Relocate Triangle - An Insider's Guide About Moving To The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Area

Speeding Tickets in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill

Yes, we know, you always obey the posted speed limits when you drive because you never break the law when operating a vehicle. Right. Now for the remaining 99 percent of us, here is what you need to know in case you are ticketed while trying to hurry to your arrival at your new residence in the Triangle, for example. Basically, be prepared for a tough ordeal.

The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles puts the situation to you bluntly on its Web site: “Getting a traffic ticket in North Carolina can be a serious ordeal. Not only will it affect your driving record, but it will also impact your wallet. In addition to fines and court costs, insurance companies have their own points systems, separate from the DMV’s. So your insurance rates could skyrocket for common violations like speeding.”

Leaving aside the insurance system, the state point system just mentioned allocates three points for drivers convicted of speeding more than 55 mph, speeding through a school zone or speeding through a safety zone. If they find that you engaged in reckless driving, that earns you four points. (These points are greater if you are operating a commercial vehicle.) If you are found guilty of excessive speeding, your driver’s license may be suspended (which will require at least a $50 fee to restore your license once your suspension period ends) or even revoked.

If you earn seven or more points, you may be required to attend a Driver Improvement Clinic that costs $50 and will lower three points from your record if you complete it successfully. In the Triangle, these clinics are located at Troop C Headquarters off Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh and at 101 S. Miami Blvd. in Durham (the Durham one covers Orange and Durham counties).

On the other hand, if you somehow manage to accumulate 12 or more points within a three-year period, your N.C. driver’s license could be suspended. These conditions all apply the same whether you are cited by the North Carolina Highway Patrol, a sheriff’s deputy in a county or a city patrol officer.

Questions concerning a traffic ticket issued by a N.C. law enforcement officer should be directed to the District Attorney for the county which the ticket was issued. To find who that is, click here. Questions about the court date or location should be directed to the Clerk of Superior Court of the county in which the ticket was issued, and that person may be found here. Payment of fines and costs are not made to the officer but to the Clerk of Superior Court. The clerk does not accept personal checks, only money orders, bank checks and cash only when paying in person.

The fine entered by the officer on the back of the ticket is set by the Conference of Chief District Court Judges and not by the officer. The Division of Motor Vehicles will revoke a person’s driver’s license or the right to drive on an out-of-state license if the person fails to appear in court or fails to pay the fine and costs. The revocation will remain in effect until the ticket is paid and the person goes to court.

If any or all of your charges are non-waivable, you will have to go to court, whether you are pleading guilty or not guilty. There is no choice to enter a guilty plea and pay a fine. Your appearance in court is mandatory, and if you fail to appear, a judge can order that you be arrested.

Here is the really scary part: some lawyers may send you a letter offering you their services if they see you have earned a speeding ticket. The lawyers obtain the names and addresses from the Clerk of Superior Court. The officer issuing the ticket has no control over the advertising – the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that lawyers have a constitutional right to advertise. Talk about adding insult to injury.

So if you are going to speed – and yes, we realize that most of you will – be prudent in your judgment and avoid doing it around school zones (which are fairly heavily patrolled in the Triangle even when school is not in session) and for prolonged periods of time. The cost in time and money simply is not worth it – plus you have lawyers soliciting you for business as well. Need we say more?

Straddling the Counties in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill

For some newcomers to the Triangle, particularly from smaller communities, there is an occasionally frustrating feature they encounter in that they live in one county yet find themselves at the same time located within the town limits of a place based in another. It applies already to parts of Raleigh being in Durham County, Durham in part of Orange County, Chapel Hill in Durham County, and Mebane lying in both Alamance and Orange counties. It probably will apply in the near future to Durham in Wake County and Cary in Chatham County.

The cities just mentioned have noticed much growth in these “straddling” locations, so it is not surprising they have included them as part of their tax base. But while these areas continue to be popular, they do make it difficult at times for people residing in them to remember that they are in a city primarily based in another county, due to several occasional conflicting issues.

