City to Stabilize Ellerbee Creek Culvert on W. Knox Street

It looks like the City is finally getting to work on a much needed stabilization project to repair and reinforce the culvert that carries Ellerbee Creek under W. Knox Street. For more detailed information, please see the public works page devoted to this project. According to the bid documents, the project will entail soil stabilization by means of high density polyurethane system. The estimated date of construction is mid-September.


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The the image detailing the precise location of the project and the work expected to be performed is after the break.

Can the West Main Bridge be replaced overnight?

As I have previously covered, the NCDOT and the City are planning on replacing the bridge that carries W. Main street over campus drive sometime next year. The original plan called for a year-long closure of the street but was later scaled down to six months following a neighborhood outcry. The City and the DOT celebrated the new accelerated schedule, touting is a win-win solution for the neighborhood and the city. And it is - considering that the other solution would have entailed a year-long closure of a major city street, choking traffic to both Ninth Street and Bright Leaf District.

So imagine my surprise when I read in the New York Times article (reprinted below) that the new technology used in Massachusetts allows small bridge replacements overnight. That's right - instead of six months, a prefabricated bridge very similar to the one over campus drive was replaced overnight with minimal disruption to traffic and surrounding communities. And it is not an astronomically more expensive way to do things, apparently, simply a different technology that could be just as cost-effective as the conventional method.

Current Campus Bridge

Overnight bridge replacement in Boston

Read more about this new insta-bridge technique after the break.

Widening of Erwin Road to Accommodate Hospital Expansion

The City and Duke University are cooperating to widen Erwin Road between the Eye Center and the Duke Hospital entrance to accommodate the addition of approximately one million square feet of hospital space following construction of the new cancer center and the Duke Medicine Pavilion.

Once the work is complete, there will be two additional turn lanes onto Fulton St. and new 6-foot sidewalks on both sides. The work is expected to be completed by the end of May.  A full description of the work, including the times when some of the lanes will be closed for construction, is reprinted after the break (courtesy of the Herald Sun).

From urban planning perspective, the idea of road widening is often controversial because of the "induced demand phenomenon" which postulates that building wider roads leads more people to drive on them, which, in turn, increases traffic and creates a vicious cycle of traffic congestion. An often-proposed solution to break this cycle is to increase availability of public transportation at the expense of private vehicles. For a thorough primer on the folly of mitigating traffic by widening roads read Traffic, an excellent book by Tom Vanderbilt, who is also a frequent contributor to Slate Magazine.  You can read his articles here.  Of particular interest -- and relevant to the current plans to add two extra left lanes to Erwin Rd -- is his excellent article about the folly of adding left lanes.

Bridge Construction over Main Street Delayed

As I have covered in previous posts, the area near the intersection of Main and Broad streets will be seeing a lot of construction soon: the water main replacement, repaving of Main Street (which will include adding bike lanes, finally), and the wholesale replacement of the section of Main Street that goes over Campus Drive, which connects Duke's East Campus to the rest of the university.

Soon-to-be replaced Campus Dr. Bridge

Today's Herald Sun reports that the bridge replacement has been pushed back almost a year and -- in even better news -- is now expected to last six months rather than twelve. This is unquestionably good news for then neighborhood, as it would minimize the ongoing disruption to the whole community without compromising infrastructure improvements that will need to be made.Read the whole article after the break.

Whole Foods Renovations Continue

Whole Foods continues to redesign both the outside and the inside of their store. In the past few months, they have significantly expanded their hot bar selection, added a cheese counter, and expanded the entrance to the store. Now, in one of the more visible changes, they have a brand new sign outside. Check it out below.

Courtesy of Whole Foods Facebook Page

Potential Street Closings in OWD (NC DOT Railroad Study)

A few months ago I wrote about a study by North Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT) about two railroad crossings in our neighborhood at Anderson St. and Swift Avenue. The agency is looking at three possible courses of action:  (1)Eliminate the crossing; ie, close the streets on either side of the tracks; (2) separate car traffic from train traffic with grade; i.e, dig under the tracks similar to the Erwin Rd and Gregson St crossings; or (3) either do nothing or implement enhanced signaling and markings.

The study is now open for public comment. Please submit your comments by filling out the attached form (download it via Scribd) and submitting it (via email) to Matt West, Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc

A few thoughts on the proposed ideas. First,  it goes without saying that simply closing one or both of these two intersection would be disastrous for our neighborhood. Although highly unlikely, it would effectively cut the neighborhood off from access to the Durham Freeway, Duke's West Campus and the Hospital Complex, significantly impairing commercial viability of the Ninth Street Shopping District. For these reasons, I highly doubt the DOT would make such a drastic change.

