Anderson Drive has, for decades, been an important connector from Glenwood Avenue to Six Forks Road. The very wide street was once lined with a mix of well and poorly maintained ranch houses. In the past 15 years, though, the street has become a teardown ally and the trend shows no end.

Last year the City of Raleigh included Anderson Drive as one of its targets for traffic abatement. They drafted a plan that would include an abatement plan much heavier handed than residents desired. Recently the residents and the City of Raleigh’s traffic engineers agreed upon a few measures including reduction of the speed limit from 35mph to 30mph. Also, the city will reorganize the intersection at Six Forks, removing the smooth turn from Six Forks South and replacing it with a hard right turn. (The city did the same on Western Blvd at I-440 and the result has simply been a gas-guzzling nuisance). Another measure that is being taken is the painting of bike lanes on either side of the existing street, much like those on Ridge Road. The primary intent, though, is not to provide safe passage for cyclists, but rather to change the perception in the road’s width. Studies show that drivers move slower in narrow lanes than in wide ones.

While Anderson Drive is a strictly residential street and needs to be traveled safely, it is potentially a huge piece to a larger puzzle. With North Hills growing and being an urban focus center in Raleigh’s planning models, movement in the area will become more congested with time. North Hills can thank I-440 for much of its success, however it also reveals some of I-440’s weaknesses.

Perimeter highways are much like a colander. Their design limits crossing movement, so there is great pressure at the few opportunities to cross such a highway. Highways like I-440 are acceptable in populated areas only if there are adequate minor crossings to accompany the major crossings. Roads like Glen Eden, Yadkin, and Atlantic Avenue are vital to the success of the Crabtree and North Hills areas.

As North Hills continues its dense growth down St. Albans Drive to Wake Forest Road, there will be increasing pressure at the Six Forks and Wake Forest Road interchanges with I-440. Some of that traffic will be using the intersections for I-440 access, but much of the traffic will only be passing through because there is currently no better north-south alternative. An alternative does exist, though.

If one studies a map of the North Hills area, they will see that Anderson Drive lines up in nearly a straight line with Quail Hollow Drive, an absurdly-wide, tertiary neighborhood connector. By connecting Anderson and Quail Hollow Drives with a bridge that does not access I-440, navigation in the North Hills area will be greatly improved for decades to come.

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The conveniences far outweigh the costs in this scenario. Currently Quail Hollow and Anderson residents must use Wake Forest or Six Forks Roads to venture across the beltline. This laborious task puts unnecessary pressure on the two I-440 interchanges, and creates an unpleasant trip for these residents. The cost of joining these two underutilized arteries, aside from construction and land acquisition, is increased local traffic. The increased traffic flow would not overwhelm the quality of life improvements provided by the union. Residents near Glen Eden Road and Yadkin Drive are extremely well served by their passes over/under the beltline. Their property values are easily 10% higher than they would be if residents of the areas had to rely on exiting their neighborhoods to use major arteries in order to cross the sieve. Accessibility to police and rescue vehicles would also be dramatically improved with the connection.

Raleigh needs to work on more connectivity in residential areas to make streets safer and less congested, not on restrictive policies that cause people to drive faster to make up for time lost. Anderson Drive is a 40’-wide secondary connector joining two of Raleigh’s most important arteries. It never has been a quiet, local street, and it never will. It is time that Raleigh recognizes that it needs to creatively work with its scant opportunities to improve traffic as a whole, not the needs of one particular street. Let’s connect Raleigh and make it work better.