Indeed, when relocating to the Triangle, you have to consider the implications of living in a “straddling” section. For example, you will find that unless you receive a special exemption or have them enrolled in a private school, your children will be going to school in your county rather than the one in your city. You will find that some services will be provided by the county and others by the overlapping city, and you must be sure you know which handles what elements, otherwise you could end up wasting time and maybe money in trying to address a problem with one local government agency when you really needed to use the other one.

These kinds of confusion also apply if you should be living in the Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) zone for planning, which can extend out more than one mile from the city limits in some parts of the Triangle. That would mean you would have to meet the city’s ordinances rather than the county’s for something like building an extension to your house, which may take more time and money than it would under county requirements.

At the same time, there are advantages to living in a “straddling” neighborhood or even ETJ. You can save money in some cases – for example, Chapel Hill residents in Durham County get to enjoy Durham’s lower tax rate than Chapel Hillians who live in Orange County. Another is a certain cachet for the address – the possibility of living in Durham County but having a Raleigh mailing address is considered the best of both worlds to some people, as you get the less-dense population of Durham County along with a better-known city to call home.

Mostly, however, the big plus is that the region itself is basically considered one entity – hence the Triangle appellation covering most of Orange, Durham and Wake counties – and that with Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh now all bordering each other, divisions between the communities are becoming more superficial, and considerable joint planning is being done by the towns to make sure their visions for the future align with what each other plans as well.

Finally, while your prospective new home may not lie within the town limits of a city in another county right now, it may well be there in the future if it lies in the planned expansion zone by the city. For a guide to what is being anticipated in the future, see our May 11, 2007 entry “Triangle Annexation Plans.”

Valet Parking In Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill

To some of us, valet parking reeks of sophistication, while others find it the height of pretension. Here in the Triangle due to the continuing strong growth in population, cities where it never existed as recently as the 1980s are finding it a necessity to cope with the parking and transportation needs of residents and visitors.

For example, according to this article on the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership Web site, nine businesses on the West End of Franklin Street have teamed with the Downtown Partnership, a nonprofit organization charged with revitalizing the city, to offer valet parking Thursdays through Saturdays from 5-11 p.m. for customers who might be discouraged visiting them due to limited nearby parking options. Best of all, the valet parking is complimentary with a validated parking receipt from the business. (If you want to go somewhere else downtown during the valet service’s hours of operation, you can use the service as well, but it will cost you $5.)

Raleigh offers something similar with its designated downtown valet zones, according to this recent article in The Raleigh Chronicle. On Fridays and Saturdays from 5:30 p.m. to 3 a.m., at locations such as Blount Street next to Moore Square, you can drop off and pick up your vehicle for free while enjoying the nightlife.

Of course, not all valet parking in the Triangle is free. Most ones involving individual businesses start around $5 at least, and you are expected to tip your driver as well when he or she returns your car. There are some establishments that do offer it free to their guests, such as Nana’s Chophouse in Raleigh and the Siena Hotel in Chapel Hill, but they often are the exception rather than the rule.

So for your information, here is a sampling of what major businesses in the Triangle are known to offer valet parking for a fee currently (keep in mind that some offer lot parking as well, so it is not necessarily a requirement that you use the valet service):

Raleigh – The Capital City Club, Sullivan’s Steakhouse, The Angus Barn, The Office.

Durham – Duke University Medical Center and Health Clinics, Hilton Durham, Durham Marriott, MK’s House of Jazz.

Chapel Hill – The Franklin Hotel, Carolina Inn, UNC Hospitals.

In addition, most of the big shopping centers in the area such as the Streets at Southpoint offer valet parking, and should you be a guest at what is referred to as a “gentleman’s club,” all of those operations offer valet as well.

University Parking in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill

In our recent entry regarding “Parking in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill” (see June 26), we promised that we would cover area university parking policies at a later date. Well, that time is now, so here is our overview, which focuses on guest parking (if you are lucky enough to obtain a parking pass due to your job at a university here, be eternally grateful for that powerful perk).

