What is the Status of the Proposed Widening of Falls of The Neuse Road in N. Raleigh? (Wake Forest: for sale)

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

Anybody have definitive info on when they will actually widen the section of Falls of the Neuse Road starting just North of Durant Road? I saw some more surveyors at the intersection of Falls and Dunn today at lunch time (Right at the entrance to Bedford). Supposedly there are plans to have a traffic light installed there one day. For now turning left out of Bedford during rush hour can be brutal! I have asked my neighbors, but they say there has been talk of expanding Falls of the Neuse and adding the traffic light for years….and nobody knows if it is really ever going to actually happen.

To tell you the truth, even with the bad traffic in that section I will be kind of sad to see them tear up that area to widen the road. I would rather see less development up that way and all us North Raleigh / Wake Forest Folks band together and start carpooling to ease the rush hour congestion. I would just love to know if anything is ever going to happen one way or the other. I keep seeing surveyors out there along the road….. but the community up that way seems to be kept in the dark with regards to what is planned. I know there are big concerns about having to widen the bridge that goes over the Neuse River and the associated costs, but it would be nice to be kept informed.

I’ve also noticed a lot of folks in some of the older homes along Falls of the Neuse have their homes up for sale. I guess they a trying to get out before the city comes in and widens the road through their former front yard!

[Jules_NC]

This is from a meeting of the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce meeting in Oct 2006 (from Jonathan Nance, district engineer for the Department of Transportation’s District 5)

"* The City of Raleigh is taking the lead on the Falls of the Neuse project to widen the road and extend it across the Neuse River to meet New Falls of Neuse in Wakefield. Construction should start in 2011." (town of Wake Forest homepage)

Here's the link to the City of Raleigh "Falls of Neuse Corridor Plan"
http://tinyurl.com/298e52 (broken link)

From the City of Raleigh road bonds (2005):
"$5 million for improvements to the Falls of Neuse Road corridor – This project would add to the improvements to the Falls of Neuse Road corridor north of Raven Ridge Road. It would add lanes to Falls of Neuse Road from Raven Ridge Road to Fonville Road. This project also includes construction of New Falls of Neuse Road as a four-lane, median-divided facility across the Neuse River, with curb and gutter and sidewalks on both sides of the roadway. NCDOT may also contribute funds to this project. Falls of Neuse Road transports an average of 18,000 vehicles daily."

Q: Where can more information be found on the City’s proposed transportation improvements bond?

A: For more information on the proposed transportation improvement bond, contact the City’s Transportation Services Division Manager, Eric Lamb, at 516-2161 or at mailto:eric.lamb@ci.raleigh.nc.us; or visit the City’s website at www.raleighnc.gov.

On a personal note, I take Falls every day from Wake Forest into Raleigh. I leave my house by 6:40am to ensure that I can get down before it backs up. I will tell you that by the time I get to Bedford on a really bad backed up morning, I am FUMING. It takes me anywhere from 15-25 minutes to go 6 miles! I'll take that over the unknowns on Capital Blvd any day though! So as you are sitting there waiting to get out of Bedford, remember, the people on the road have already been crawling along for much longer than you've been waiting!

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

Originally Posted by Jules_NC

This is from a meeting of the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce meeting in Oct 2006 (from Jonathan Nance, district engineer for the Department of Transportation’s District 5)

"* The City of Raleigh is taking the lead on the Falls of the Neuse project to widen the road and extend it across the Neuse River to meet New Falls of Neuse in Wakefield. Construction should start in 2011." (town of Wake Forest homepage)

On a personal note, I take Falls every day from Wake Forest into Raleigh. I leave my house by 6:40am to ensure that I can get down before it backs up. I will tell you that by the time I get to Bedford on a really bad backed up morning, I am FUMING. It takes me anywhere from 15-25 minutes to go 6 miles! I'll take that over the unknowns on Capital Blvd any day though! So as you are sitting there waiting to get out of Bedford, remember, the people on the road have already been crawling along for much longer than you've been waiting!

Thanks for that very useful information Jules. It's hard to imagine that it will be at least 4 years before they do anything to the road. I can only imagine what traffic will be like by then. I guess I will continue to take the "backway" from Bedford through Falls River down to Durant Road then back over to Falls of The Neuse at the traffic light. It takes about 5 minutes, but it is a pretty drive and saves me from the aggrevation of trying to pull out onto Falls of The Neuse in the morning.

Thanks again for the good info!

[Jules_NC]

You're welcome! We seriously looked in Bedford and if we had moved there I would do the same as you and would take the back way back out to Durant. I have to turn left onto a busy highway to exit our current neighborhood, but thankfully we also have a few other options to avoid it as well.

When we built in 2004 people were talking like Falls was going to be widened that year! Still waiting in 2007....