Raleigh City Council Meeting

Today I learned that there would be a meeting held at Raleigh city Hall to discuss which Raleigh road projects should be given priority to present to the NC DOT. Despite needing to go to the gym, I thought it was important to voice my concerns at this discussion. Luckily, I was able to go to the gym, get a shower, and make it to City Hall by the 7 PM start time.

I have never been to City Hall or a council meeting before, so I had no idea what to expect. Upon arriving, I picked up a copy of the meeting agenda and discovered that the road project discussion was at the end of the list of items to be covered. Most of the initial items were covered quickly.

When it came time to dicuss the Transportation Imrovement Plan (TIP) priority list, public comment was solicited. I expected many people to give feedback. As I looked around the room, however, NO ONE offered comment. At that point, I decided to go forward and express my concern over the I-40 widening from wade Ave to US1/64. If you have read my earlier post on this subject, you know that it's an important issue for me.

Despite listening to my concern (and agreeing this project is necessary, I think), the city council took the attitude that smaller, more neighborhood-specific projects should be at the top of the list. I think this is beacuse of the smaller dollar amounts required by such projects as well as the fact that they relate to areas well within the city limits.

This is unfortunate, but at least I expressed my opinion to the mayor and city council. Even though this stretch of I-40 runs right along the line of the Raleigh city limits, it is, in my opinion, the most critically needed road project in the Triangle. This is how many people coming to Raleigh travel, and the backups in this area have a definite impact on business and leisure travel to the city. Many Raleigh residents (myself included) experience the severe daily congestion and accidents caused by this 3-mile bottleneck.

After the council meeting had adjourned, I was interviewed by News 14 Carolina (cool) regarding my concerns. You can see the story and video at the following URL:

http://rdu.news14.com/content/top_stories/?ArID=71726