Member Briefing: June 9
- June 9, 2023
- Posted by: Jacob Rigg
- Category: Member briefing
Bikeshare returns to the capital city
The City of Raleigh’s bikeshare program, Cardinal Bikeshare, resumed service this week. Raleigh has made it even easier to explore the city this summer, by offering 60 days of completely free rides – or a free 60-day extension if you were already a member. New users will have to download the app or create an account on the program webpage to get access to the free rides on the bikeshare service. The free rides apply for the first 60 minutes and a $2 charge will apply for every 30 minutes afterward. To learn more please visit the announcement webpage and/or the Cardinal Bikeshare homepage.
US 70 (future I-42) exit from I-40 to close for the weekend
Travelers from Raleigh heading to Clayton, Smithfield, or points further into eastern North Carolina, that normally use the US 70 freeway interchange (exit 309) in their travels, will need to detour via US 70 business (exit 306) or NC 42 (exit 312) this weekend due to construction of 540 near the Wake/Johnston county line. The closure begins this (Friday) evening and will continue until just before the Monday morning commute; NCDOT has more information here. The detour is a small price to pay for the continued construction of the 540 Triangle Expressway which is progressing nicely.
“Freeway One is Priority One…”
As stated in a previous blog, RTA has designated the upgrade of US 1/Capital Boulevard north of I-540 into a multimodal freeway as our top freeway priority. Currently the segment immediately north of I-540 is slated to begin freeway construction in two years; however, the remaining segments between I-540 and Wake Forest are now unfunded in the new state transportation improvement program (STIP) approved by the NC Board of Transportation this week. We will be working with NCDOT, the Capital Area MPO, the town of Wake Forest, the City of Raleigh, the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce, the Raleigh Chamber, and other partners to identify and advance a solution that will make a multimodal “Freeway One” a much faster reality for US 1 north of I-540. I spoke with WRAL about this and other important projects this week. We will have more to come on this essential, long-term improvement to Capital Boulevard in upcoming briefings.
Thank you, as always, for your membership and support. Have a great weekend.
Let’s get moving,
Joe
RTA Executive Director
Click here for prior RTA Member Briefings and RTA Blogs.