Basically, parking at area universities is quite congested, particularly during business hours weekdays as well as football and basketball games at nights and on the weekends. It is not uncommon to see people park along roadsides for the latter, and for universities to charge higher prices to park in areas nearest to the stadium or recreational center where the games are held. The meter rates at universities typically are higher than that for parking in other parts of the cities, allow less time and are less numerous than city metered spaces. Most of your options will be at lots that cost more than meters as well. In short, be prepared to pay more and spend longer time looking for a space when you are trying to park at a university compared to a city in the Triangle.

The breakdown of the parking situation per major university is as follows:

North Carolina State University offers visitors both hourly pay lots and parking spaces, but check out their other options. This university clearly does more than the other two in trying to accommodate their guests – you can purchase daily permits for just $2 per day at the Visitor Information Centers at Main Campus on Stinson Drive or at Centennial Campus on Varsity Drive, as well as the NCSU Transportation Office at 2721 Sullivan Drive weekdays from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Visitors may also purchase permits online, and departments may purchase permits online for their visitors (yes!). State clearly has its act together for visitor parking – in fact, some businesses surrounding it in Raleigh may be well advised to learn how convenient the university has made things for its visitors.

According to the Duke University visitor parking page, “Duke University and Medical Center strive to provide convenient and affordable parking for all visitors.” If that is the case, they need to keep on striving. In terms of the university, you are basically limited to five lots apart from weeknights and weekends, with most charging an hourly rate of $2 going all the way up to $12 per day if you find yourself staying there all day. A flat rate is charged for events, including the much-desired basketball games. One piece of general advice: The parking lot across from the Medical Center has the most number of spaces, but it is the longest distance from most parts of West Campus (forget it for East Campus – you have to take a long walk and cross either under or over the Durham Freeway to get there from here). Parking off University Road is tighter, but it is much more accessible to the main buildings at Duke if you can find a space.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill visitor parking also mentions the availability of parking spaces in the town of Chapel Hill, which ought to warn you that this could be your trickiest place to you’re your car among the area’s centers of higher learning. Be prepared to walk even if you manage to snag some on-campus spot, because almost all of them are located blocks away from the major schools and attractions, with the possible exception of the Morehead Planetarium, although that one has rather limited parking itself. The university’s Department of Public Safety is known (and often disliked) for its constant vigilant patrol of metered spaces to see if they have expired, and since few last beyond two hours, you may find yourself having to run back to beat them even if you are less than a minute over on your meter. Meters generally run 25 cents per quarter hour, while lots can run up to $2 per hour.

If none of these suggestions sound good to you, you can take alternative transportation to and from the universities to avoid the parking costs. Just be prepared for the traffic to and from your university destination – you are not going to be the only person to realize and pursue that option.

Parking in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill

The good news about downtown areas in the Triangle: Unlike some communities, they are all vibrant areas of commerce, with many shops, restaurants and other places of business occurring in their districts. The bad news about downtown areas in the Triangle: They all cost you money to park your car when visiting them during business hours.

Parking is a major headache in many Triangle towns. There either seems to be too little available next to major attractions, or too much to pay when you find a space. And if you are just a few minutes late in feeding coins to an expired parking meter, somehow it seems the police always seem to find your car in time to ticket it before you arrive – or worse yet, tow you if the space is too valuable. This can be quite costly. In Raleigh, for example, you can be ticketed $12 for a meter violation, and if you are towed.

There are ways of beating this, of course. Triangle shopping centers do not charge for parking, for example, and of course if you use public transportation, you will not have a car that needs a space when you are downtown. Also, parking decks and spaces generally (but not always) do not charge visitors at night, on weekends and during holidays. And some nearby residential streets are free for you to park during business hours, if you do not mind walking a couple of blocks to your downtown destination.

But chances are that at least one time you will need to be downtown in a Triangle city on a weekday to do business or maybe just for pleasure, so keep the following tips in mind for the major cities:

Raleigh has a meter rate of 50 cents and charges a maximum of $9 per day to use its parking decks. There are monthly lot rates available ranging from $50 to $120. Some downtown establishments do have a limited number of spaces devoted to their patrons – check with them ahead of time to see if such a setup exists. A good general resource for the Raleigh parking situation and locations of where you can and should park can be found in the PDF format at this link. And if you do have a traffic violation, the city at least is nice enough to let you pay for it via the Internet at the Park Raleigh Web site.

