South Main Street Corridor Study
Overview
The adopted 2019 Town of Wake Forest Comprehensive Transportation (CTP) contains a number of action items aimed at improving street connectivity, public transportation, safety, and bike/pedestrian infrastructure.
One significant action item from the CTP was to study and recommend access management policies that would improve the South Main Street corridor for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. Due to the increase in traffic congestion, crash incidents, and challenges for cyclist and pedestrians, the Wake Forest Board of Commissioners authorized the study to commence in 2023.
Background
South Main Street (US1 Alternate) is an NCDOT-owned and maintained roadway running from Capital Boulevard/US1 to Dr. Calvin Jones Highway/NC 98 Bypass in proximity to historic Wake Forest district. This study will include a Study Listed Historic District as well as properties that are listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places and/or Local Historic Landmark Properties.
The South Main Street corridor cross-section varies and includes on-street bike facilities of non-contiguous segments between Rogers Road and NC98. Sidewalks and a located bus service (the Loop) are included along portions of the corridor as well. As one of the major vehicular connections in Town, this corridor is heavily travelled, and the uncontrolled access and limited multimodal infrastructure has created significant safety concerns throughout the corridor. The 2019 Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) indicated high levels of crashes on the corridor.
Purpose & Goals
The Town wishes to evaluate the corridor in terms of access and mobility and to determine feasible recommendations for improving the safety, comfort, access and multimodal mobility for all users. The final deliverables will reflect two key goals:
Evaluate existing roadway conditions and multi-modal access on the corridor
The Study will evaluate existing roadway capacity and volume, safety, future traffic growth, impacts to cultural and historic resources, and multi-modal access.Develop a preferred conceptual design
The Study will provide a high-level concept design of the entire corridor with recommended solutions for access management, intersections, and multi-modal connectivity along the corridor.
Timeline
The South Main Street Corridor Study is anticipated to be completed by Spring 2024.
Meetings & Events
Thank you to everyone who attended the March 13 South Main Street Corridor Study Open House.
At this meeting, two concepts, designed to mitigate some of the serious challenges experienced on South Main Street, were shared with the public.
Concept A: Partial Optimization was developed to stay generally within the current road right-of-way area, which allows for partial optimization of the corridor. Though constrained, this Concept still aims to significantly mitigate the corridor’s challenges with new multi-use paths, roundabouts, improved crosswalks, and planted medians with a lush tree canopy.
Concept B: Full Optimization was developed with no right-of-way constraints and seeks to fully transform S. Main Street into a walkable, green gateway into the heart of Wake Forest. Concept B also aims to mitigate some of the corridor’s challenges with new bike and pedestrian infrastructure, roundabouts, improved crosswalks, and planted medians with a lush tree canopy. However, Concept B goes further by providing dedicated, off-street bike lanes, wide sidewalks, and parallel parking. The parallel parking is designed to not only supplement future redevelopment, but offer a safety buffer for cyclist and pedestrians, slow traffic with “optical narrowing”, and provide pull-off opportunities for disabled vehicles and emergency response vehicles – which often impede traffic flow.
For detailed street-level renderings and additional supporting information, click here.
Please note: Currently, this project is unfunded. The purpose of the Study is to explore possible solutions that address some of the significant challenges South Main Street is facing and receive public feedback. Public feedback will be used to refine a preferred design. This preferred design will create the foundation for detailed engineering drawings and eventual construction once funding becomes available.
If you have any questions or feedback, please email Brad West.
March 13 Open House Photo Gallery
September 13 Open House
Thank you to everyone who attended the September 13 South Main Street Corridor Study Open House.
Below are the key takeaways from participants at the meeting:
Rogers Road is a pinch point
S. Main Street is unsafe to cross, hard to turn onto, and congested
Middle School access on S. Main Street is constricted and not safe for students to cross
The intersection of S. Main Street and Capital Blvd (US 1) presents challenges
Town should study widening the road north of Rogers Road for a consistent cross section up to Dr. Calvin Jones Highway (NC 98)
Town should study the use of roundabouts, including a roundabout at Rogers Road
New, protected mid-block crossings are the top preferred pedestrian safety infrastructure improvement for S. Main Street.
New, bike lanes adjacent to sidewalks are the top preferred bike and pedestrian infrastructure improvement for S. Main Street.
New, outdoor seating and open/patio spaces are the top preferred streetscape improvement for S. Main Street.