A traffic circle at the intersection of Bart St. at E Lenoir St. was identified as the best traffic calming device to meet the needs of the neighborhood. The neighborhood voted to approve the project design in late 2021 and construction of the project began in early 2023.
During our design process, staff identified project overlap between this traffic calming project effort and an upcoming Raleigh Water project to replace old utility lines underground. The neighborhood traffic circle at the intersection of Bart St. and E Lenoir St. was identified as being in direct conflict. Instead of installing a permanent concrete neighborhood traffic circle that would be removed shortly after installation, staff worked to find alternate solutions so that the residents around Bart St. will receive the benefits of the full traffic calming project build out while we wait for the Raleigh Water to complete their project.
Staff has been actively looking for a location to install a temporary neighborhood traffic circle using thermoplastic paint and flexible delineators as a pilot project to evaluate the effectiveness and durability of this type of installation. This situation provided the City with a perfect opportunity to test out this temporary measure with the knowledge the permanent neighborhood traffic circle has a path forward to construction after the Raleigh Water project.
If the temporary neighborhood traffic circle is found to be successful at slowing drives down, increasing intersection safety, and holds up from a maintenance perspective, this treatment type could be added to the City’s safety tool belt as a way to quickly and cost effectively increase intersection safety along Raleigh’s neighborhood streets.