The City of Raleigh released their Public Review Draft Report for the Crabtree Valley Transportation Study at the City Council meeting on September 7, 2010. The study looks at several options for easing traffic woes while increasing safety and walkability in the area near Crabtree Valley Mall. The City Council  opened a public comment period for 30 days, with comments due by 5:00 PM on Thursday, October 7th, 2010 .

The website for this review shows PDFs of 9 or so different plans for the area. It appears that some central themes include putting more pressure on Crabtree Valley Avenue, enabling Ridge Road traffic to access Glenwood Avenue without entering 440E, and converting all speed ramp accesses to right turns.

To begin, I passionately hate the idea of removing entrance ramps and replacing them with 90-degree turns. Somewhat recent changes at Western Blvd. and I-440 resulted in a right turn to access 440 East. The result has been more unexpected brake tapping as queues build to access the acceleration ramp. Additionally this move wastes energy as drivers have to trim much speed, make the turn, then accelerate aggressively to reach cruising speeds on I-440. Surely the pedestrian was in mind, but this intersection has about a 100,000:1 car/pedestrian ratio. These pedestrians only have to manage crossing 12 feet while monitoring traffic from one direction. If the DOT wants those accessing the ramp to hold a slow speed until after passing the pedestrian crossing, then they should use signage and corrugated pavement to slow drivers.

I really like the idea of winding Ridge Road traffic around to Glenwood Ave and requiring it to use the ramp system there to access 440. This will allow the existing Ridge Road ramp area to play a role in accessing Crabtree Valley Avenue. I also feel that Crabtree Valley Avenue can become an important piece to this puzzle.

The nine plans must be considered for not only their effectiveness, but also their costs. They are as follows:

There is an additional plan called “ Ridge Road †(.pdf) that appears to be the economy model. It removes cloverleafs for people exiting Glenwood in either direction, and reopens the one from 440E to Glenwood West. The problem with this plan is that it adds a signal to the west side of the intersection, requiring people going from Glenwood West to 440W to use a left turn signal. It also reintroduces the original problem with Glenwood’s cloverleaf; traffic entering and exiting 440E must cross over each other. This plan does, however, call for this zone to extend from the current Ridge Road entrance to beyond the Glenwood bridge. The plan would be cheap, but would not reduce accidents and really would not improve traffic on 440E as the loop exit only has a 1-car-wide queue.

Elements from the plans that I like:

• Removing all exiting traffic from 440E at the current Ridge Road exit, before entering traffic has access to I-440.
• Routing Ridge Road with the exiting 440E traffic over to Glenwood Ave.
• Using Arrow Drive as a crescent, only accessible from Glenwood and Blue Ridge Roads.
• In order for Crabtree Valley Avenue to truly be accessed efficiently, the flyovers in Plan B1 will be needed. However they may not be needed in the short term, as traffic can use existing Creedmoor Rd to access CVA and its 440 accesses.
• I like the ramp design off of 440E in Plan A3b. It cuts into the existing woods just before the existing Ridge Road intersection and offers a more gentle curve. People will want the ramp’s ascension to help trim their speed gently, and that will cause fewer ripples back onto I-440E than the plans which call for using the existing, sharp exit shape.

Elements that are Not Necessary:

• The plans to reroute Crabtree Valley Avenue up the Edwards Mill hill behind where Brendle’s was seem to accomplish nothing. In fact, they remove any possibility of gracefully linking the avenue with Glenwood.
• The Lead Mine access flyovers to 440E and Glenwood are an expensive solution. What might work better is a modified-SPUI where Lead Mine road flies over Glenwood to become Blue Ridge Road. It should be designed, however, to send 440-bound traffic on southbound Lead Mine over to the Crabtree Valley Ave access, instead of using Glenwood Avenue’s access.
• 440W direct access to North Hills Drive (as seen in the “Ridge Road†plan).
• The plans, such as A3, which show westbound Ridge Road traffic passing under the ramps that access Crabtree Valley Avenue. Westbound Ridge Road would be a lightly traveled road, and a simple stop sign to cross over exiting 440E traffic should suffice and save a lot of money. Also I feel strongly that Varnell Avenue’s access remain open to Ridge Road. I don’t like the idea of limiting a neighborhood’s access to major roads to only one point.
• All plans call for removing the signal for traffic exiting Crabtree onto Blue Ridge Road, and converting the access to a right in/right out. This calls for all traffic intending to go northbound on Lead Mind to instead use the Homewood Banks/Crabtree Valley Avenue access to get over to northbound Blue Ridge/Lead Mine. The increased pressure on this parking lot intersection probably calls for either a signal on private property or a roundabout.

I’m not the only one with an opinion, though. Be sure to send yours via email to valleystudy@gmail.com or via regular mail to:

Fleming El-Amin
City of Raleigh Public Works Dept.
P.O. Box 590
Raleigh, NC 27602