As opposed to a surface crossing I assume? The other 5% must not have understood the question

5/1/2013 9:14:27 PM

It won't be a surface crossing no matter what. The other option was to make the road go over the tracks.

5/1/2013 9:20:56 PM

It appears I'm not familiar with the west street extension then...

5/1/2013 9:51:47 PM

5/1/2013 9:59:52 PM

^^ The tracks currently bisect West Street; it doesn't connect anywhere. You're thinking of Harrington, where the Depot parking lot provides continuity from Davie to Cabarrus.

5/2/2013 1:03:14 AM

lol at "no acorns"

5/2/2013 11:01:58 AM

Quote :

"http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/04/30/2861099/scaffolding-comes-down-revealing.html"

Uh, are the scuppers and gutter misaligned?

5/2/2013 3:05:16 PM

my guess is that the gutters have a scupper that comes up in a way that is shrouded by front of the gutter in the angle the picture was taken. Then, there is possibly a second "emergency overflow" scupper at a slightly higher elevation. It doesn't have a gutter attached since it is just emergency.

I could be completely wrong, but I've seen similar setups before.

5/2/2013 3:20:53 PM

^ Yep. Gutter is a collector head & downspout for primary roof drainage. Scupper is emergency secondary drainage in the event the downspout is backed up, and is not piped.

That building looks really damn good, especially comparing the old stucco version vs "new" side by side.

5/2/2013 4:46:19 PM

ah ok then.

I thought the suppers were normally placed above the gutter so that it flows directly into the gutter and if the gutter gets clogged, the flow just goes over the gutter and falls.

Yeh, I'm pretty sure that's how we were showing it on a project... but the architect isn't showing the gutters anymore... hmm...

[Edited on May 2, 2013 at 5:02 PM. Reason : ...]

5/2/2013 4:58:04 PM

might be a code issue. I don't normally do plumbing or architectural work (roof drains tend to fall under one of these disciplines) but I have helped someone out in a pinch before. It was an internal draining roof system though.

I believe that for roof drains, because a collapsing roof is life safety, you have to have a truly redundant setup these days, meaning the second scupper may be required, even though, depending on how it is set up, the other one may actually begin to overflow some as well if it backs up like you described (if the gutter area isn't capped and is open to the sky where it meets the scupper).

However, I don't think that rule was around back when this building was originally built so who knows. Maybe it was added now.

[Edited on May 2, 2013 at 5:21 PM. Reason : ]

5/2/2013 5:19:33 PM

So not exactly downtown, but its ITB: They are almost finished demolishing the ugly house that had the crimes problems on Wade Ave (2901? Wade Ave)

5/3/2013 9:23:54 AM

^The main body of that house (2817 Wade btw) actually dates from 1920, according to the tax records, which probably makes it one of the older houses on Wade. So that's kind of a shame that it's coming down. But the block of crappy apartments attached to the back, plus the fact that it's in terrible shape and faces 90 degrees from the road, probably don't make it a very good candidate for restoration.

It would make a nice sized lot for something like a 4-unit townhome block. Or, more likely, they'll split it into three narrow lots and put up MiniMcMansions like around the corner on Brooks where they knocked down two houses and put up five a few years back.

[Edited on May 3, 2013 at 10:22 AM. Reason : B]

5/3/2013 10:18:00 AM

Crime problems? Hippies had been living there for years. Were these problems super-recent?

[Edited on May 3, 2013 at 11:06 AM. Reason : 2]

5/3/2013 11:05:53 AM

drug problems and i think there was a murder not long ago

5/3/2013 11:43:16 AM

There definitely hasn't been a murder in that house any time in the past few years.

5/3/2013 11:52:56 AM

in the parking lot

5/3/2013 12:11:29 PM

http://dtraleigh.com/2013/05/union-station-may-2013-public-workshop/





That spot is pretty worn down as things are today.

5/3/2013 1:51:14 PM

Pretty sure the lady who lived there was a hoarder too.

