of Capital, from the Beltline north to Interstate 540 near the Triangle Town Center mall.

The effort begins Saturday with a "visioning meeting" at New Hope Baptist Church off Louisburg Road. City planners want to hear what people think is worth preserving about Capital Boulevard and what they think should be changed.

"It’s asking people what their impressions are of the study area," said John Anagnost, a city planner who is leading the process. "What things do they feel are useful and important and what parts do they think could function better or provide better service.”

More than 80,000 drivers take Capital Boulevard north of the Beltline each day, according to the most recent traffic counts available from the N.C. Department of Transportation. Aside from the interstate highways, only a stretch of South Saunders Street south of the Beltline carries that much traffic in the city.

City planners have in the past considered turning Capital into a freeway; NCDOT soon will begin doing the planning work needed to turn Capital into a limited-access expressway north of I-540 to just south of the Franklin County line. The city's corridor study will undoubtedly consider ways to improve traffic flow, Anagnost said, but a full-blown freeway isn't likely.

“I think a freeway in the sense of I-40 is probably not something we’ll be looking at too closely," he said. "If you think of a freeway of having more limited access or fewer driveways or fewer traffic signals, that’s a possibility.”

The study will take about two years to complete, with several opportunities for the public to weigh in along the way. The next one will be a workshop in the fall.

Anagnost said the NCDOT will follow the progress of the study and will refer to it when making decisions about Capital Boulevard in the future. The study will also influence decisions the City Council makes about development along the corridor.

The Capital Boulevard visioning workshop will take place from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, at New Hope Baptist Church, 4301 Louisburg Road. For more information, go to the study website at www.raleighnc.gov/business/content/PlanDev/Articles/LongRange/CapitalBlvdNorth.html.

This story was originally published June 19, 2018 at 4:30 PM with the headline "How would you make Capital Boulevard better?."