View Blue Ridge Road @ Hillsborough Street in a larger map

Over or under?

That’s the quandary for railroaders, traffic engineers, and scads of drivers and pedestrians who yearn for a smart way to separate busy Blue Ridge Road from its clogged crossings at Hillsborough Street and twin train tracks in West Raleigh.

About 40,000 cars and 22 trains creep through this intersection on an average day – and at this hot spot, average is a misleading idea. Weekend flea markets, the annual State Fair, and frequent hockey, basketball and football games all make this corner even more trafficacious. [12/14 update: reader comments and more detail in today's Road Worrier.]

NCDOT engineers say the forecast is for gridlock here by 2030 – unless we pick one of these options: ... [MORE]