The parking situation in Durham is 60 cents per hour up to a maximum of $5.85 at any of the city’s four big parking garages. However, there are some lots with free spaces or spaces that are free with a one-hour or two-hour time limit as well, and then others that are just spaces contracted at monthly rates ranging from $10 to $35. If that all sounds confusing and inconsistent to you, well, welcome to downtown Durham. The full explanation of what is involved where can be read on this lengthy page in the town’s official Web site.

In Chapel Hill, Franklin Street has a limited number of spots that allow for only two hours of parking maximum off the street at 25 cents per every 15 minutes. Two big municipal parking lots located on Rosemary Street, which parallels Franklin to the north, charge 65 cents every half hour up to six hours, then $1.80 per hour afterward. For a handy guide to what spaces are available in town and where they are located, click here.

Finally, please note the area universities have their own parking rules and enforcement beyond what is presented here. Because they are so extensive themselves, we will cover them in a later blog.

Billboards (or Lack Thereof) in the Triangle

One element drivers may or may not notice about their time riding on Interstate 40 in Wake, Durham and Orange counties is that there are no billboards, only standard informational signs about food, lodging and gasoline services available nearby at each exit, with up to six businesses allowed to put their logos on each sign with a blue background and an indication about how many miles the businesses are from the exit. This is intentional – when I-40 was finished from its split from Interstate 85 in Orange County until it ended in Wilmington some 260 miles later, the state authorized that no billboards be allowed to appear on the new road. Those restrictions later were dropped, yet the Triangle counties have continued to enforce a ban on billboards, because local leaders generally believe they add clutter and spoil scenic views in the area.

Of course, this does not mean that the Triangle is barren of billboards. The older I-85 has plenty in Orange and Durham counties, although nowhere near as what you might find in neighboring Alamance County. Anyone on Capital Boulevard in Raleigh sees them coming and going each day as well. But according to this excellent recent article in Business Leader Magazine, over nearly the last 25 years local government regulations have not permitted billboards to be replaced when damaged by natural occurrences, such as tornadoes, hurricanes or even real estate development, or be relocated when road projects threaten their location or when billboard visibility cannot be controlled due to surrounding vegetation.

These conditions have made it very unfavorable if not impossible for industry leaders such as Fairway Outdoor Advertising to construct new billboards in the Triangle as new roads appear, such as Interstate 540. They are trying to persuade local governments to adopt a cap-and-replace ordinance to keep the number of billboards the same yet allow area billboard companies to replace damaged billboards or those threatened by area development and relocate them to more appropriate areas. In return, billboard companies would offer vegetation management to control growth around their billboards to allow for visibility.

Currently, this offer remains in limbo, and the industry has at least one very vocal opponent, The News & Observer, as seen in this recent editorial. The newspaper complains about a recent move in a state Senate committee to allow an increase in cutting shrubs and trees around billboards from 250 to 375 feet and mentions fines that exist against illegal tree cutting around billboards that has occurred over the last year.

Mind you, the Triangle is not all anti-outdoors advertising. There are many signs along roads advertising sales and special events everywhere – they are just not as big as billboards, and most tend to be temporary, including those promoting political candidates, which have strict limits on when and where they can be placed on public roads.

While prospects for billboards appear bleak in the Triangle for now, it appears unlikely that North Carolina will do anything anytime soon as drastic as have Maine, Vermont, Alaska and Hawaii and ban billboards. Indeed, the state must make a pretty good chunk of change alone for taxes on the innumerable billboards advertising South of the Border on Interstate 95. But it is true that what often is established by the bigger local governments in the state filter down and eventually become state standards as well, and with the emphasis on visual and environmental concerns tending to be against billboards in the Triangle right now, they may have a tougher future in North Carolina than in the past. We shall see.