5/3/2013 1:52:00 PM

I can't quite picture the overwhelming demand for people going to the SW corner of the warehouse district starting from one of the like 3 other stations around Cary and whatnot

5/3/2013 2:01:22 PM

are you saying that you can't understand why someone would travel there from other nearby stations, or why someone would use this station over one of the others?

In regards to the first item- its just a few blocks from bars and restaurants and that part will almost certainly grow and be developed more because of the station

In regards to the second item- the station is already currently heavily used, even with much nicer stations nearby.

5/3/2013 2:27:21 PM

I want to go back and sucker punch the guy who thought up Grand Central station, I would rather just get on the train in New Jersey!

5/3/2013 2:46:10 PM

both plans for the new capital blvd/ peace st interchange look like they would take out Finch's

http://www.ncdot.gov/projects/CapitalBlvdBridges/download/CapitalBlvd_PeaceStCIW2Designs.pdf

5/3/2013 2:49:49 PM

Really frustrating that they didn't go with an at grade intersection. That area will never be very nice with all those on and off ramps (though better than before surely). I have to walk to work through a highway crossing very similar to that every day, and it's extremely frustrating. There are nice crosswalks, but without signals cars just don't stop. I feel like I'm risking my life every day.

5/3/2013 2:57:20 PM

the first option is just the same shitty layout that intersection currently has, just with a bigger bridge. the second at least tries to address the traffic issues.

i wanted an at-grade crossing too

5/3/2013 3:02:09 PM

an at-grade crossing... you mean tear down the bridge and add a stoplight on capital blvd? MORE STOPLIGHTS!!!!

5/3/2013 3:25:12 PM

there is already a stoplight at the next block, so yeah

5/3/2013 3:27:13 PM

Quote :

"In regards to the first item- its just a few blocks from bars and restaurants and that part will almost certainly grow and be developed more because of the station"

Well for that matter, why do we ever build new things mixed in with existing development? We should just build a giant network of transportation, utilities, and everything else we'll need in a giant open area. If it has sufficient capacity then it'll just grow into a new Manhattan.

I'm not being entirely sarcastic either. This is certainly what is proposed by The Venus Project, Charter Cities, and probably a few others. You a voicing an opinion that the "old" model of growing cities might be broken. Hey, maybe it is! Every large metropolitan center will strangle itself in its own traffic in a decade.

See, the baffling part of your position isn't that you believe this kind of this kind of planning and seeding is necessary. The baffling part is that you think you can fix what we have.

5/3/2013 3:32:54 PM

Option #2 doesn't allow anyone to go from Capital to Peace?

5/3/2013 3:33:04 PM

yeah it does
you go over peace, make a right, make a right, and make a right

^^i don't think you understand how trains work, or maybe you don't understand that's where the station already is


[Edited on May 3, 2013 at 4:15 PM. Reason : i'm totally confused by mrfrog's position]

5/3/2013 4:12:57 PM

Quote :

"an at-grade crossing... you mean tear down the bridge and add a stoplight on capital blvd? MORE STOPLIGHTS!!!!"

Freeways and downtowns don't mix.

Quote :

"Well for that matter, why do we ever build new things mixed in with existing development? We should just build a giant network of transportation, utilities, and everything else we'll need in a giant open area. If it has sufficient capacity then it'll just grow into a new Manhattan. I'm not being entirely sarcastic either. This is certainly what is proposed by The Venus Project, Charter Cities, and probably a few others. You a voicing an opinion that the "old" model of growing cities might be broken. Hey, maybe it is! Every large metropolitan center will strangle itself in its own traffic in a decade. See, the baffling part of your position isn't that you believe this kind of this kind of planning and seeding is necessary. The baffling part is that you think you can fix what we have."

wat

Transit-oriented development is pretty well proven already in hundreds of places around the country and world.

5/3/2013 4:14:25 PM

i don't think option 2 will pass simply because of the property they would have to by

5/3/2013 4:31:07 PM

Quote :

"yeah it does you go over peace, make a right, make a right, and make a right"

ridiculous.

