PUBLIC HEARING

Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at 7:00 p.m.

Raleigh Municipal Building, 222 West Hargett Street, City Council Chamber

The public hearing opened at the City Council meeting on April 5, 2022 (presentation), and will resume during the June 7 evening City Council meeting.

Please be informed that the Council meeting starts at 7 p.m. The item you wish to speak for will come up for discussion based on the agenda set for the meeting. This item will be one of many items discussed that day, so please be prepared to wait for its turn on the agenda.

At the public hearing, both sides (for and against) can speak for the same set amount of time set by the Mayor. If you want to make sure that your position is communicated to the City Council, proponents and opponents are encouraged to choose one or two spokespersons and/or present their concerns in writing prior to the hearing. If you would like more information, please visit Public Hearings for City Council.

Wake BRT: Western Boulevard Corridor Plan is moving forward to its final phase!
The Raleigh City Council will consider the final study report and associated changes to the 2030 Comprehensive Plan, known as CP-10-21, during an in-person public hearing.

Please note that the recommendations of this study are focused on public space improvement and connectivity recommendations. This study does not include land use and/or Transit Overlay zoning recommendations for the Western Corridor. That effort is ongoing and can be tracked at the TOD Mapping webpage.

If you would like to speak directly to the City Council about this request, you must appear in person in the Council Chamber in the Raleigh Municipal Building, 222 West Hargett Street, City Council Chamber.

If you plan to attend the in-person hearing, you are required to sign-up. Please see the Public Hearings for City Council page to sign-up and for details on the public hearing.

If you have a personal conflict and cannot attend the in-person meeting, but would like to share your comments with the City Council, please email your comments to cityclerkpetition@raleighnc.gov and reference the name of the project that the comments pertain to.

You may also email directly to all City Council members at citycouncilmembers@raleighnc.gov.

Final Report

In the final phase of the planning study, staff from the Urban Design Center compiled a report on Urban Design Opportunities along the corridor. These are areas for physical and policy improvements aligned with BRT investments, capital improvement projects, and private/public partnerships.

View the Final Report and the Appendix.

Staff hosted a virtual Q+A on May 25, 2021, watch the recording.

The planning phase began in 2019 with the Western Boulevard Corridor Study (WBCS). The goal of the study was to create a plan for BRT implementation that capitalized on the unique opportunities BRT will bring to the corridor. Land use capacity, urban form, and a locally preferred alternative (LPA) were studied by a consultant team. View the consultant’s Final Report and the TOD Precedent Book on these technical items.

Project Overview

Over the last two years, residents, businesses, and other stakeholders shaped a plan for opportunities around the BRT investments for Western Boulevard. On September 21, 2021, the City Council had asked the Planning Commission to review the recommendations of the Western Boulevard Corridor Study. The Committee also reviewed the recommended Amendments to Raleigh’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan that are intended to help implement the Western Boulevard plan.

The Planning Commission reviewed this item at their meetings held in November, January, and February. On February 8, the Planning Commission voted (6-2) to recommend approval of the Wake BRT: Western Boulevard corridor study and the associated CP-10-21 with amendments. The Planning Commission recommends the removal of the proposed street connections in two areas of the Jones Franklin intersection- the Fieldspring Lane connection and the Plaza West shopping center connection shown in CP-10C-21.

If you missed the Ask-A-Planner event, view the recording of the event below.

The preliminary design phase (0 to 30 percent) for implementing BRT on Western Corridor is underway. The corridor is approximately 12 miles. It will operate in both dedicated transit lanes and mixed traffic between the GoRaleigh Station in downtown Raleigh, and the Cary Multimodal Center in downtown Cary.

As of August 2021, the project has reached the 10 percent design phase. The final location and number of BRT stations along the corridor will be determined during the preliminary design phase. 

Current activity:

• Continue coordination with Town of Cary
• Continue to coordinate with NC State about design criteria
• Continue preliminary design work, including runningway options
• Continue to coordinate with NCDOT about existing projects along the corridor 

Phase details coming soon.

Phase details coming soon.