Getting Your Passport In the Triangle

One of the advantages in living in the Triangle is that the Raleigh-Durham International Airport allows for relatively easy air travel outside the United States – usually just one flight to a major hub, and then directly to your destination from there. The biggest holdup you will find typically involves having to secure a passport to fly overseas, and with recent increased security guidelines, you soon will need to have a passport just to visit Mexico or Canada as well. With that in mind, here is an overview of obtaining a new passport or renewing an old one once you arrive in the Triangle.

For first-timers, you need to go in person to a passport acceptance facility with proof of U.S. citizenship and a valid form of photo identification such as a driver’s license. Two standard photos of yourself are needed as well, but these can be made at most facilities if you desire. Passport applications in the Triangle are available at all U.S. Post Offices, as well as the Westgate Postal Retail Store at One Floretta Place in Raleigh (919-420-5335). It is recommended that you contact the post office you choose ahead of time to set up an appointment, as individual hours of operation for passport service vary, some do not take passport photos on site, and all recommend that you reserve an appointment in advance to have your application processed. Normally it takes up to six weeks for the government to process a passport application, but currently there have been so many requests that the new standard recommends waiting at least 10 weeks (or possibly more, some people claim).

If you cannot wait that long for your passport, there are 13 regional passport agencies which serve customers who are traveling within two weeks (14 days), or who need foreign visas for travel. Appointments are required in such cases, but there is no charge for such appointments. Passport Agency public waiting areas are limited to applicants, required witnesses, and those accompanying minors, disabled applicants, or serving as interpreters. The one serving Triangle residents is the New Orleans Passport Agency at One Canal Place, 365 Canal St., Suite 1300, which is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays except holidays from 8 a.m. to noon. Call 1-877-487-2778 to make an appointment, bring your Social Security number, and be prompt – those arriving later than 15 minutes after the appointed time will have to reschedule their visit, and you do not want to have to do that.

Beyond first-timers, you need to apply in person to a passport facility if your expired U.S. passport is not in your possession, if your previous U.S. passport has expired and was issued more than 15 years ago, if your previous U.S. passport was issued when you were under age 16, or if your currently valid U.S. passport has been lost or stolen.

For more information on getting a new passport, visit the U.S. State Department guidelines page here.

For those renewing their passport, you can do so by mail if your most recent passport is available to submit and it is not damaged, you received the passport within the past 15 years, you were over age 16 when it was issued, and you still have the same name or can legally document your name change. For complete information on what you need to send and where you need to send it for renewal, visit here.

Remember, the passport requirement for travel to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean goes into effect Sept. 30, so you must at least have your application for a passport in hand by that date to visit those countries now. Also, by January you will need a passport to board all cruises overseas, so if you plan to take a cruise, be prepared to have your passport in order by the start of next year.

Bed and Breakfast Inns in the Triangle

Are you someone who loves staying at bed and breakfast inns? Or maybe you have never been to one of those places but are intrigued by the idea of you (or your friends and/or family) staying at a place where the first meal of the day is included as part of a comfortable room to spend the night? In either case, there are plenty of options to do that in the Triangle, whether you are trying to accommodate acquaintances or looking at a temporary place to stay while finding your permanent residence here. For your information, North Carolina officially defines a B&B as a business that is the permanent residence of the owner or manager with at most 12 guest rooms that offers accommodations to between nine to 23 persons per night for a period of less than one week, and that serves breakfast only to overnight guests and includes the price of breakfast in the room rate.

The B&B inns that exist by county in the Triangle are as follows:

Wake – Raleigh has three major bed and breakfast inns, two in downtown Raleigh and one in west Raleigh near N.C. State University. The former are Cameron Park Inn B&B at 211 Groveland Ave., 1-888-257-2171, and Oakwood Inn Bed and Breakfast at 411 N. Bloodworth St., 1-800-267-9712. The N.C. State one is Woodburn Cottage at 117 Woodburn Road, 919-828-2276.