5/3/2013 5:45:12 PM

its what i already do, it works much better than trying to turn left onto Peace there. the new plan would make the roads better able to handle this pattern, currently just a few people have figure out this trick.

5/3/2013 5:47:25 PM

mrfrog is just trying to break the issue down into two completely polar positions so that his brain can process what we're all talking about.

5/4/2013 4:33:56 AM

Option 2 seems like a rough adaptation of a superstreet intersection, which IMO have proven their "worth." It also has the potential for more streetscape improvements as it impacts a larger area.

But, as Vulcan said, downtowns and freeways are mutually exclusive and there are plenty of older cities, particularly in the rust belt, that have illustrated the detriment of a freeway through a downtown.

With either option though, I really hope they keep at least somewhat of a pedestrian-orientation on Peace.

5/4/2013 9:53:08 AM

Option 1 will be about even less pedestrian friendly than what we currently have, since its the exact same thing as we have now except with more poorly lit bridge for homeless people to live under

5/4/2013 4:29:41 PM

I love visiting beautiful downtown Richmond.

And by "visiting," I mean gazing down upon it from a 70 foot overpass.

5/5/2013 1:47:48 AM

Downtown Richmond has some cool spots.

But yeah, Raleigh is very fortunate that the great wave of urban freeways never swept through.

This pretty much says it all:

5/5/2013 3:12:02 AM

i've always wondered what the front of that building looked like, i've only seen the roof

5/5/2013 8:16:24 AM

^same here....driven by it dozens of times, never seen in from that perspective.

Rainy day in DT raleigh for Cinco De Mayo festivities.

Any more news on this raleigh beach plan? I am developing a morbid curiosity about it.

5/5/2013 11:06:14 AM

^ sign is still on the fence

5/5/2013 11:40:21 AM

^^^^ That is a disgrace.

5/5/2013 12:55:48 PM

I've always appreciated the juxtaposition of an archaic form of mass transportation mere feet away from the modern interstate highway system. 90% of the people who drive through richmond and say "oh what a cool looking building" would have never seen it had the highway not been routed through downtown.

5/5/2013 1:06:58 PM

The problem is, a place that is great for people to drive through is usually not a great place for people to be.

5/5/2013 1:57:23 PM

Downtown Richmond is actually a lot better than folks realize, and has plenty of activity after 5 PM, but it's despite the massive clusterfuck of overpasses that run through the bottom. It sucks that it runs so close to Main Street Station, but about 50 feet to the East and the overpass would have gone right through the station (and, had it been constructed in the late 60's rather than the late 50's, that's probably what they would have done). On the other hand, the fact that the clock tower is so visible from I-95 may have been helpful in preservation efforts later on--it eliminates the "out of sight, out of mind" effect. Still, there is plenty of activity to the west in Shockoe Slip and to the east in Shockoe Bottom and Church Hill--but that's after years of efforts to turn things around. And it's still not a very friendly thing to walk under.

5/6/2013 1:19:22 AM

Downtown Richmond has a lot of neat stuff, but the actual downtown area seems so large that everything is a bit spread out. This will probably be a good thing down the road as development continues to come back to the core. Millie's Diner kicks ass.

It will be interesting to see what they do with that area around the bridge as they continue to work toward moving more service back to Main Street Station. Rerouting the interstate is pretty much off the table I would assume, so they just have to do what they can with the hand they've been dealt. I've seen some good work done to make the area under bridges more interesting and well lit, which in turn makes people feel more comfortable walking under it so it functions less like a wall splitting off parts of the city.











I guess Raleigh should think about this stuff when they build the new Peace St bridge.

5/6/2013 10:01:49 AM

We used to drive under the bridges in Richmond all the time when I was a kid (family was from there so we visited there often)

I called it the "tangled up bridges" and always got a kick about driving under them.

5/6/2013 10:09:16 AM

5/7/2013 11:21:04 AM

looks like they already need another one

5/7/2013 12:05:05 PM