Long-time Raleigh resident and Midtown CAC Chair Larry Helfant delivered the following comments to the City Council at their meeting on October 17, 2023:
City Council, Mayor and staff,
I am here again today because the future of the Six Forks Road Improvement project is on the agenda today. You already know this project. It was the main topic and proposed solution to the deferred request for North Hills expansion earlier in the year.
I don’t know what you will hear today since I only know what I learn from social media and the News media. However, whatever you hear today, please do not make a decision based on the presentation.
There hasn’t been any public engagement, much less discussion on the options. Please utilize the lightly used Transit and Transportation committee to continue this discussion with public input. You heard a similar request from Tara Robbins, of the Midtown Raleigh Alliance, last month. I am making that same request this month.
What I do know is that the project, as currently designed, does not have sufficient funding to complete the full scope of the project. Several options are being evaluated to phase the project to match the available budget and/or to reduce the scope of the project to fit within the available budget.
Folks, this project has been on the City books since 2012 and now may be either reduced in scope or abandoned? Has population decreased? Have people stopped driving cars? Has commercial development stopped? I don’t think so.
This project was the basis for the City playbook on Community Engagement. Several public meetings and forums were held to get the maximum amount of feedback before formalizing this plan. The project was finally adopted in 2018.
This was not the last discussion on this topic. In 2016, with the planned expansion of North Hills East, the addition of Wegman’s and the future development of the Exchange , it was apparent that area roads could not keep pace with commercial development and the increased traffic that would come with them.
The result of all this was the creation of the Midtown – Saint Albans area plan. The Six Forks road improvements were incorporated into the plan. Again, there was extensive community engagement with the number one priority being traffic improvement. The Midtown area plan was approved by Council in 2020.
Why am I providing a history lesson now and what does this have to do with the Six Forks Road project? Because, and I hope that you are listening today, the City still hasn’t completed any road project in Midtown after 12 years while commercial development has not stopped.
Let’s remember why this project was initiated. Lane widths vary from 8 to 11 feet; the road has two lanes on each side in some areas while others have three; entry and egress onto Six Forks without signalization can seem like eternity; and crossing Six Forks, with or without a bike is like playing Russian roulette. Lets put safety back into the equation for motorists, bikers and pedestrians.
As you weigh the merits of the options of this road project, please note that those same parameters that increased land value are the same parameters that have increased the tax revenues to the City. Perhaps it is time to invest some of that revenue back into the infrastructure needs of the community.
Let’s continue this discussion in committee.
After 12 years, the discussion is long overdue.
Epilog to the public comment to Council:
After two public requests to put the Six Forks Road project into the Transit and Transportation committee for further discussion, there was another long discussion among Council as to next steps. It was finally decided by vote to put the project on the agenda for the committee, despite alternatives presented by the Mayor. It just shows again that the Mayor and Council just don’t listen to public comment requests. More to come.
If you appreciate the kind of reporting we bring to you
|
Please donate $10 or $20, Thanks for supporting |
 |