Outside Raleigh, there are B&Bs in Apex at the B&B Country Garden Inn at 1041 Kelly Road, 1-800-251-3171, in Fuquay-Varina at Carambola Inn at 7155 Sunset Lake Road, 1-800-484-1856 ext. 7674 and the Fuquay Mineral Spring Inn & Garden at 333 S. Main St., 1-866-552-3782, and in Wendell at the Sunset Inn B&B at 116 N. Buffalo St., 919-365-0353.

Durham – The B&Bs here include Arrowhead Inn Bed & Breakfast at 106 Mason Road, 1-800-528-2207, the Blooming Garden Inn Bed and Breakfast at 513 Holloway St., 1-888-687-6777, Carol’s Garden Inn at 2412 S. Alston Ave., 1-877-922-6777, the Morehead Manor Bed & Breakfast at 914 Vickers Ave., 919-687-4366, and the Old North Durham Inn Bed and Breakfast at 922 N. Mangum St., 919-683-1885.

Orange – Chapel Hill has the Inn at Bingham School at the Mebane Oaks Road/N.C. 54 intersection west of town, 1-800-566-5583, and Windy Oaks Inn at 1164 Old Lystra Road, 919-942-1001. Hillsborough has two properties in its historic downtown district, the Inn at Teardrops at 175 W. King St., 919-732-1120 and the Webb House Bed & Breakfast at 117 E. Queen St., 919-732-8466.

Note that not all of these B&Bs are located in historic properties, contrary to popular belief, so check them out first to see how old they are as well as what sort of maintenance has been done to keep them looking beautiful today. Also, in case you are interested in establishing your own B&B in the Triangle, you should know that there are regulations and inspections for sanitation and food preparation by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which you can learn more about here.

The Rules of the Road in the Triangle

Whenever you move to a new area, you learn that it usually has its own distinct set of traffic rules and patterns to follow that may cause you some adjustment.  The same applies to the Triangle, where the traffic possibilities run the gamut from slow to fast.  Depending where you live, you could find a daily commute where you faced speedy vehicles on the interstate, slow drives in a neighborhood due to speed bumps (or “speed humps,” as they now call them), “rumble strips” to indicate to you to slow down for an upcoming stoplight, and traffic circles designed to make turns easier at intersections (though some might argue they do the opposite).  With that in mind, here are some general driving tips for the Triangle:

• You must wear your seatbelt as a driver and your passengers should be wearing them as well, otherwise you face a possible fine. 
• Children under age 5 or weighing less than 40 pounds who are riding in vehicles must be secured in a safety seat in the back seat to avoid the impact of front-seat air bags in case of a crash. 
• Headlights must be turned on if you are driving in bad weather such as rain, snow or low visibility. 
• If you are on a motorcycle, drive with a helmet and turn on your headlight(s) at all times. 
• If you are on a bicycle, you must wear a helmet. 
• You must share the road with bicyclists and motorcycle drivers. 
• Pedestrians have the right of way in city streets, if they use the marked crosswalks at the intersections.
• You must stop behind a school bus picking up children, and school buses have to stop at all railroad crossings. 
• You cannot pass a vehicle on a road where there are double yellow lines, and you should not pass a vehicle where there is a solid line in your lane. 
• You can make a right turn on red unless a sign at the intersection specifically forbids it.  There has been no official action yet on making left turns on red lights a reality too.
• Some parts of the interstates in the Triangle forbid large trucks to use the left lane.
• General speed limits in the Triangle are 35 mph in the city and 25 mph in school zones during morning and afternoon hours unless otherwise posted. 
• Panhandling is allowed at interstate exits and certain intersections in the Triangle, however in Durham County at least, all panhandlers have to wear city-issued reflective vests for their protection as the sun goes down.
• Fast driving on the interstates and other highways is a problem in the area, as documented by a recent series by The News and Observer here.  Do not be surprised, for example, if going on Interstate 40, where the speed limit is mostly 65 mph, to see people going 10, 20, even 30 mph faster than that.  Your best and safest bet is to stay in the right lane if you do not want to be part of the speeding pack, and hope that the N.C. Highway Patrol will catch the offenders quickly.
• It is not uncommon for major thoroughfares in the Triangle to go quickly from being freeways with exit ramps to congested roads with traffic lights (e.g., U.S. 64, U.S. 15-501).  Be prepared for such rather abrupt changes.

