Hillsborough roundabouts
one step closer

A plan to change several intersections on Hillsborough Street into roundabouts moved one step closer to reality following a bond referendum on Tuesday, Oct. 11.

Nearly 70 percent of Raleigh voters who participated in the election approved a request by the city to borrow $60 million for a Street Improvement Bond. Some of that money – $3 million – is earmarked for the roundabout project.

However, don’t look for any construction crews just yet. The bond money will not even be available until July 1, 2006, and then a lot of decisions must be made before building begins.

“We will probably retain a design consultant, and then work with the university and the Hillsborough Street Partnership (a citizen’s group) in deciding on locations,” said Eric Lamb, transportation services manager for the city’s Public Works Department. “The process is going to be citizen-driven.”

When the project was initially introduced, planners envisioned constructing 11 roundabouts – most of them between Gorman Street and Oberlin Road – at a price of about $15 million. Those plans fell through, and the city is approaching the project on a much smaller scale, calling for two or three roundabouts. However, the goals of the project have not changed.

“This project began with two tenets – one was to improve pedestrian safety and the other was to boost economic development in the area,” Lamb said. “The question for us is, ‘Where can we do the best job of building the roundabouts based on those two criteria?’”

Hillsborough Street would be reduced to two lanes where the roundabouts are placed. The design would likely also include medians and wider sidewalks. It is expected that traffic flow would lighten as drivers access faster routes to and from downtown.

Posted Oct. 28, 2005

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