Wednesday, Mar. 17, 2010

Raleigh to study Capital Blvd. gateway options

City seeks redevelopment, beautification plans

City planners and some property owners envision a redeveloped Capital Boulevard so improved that no one can tell where downtown Raleigh ends and Midtown begins.

Such a street might eventually become reality.

The city later this year will launch a wide-ranging study on how to transform the Capital Boulevard corridor between downtown and the Beltline into an attractive "gateway" to the Capital City.

Changes are likely to include street improvements, new businesses, upgrades of impaired Pigeon House Creek and additional housing.

They also could include a walkway along the creek, greenway trails, hotels, high-rise apartments and anything else property owners, developers, residents and city planners dream up during the study.

"Everyone is excited about this," said Mitchell Silver, Raleigh's planning director. "A lot of people don't think it currently has the appropriate appearance to celebrate one of the fastest-growing places in the country."

No ideas will be considered officially until the city begins the study, expected by June.

Silver said Capital Boulevard was identified as one of Raleigh's most important projects in a recent revision of the city's Comprehensive Plan.

And some residents have asked city officials to consider beautifying the street.

Bobby Poole, a Raleigh resident and commercial real-estate broker, has for several years suggested changes to City Council members and Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen.

Poole, who grew up near Capital Boulevard and lives there today, said he's excited the city is getting the ball rolling. He's rounding up business and property owners along the corridor to form an organization that will push for certain changes.

"The business owners I've met with are also very excited about the prospect of establishing a framework," Poole said. "Everyone feels it's long overdue. It needs attention. And this is the first step."

A more pedestrian-friendly corridor also would help connect downtown Raleigh to other popular districts such as Five Points and North Hills via greenway trails, said David Diaz, president of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, which plans to work on the study with the city.

Diaz said its goal is to make it possible one day for 100,000 people to commute into downtown without a car. That would help make downtown more of an entertainment and cultural district, he said.

"Strategically, the boulevard is huge in positioning downtown," he said. "The more we can encourage development along Capital Boulevard with support of things like light rail and mass transit that links downtown to the rest of the city and beyond, the more likely it is that we can position downtown as the entertainment and cultural center of the region."