Guest Column: Raleigh Made the Right Call on Six Forks Widening Project – By Ted Van Dyk Principal, New City Design Group

Raleigh City Council’s recent decision to scrap the widening of Six Forks Road in favor of modest pedestrian safety upgrades is another sign that Raleigh is evolving from suburban town to bona fide City. The ballooning price tag — $100 million for one mile of roadwork — made the decision a little easier, but some in the community still expressed surprise and disappointment.

This is understandable. Many longtime residents see growth of the city — and attendant increases in traffic and every other urban symptom — as something to be corrected, fixed. Road projects are a traditional salve. But the hard reality is that even the most well-intended remedies are mostly tradeoffs. Road widenings eat tax-generating land and degrade the environment. Density and development bring often unwelcome change. Transit systems are costly and carry their own disruptions.

But wrestling with growth issues, as most cities around the country would agree, is a good problem to have. The alternative, a slowly fading, shrinking town that can’t provide services, jobs or quality of life for its residents, is a fate that so far we have been spared.

So as we grow, engineers take note: We have approved numerous 20-, 30-, 40-story buildings in and around our downtown. The grid is over 200 years old but somehow works just fine. No talk of cutting new lanes through downtown; why Six Forks? Traffic counts have hardly budged on Six Forks in the past 20 years. This proves the long-held contention by urbanists that the right density can actually reduce car trips. Millions of square feet of development, little additional traffic. And of course, cities all over the world far more populated and dense than Raleigh are removing lanes, not adding them to accommodate more bikes, pedestrians and green infrastructure. These cities have learned that widenings do not relieve congestion; they just make room for more cars. The promised “relief” is fleeting and costly; the damage, permanent. And the private sector can adapt. In New York, Washington, D.C., and other places, delivery services that make up a big percentage of day-to-day curbside traffic are adapting e-bikes and scooters so that they can use bike lanes and find easier parking.

Meanwhile, back in the 20th century, Raleigh’s street manual and attendant policies that require dedications of added right-of-way for even small developments compound our problems. Modest, simple projects such as missing middle townhomes even in residential areas must submit to commercial level reviews, roadway dedications and attendant costs. All this to prepare for widenings that may not, and perhaps should not, ever come. As we strive to address our rising housing costs and shortage of available housing options, a policy reset is in order.

We have a beautiful, tree-infused city on our hands. Our fabric has grown thoughtfully and steadily, while keeping much of the city’s charm. Our policies should celebrate and preserve this character. As we aspire to become a destination city with a new convention center, amphitheater, Dix Park and maybe even pro baseball one day, we need to set our sights on creating a beautiful, livable and visit-worthy place. Walkable tree-lined streets? Yes. A web of ever wider, hotter, car-dominated throughways? Not so much.

So, thanks to the mayor and council for this important course correction; let’s use it as a springboard to broaden the discussion of the best and most constructive ways to steer us ever more into our Cityhood future.

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