Had to run to Raleigh quick this afternoon, and took the Crossroads Plaza Victory Tour just to quantify how hard/easy it is to get around.
2:40PM
I approached Exit 101 on US 1/64 North and just missed getting the green light on Walnut Street.
No big deal. The traffic passed and I made a right on red, facilitated by the wide open lanes.
2:43PM
Turned left off Walnut into the main Crossroads Plaza entrance, between Pier 1 and Bob Evans.
Truthfully, I went this way because it may be the worst way to access the shopping center.
2:43PM
Turned Right, in NO traffic, onto Caitboo Avenue. Turning left leads into problems, due to the cross traffic, and the number of people accessing the shopping center from the US1/64S flyover from the access road.
This Right onto Caitboo Avenue led past easy access to Office Depot, Bob Evans, Verizon Cellular, (I think) a golf shop, and Bentley's, another unobstructed 200 yards, and I could have easy access to the Stuper Target and Home Depot lots, or cut through to Dillard Drive, which would have given me access to the Centrum and Centrum at Crossroads.
Stayed on Caitboo Avenue, and turned left on Caitboo Drive, in front of the Crossroads 20 Movie Theater. Could have gone left onto Columbus and again accessed Dillard.
2:44PM
End of Caitboo, in front of Capital Mercury-Lincoln, I made a left on Crossroads Blvd. to get back into the shopping center proper.
(Crossroads Blvd. turning West from Jones Franklin Rd. is super easy access into the shopping center.)
2:45PM
At the corner where the light lets folks into the "back" of the shopping center.
To the left I could have gone to Play it Again Sam's, another sporting goods store, Superior Fitness, a few women's clothing stores, Michaels, woe-begotten Linens and Things, and a few others.
I could have gone straight through at this point and been back on the path to Raleigh, US 1/64, after 3 lights.
I chose to do the storefront crawl and turned right, after witnessing a display of Holiday Charity wherein two cars ran the red light to turn left, and the musical duo of drivers in front of me treated everyone within a hundred yards to very long trumpet blasts of their brass sections.
2:47PM
Found me in front of Best Buy, after passing DSW, Honeybaked Ham, Ulta, Dick's, REI, OfficeMax, Plato's Closet and a couple of others.
I proceeded along in front of EmbroidMe, the police outpost, Edible Arrangements, ToysRUs, and hit the stop sign. To the left is the light that feeds you back into the center of the complex, or to US 1/64.
There was a short line, 6 or 7 cars.
I chose to keep going along storefronts, and passed FootAction, and a couple of others. Behind Ruby Tuesdays and in front of the defunct Barbecues Galore, there is an unsignaled access to the US 1/64 Ramp.
I was on it at 2:48PM. And passed Exit 1A to 440/40E at 2:49PM.
In less than 9 minutes I was able to traverse about 80% of the shopping center, with no hassle, and could have been into any store in just a couple of minutes. Finding parking may have been an interesting proposition in some areas, but there
was room for parking.
Google shows you the way.
I am not a great fan of how the place is laid out, and understand that it is "a little daunting to first timers" or those who struggle in traffic.
I also think the Centrum at Crossroads complicates things, and produces more traffic and less options, but when I want to go to Best Buy, I find a way to go to Best Buy. And it is NOT hard to get there.
The revisions and improvements to streets and ramps that the Plaza, the Town of Cary and NCDOT installed about 1 1/2 to 2 years ago really do work to make traffic move better.
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