We know that all this information is a lot to digest, and it is, but most of it is something you should be able to handle with experience once you arrive in the Triangle.  Some people find the driving here slow, others fast, and some just right.  The important thing to remember is to use common sense and take a little time in knowing the transportation scene so you can determine what works best for you.  And remember, if you do not enjoy getting around by vehicle, there are plenty of buses and taxis in the Triangle that you can use instead to get from one place to another.

Happy driving!

A U.S. 401 Primer

Often overlooked among major roads in the Triangle is U.S. 401, a major thoroughfare with minor discussions about it anywhere.  This blog attempts to rectify that situation.

U.S. 401 runs northwest to southeast through the heart of Wake County, or more specifically Raleigh.  It is part of a route that barely qualifies as being more than a state road, as it begins at Exit 233 on Interstate 85 near Wise, N.C., then runs 264 miles south by southwest until ending in Sumter, S.C. at U.S. 76 Business.

Focusing on the part inside the Triangle, starting at Rolesville and being commonly called Louisburg Road there, U.S. 401 passes south through Interstate 540 and merges with U.S. 1 a few miles later to become part of Capital Boulevard.  Capital becomes two one-way streets in downtown Raleigh (McDowell heading north and Dawson heading south) before coming together again when it merges with South Saunders Street and U.S. 70.  In Garner U.S. 401 veers off south while U.S. 70 heads east (U.S. 1 has already veered away to the southwest earlier from the route – trust us, the actual details when and where will bore you), and the road’s familiar name is now Fayetteville Road until it enters Fuquay-Varina, where it becomes Main Street for that town as it mergers with N.C. 42 and N.C. 55.  It goes further south to Fayetteville as it leaves the county.

For now U.S. 401 is mostly four lanes within Raleigh going south to Fuquay-Varina, then it becomes two lanes south of town.  It also is two lanes north of Raleigh going through Rolesville.  The reason why it has attracted such little notice is that relatively few people travel it in comparison with other major routes in and out of the Triangle, and that when it does have major traffic, it usually is when it is within the Raleigh or Garner city limits under the multitude of street names given earlier.  That does not mean its status is in limbo, however.

Regarding the part around Fuquay-Varina, there have been plans by local leaders calling for its eventual widening to four lanes for 34 miles until it reaches the four lanes of U.S. 401 already existing north of Fayetteville.  So far the state has no plans to grant construction on this through 2013 at the earliest due to other priorities, but given that Fayetteville already has part of Interstate 295 connecting U.S. 401 to Interstate 95 built, the traffic volume could increase significantly enough over the next few years to make the widening urgent enough to become a reality.

At its other Wake County end in Rolesville, the small town currently is widening the route from Old Rogers Road to just past Storage Drive along with new curb, gutter, sidewalk extension and beautification work.  Work on this project should be finished shortly.  More importantly, the town has secured securing GARVEE (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle) Bonds for construction of a U.S. 401 Rolesville bypass that will start south of Forestville Road up to Louisbury Road and move east of town and rejoin U.S. 401 about a quarter mile south of N.C. 96.  The town estimates it has at least 20,000 vehicles per day passing through daily on U.S. 401 (its own population is not even close to 10,000 people), and the volume of cars makes it less pleasant to walk along Rolesville’s Main Street and actually more difficult for traffic to enter onto and off of Main Street.

Future plans by the state do include funding widening U.S. 401 to four lanes from the Rolesville bypass northward 18 miles to the intersection with N.C. 39 in Louisburg.  So for all of you who have been dying to get to Franklin County quicker, your prayers should be answered within the next six years.

A few final notes on U.S. 421: Its big attraction between Raleigh and Fuquay-Varina is serving as home to Wake Technical Community College, and plans call for I-540 to intersect with the road between the college and Fuquay-Varina – but do not expect this to occur within the next decade at least.