Raleigh plans to convert more one-way streets to two-way in part of downtown
Starting in the 1960s, Raleigh began changing many of its downtown streets to one-way traffic, to make it easier for commuters to get in and out of the city center.
Then, to help downtown become more than a place to simply come to work, the city began changing them back nearly two decades ago. Two-way streets slow traffic down and create more of a sense of place, planners said.
Now two more one-way streets could soon be converted.
The city plans to reintroduce two-way traffic on Blount and Person streets between Edenton Street and Wake Forest Road. Both streets will remain one-way south of Edenton Street, where they skirt Moore Square and pass through the Shaw University campus.
The conversions are part of a larger plan to try to make the northeast corner of downtown safer for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. The city also will improve bike lanes and proposes building two roundabouts, one at Person and Delway streets and the other at Wake Forest Road and Automotive Way.
The city will present its plans and answer questions Tuesday at the Tarboro Road Community Center from 6 to 8 p.m. The public can also learn more online and provide feedback through an online survey at raleighnc.gov/projects/blount-st-and-person-st-two-way-conversion-project.
When Raleigh ripped up the Fayetteville Street pedestrian mall and reopened it to cars in 2006, it also converted Hargett and Martin streets to two-way traffic. Other east-west streets followed, including Morgan, South and Lenoir.
The city made some interim steps to calm traffic on Blount and Person streets and Wake Forest Road a few years ago, when it reduced the number of lanes for cars to add bicycle lanes. Wake Forest Road went from four lanes to three, including a center turn lane, from Capital Boulevard south into downtown, while Person and Blount were narrowed from three lanes to two in many places.
This story was originally published April 25, 2023 at 10:00 AM.
