View Glenwood speed limit in a larger map

NCDOT says it has reduced the speed limit from 55mph to 45mph on a three-mile stretch of Glenwood Avenue (US 70) from Duraleigh Road to the Umstead State Park entrance.

That gives Glenwood a consistent 45mph limit all the way from Oberlin Road to the Westgate / Lumley road interchange.

The slowdown was ordered after a traffic safety study, requested by Raleigh police, concluded that higher speeds ... [MORE]

G. Wesley Williams, 90, Raleigh Hall of Famer, long retired as longtime director of the Raleigh Merchants Association (not to be confused -- or is he? -- with Canadian rap star Wesley "Maestro Fresh-Wes" Williams), offers this paean to a paving crew on the street near where he lives:

 GLENWOOD AVENUE:  A RIDE WITH PRIDE

Here's hoping Glenwood Avenue will soon be washboard free.
When all is smooth, it will be time to celebrate with rejoicing and glee.
 
Finally, a blot on the face of the Capital City has been removed.
Let's resolve to be vigilant to keep Glenwood Avenue free from shame to be behooved.
 
Thanks to all who made Glenwood Avenue a good ride.
May it be maintained as an asset we can point to with pride.

G. Wesley Williams
Executive Director Emeritus
Greater Raleigh Merchants Association
( a grateful nonagenarian native of Raleigh)
 

View Glenwood Ave repair job in a larger map

DOT road crews reopened the side streets at Five Points today, two months after closing them as part of a $2.7 million Glenwood Avenue repair project that is nearing completion.

Drivers on Glenwood now can turn onto  Whitaker Mill Road and Glenn Avenue at Five Points. Access to Fairview Road will be restored after a block party planned for Saturday, said Jeff Allen, a DOT engineer overseeing the Glenwood project.

DOT is finishing a Glenwood repaving project that was expanded this summer to include the removal of deteriorating concrete slabs between Five Points and Wade Avenue. Traffic has been reduced to two lanes on that part of Glenwood, but Allen said he hopes to restore four-lane traffic by the end of next week.

View Glenwood Ave repair job in a larger map

DOT says it will reopen Glenn Avenue, Fairview Road and the Fairview business district at Five Points Friday.

A project to rebuild Glenwood from Five Points to Wade Avenue is expected to be finished around the end of September.  Jeff Allen, the DOT engineer overseeing the work, said he hoped to restore all four lanes of traffic by the end of next week.

The Five Points intersection now is reopened to traffic. It had been closed for several months because of a repaving project along Glenwood.

Several areas are still under construction:

- the ramp from westbound Glenwood to westbound Wade Avenue is closed.

- the ramp from westbound Wade to westbound Glennwood is closed.

- Fairview Road is now one-way.

View Glenwood Ave repair job in a larger map 

The Fairview and Whitaker Mill road intersections at Five Points were reopened to traffic today, NCDOT says.

NCDOT closed them on July 6 for work on a project to repair Glenwood from Five Points to Wade Avenue.  The closings were only supposed to last two weeks, but the work took longer than expected.

Glenwood is still squeezed into one lane each way between Five Points and Wade. NCDOT engineers say they hope to finish the work and reopen all lanes by mid-September.

View Glenwood Ave repair job in a larger map

Captain Kevin Craghead of the Raleigh Police Department has these suggestions for drivers trying to get from Glenwood Avenue to Whitaker Mill and Fairview roads on the east side of Five Points:

From Northbound Glenwood Avenue:

Turn right on White Oak Road, then turn right on Sunset Drive, which will intersect with Whitaker Mill Road.  (For those drivers trying access Fairview Road, they should continue straight on Sunset Drive and they will intersect with Fairview Road, which is now two-way between Scales Street and Glenwood Avenue during construction).  They can then turn right on Fairview Road to park and access the businesses on the East side of Five Points, such as the BP Gas Station, the Point Restaurant and the Rialto Theater. 

From southbound Glenwood Avenue:

Turn left on Alexander Drive, then turn right on White Oak Road.  Drivers can then access Fairview or Whitaker Mill following the directions above. 

Police have been ticketing drivers who illegally cut through the Five Points BP at the corner of Glenwood and Fairview, where road work has closed the Fairview intersection.

View Glenwood Ave repair job in a larger map

Five Points business owners say Raleigh police are writing lots of tickets for drivers who cut through corner parking lots to get around obstacles caused by a summer-long repair project on Glenwood Avenue.

"The policemen give them tickets left and right," said Harum Rashed, manager of the Five Points BP gas station and convenience store at the corner of Glenwood and Fairview Road. [See police tips for avoiding chaos and tickets at Five Points.]

“When the construction started, they blocked all the roads and gave me just one small driveway so people can come in and go out,” Rashed said. “I don’t have a problem if anybody cuts through my driveway.”

Bill Peebles, co-owner of the Rialto Theater, says Five Points residents and business patrons should take care to avoid getting a ticket. ... [MORE]

View Glenwood Ave & Wade Ave repair jobs in a larger map

The Fairview and Whitaker Mill road intersections at Five Points will be closed starting Tuesday, July 6, for about two weeks as part of a repair project that is squeezing Glenwood Avenue traffic this summer, NCDOT says.

NCDOT will remove deteriorating concrete slabs between Five Points and Wade Avenue, and replace them with new asphalt pavement. Glenwood is reduced to one lane each way, and the on- and off-ramps at Wade Avenue are closed.

View Glenwood Ave & Wade Ave repair jobs in a larger map;

North Carolina highways will be extra busy this weekend, with AAA Carolinas predicting a 12 percent increase over last year in July Fourth holiday travel.

Triangle drivers were pumping self-service regular gas Wednesday for an average $2.63 a gallon, a penny more than they paid a year ago.

The state Department of Transportation will suspend most construction work from Thursday afternoon until Tuesday morning. But drivers will find traffic lanes closed through the weekend while work is suspended on roads including Wade and Glenwood avenues in Raleigh. ... [MORE]