I am less than enthusiastic about choice two -- it would lead to considerable construction on a vital stretch of the road connecting our neighborhood and, judging by the similar intersection at Erwin road, would visually separate Main Street intersection from Swift Avenue, forcing pedestrians and bikers into a dark underpass if they wish to cross the street. It would sacrifice pedestrian appeal in favor of car use -- a car-first policy that should have been abandoned decades ago (and is surely being abandoned now by most forward-thinking urban planners).

I think I would prefer alternative three, except that instead of doing nothing, I would advocate extending connectivity between Main and Swift streets by building a sidewalk connecting the two.

As a wrote previously, in its current configuration that stretch of the road constitutes the "corridor of death" making it dangerous for bike  commuters, pedestrians (particularly pedestrians in wheelchairs) to cross that intersection without being run over by incoming traffic.



The DOT powerpoint describing the full extent of the study, the schedule of hearings, funding meetings and, ultimately, the decision making authority is embedded below. It makes for a very interesting read and I encourage you to check it out.

E.K. Powe Renovations are starting

Funded by the 2007 bond referendum, the E.K. Powe Elementary School has recently embarked on a $2.2 million renovation of over 50,000 square feet of the building. Kenbridge Construction of Virginia serves as a general contractor, with the bulk of the design work completed by Design Collective, Inc.


The scope of work is  limited to the 1926 and 1966 portions of the elementary school and includes new ceilings and interior finishes in many areas, renovated student bathrooms, new lighting and fire alarm, and repairs to mechanical systems. Exterior renovations include roof repairs and new asphalt shingle roofing, site accessibility upgrades, new site lighting, and minor landscaping.

For detail-oriented, the completion description and blueprints are available here. And here is a blueprint showing the landscaping and exterior renovations that will take place. Click to enlarge.

Bracing for major road construction in the neighborhood

Today's Herald Sun has a good article describing a trifecta of road construction projects happening around Ninth Street Shopping Center and Duke's East Campus. By far the most destructive of three, promises to be the demolition of the bridge that carries Main Street over Campus Drive
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As I described previously, the work is likely to last for at least a year and will result in a complete closure of Main street. The detour will be through Durham Freeway, which is likely to cause considerable pain to residents trying to get to downtown and Bright Leaf square without having to get on the interstate. Before the work begins, however, the city will need to replace a major water main. The construction is slated to begin in the summer. On the bright side of things, DOT officials promise to repave the Main Street and narrow it from four lanes to three to allow bike lines on both sides. 

The Herald Sun article describing the full  impact of this and some other roadwork projects is reprinted after the break. 

Update on the renovation of 725 Broad Street

As most of us have seen by now, the renovation of 725 Broad Street is in full swing. A local architectural firm, BLOCK Architecture, PLLC, has been tasked with turning a 5,000 SQ office space from 1964 into a modern two story building that could serve as an anchor for further Broad Street revitalization. According to the architects' facebook page, the space is designed to host a bakery, class A offices and an event space. I posted some drawing of the finished project from the same page. It is exciting to see new energy brought to a long-suffering stretch of the road and it comes amid an influx of new businesses on the 700 block, including Ad Spice and Nataraja Healing Arts. Here is what the place looked like before renovation.
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New Hilton Garden Inn coming to Erwin Square

PHOTO C/O OLYMPIA DEVELOPMENT

This is admittedly a few weeks late but is still worth covering. The Olympia Companies is planning on building a relatively small 125-room hotel in the grassy field by Erwin Square Mills. They are supposed to break ground sometime this month (it does not look like it has happened just yet), with the completion planned for February 2013. The Triangle Business Journal has a full story on the development. Check out also Olympia Companies' website listing the status of this project; it is likely to be the most up-to-date concerning delays in construction. It is worth noting that the hotel is supposed to be environmentally friendly and was designed to fit organically into the surrounding neighborhood.

NC DOT examining potential railroad closings in OWD

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The story in the Triangulator, the Independent Weekly's news blog, describes potential railroad closings in Durham and quotes OWD resident Eric Heidt, who expresses concern about possible closings of two OWD intersections at Anderson Street and Swift Avenue (pictured). It goes without saying that potential closings of these two critical arteries will have a significant adverse effect on the neighborhood. If the rush-hour traffic on Swift is any indication, even prolonged disruption to build a grade-separated crossing can have a significant deleterious effect. The full story is here.

Trinity Lounge - now under new management

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Trinity Lounge, a self-described "Durham's newest and most sophisticated private club," has reopened its doors on November 1st after undergoing some renovations both inside and out and dropping its previous moniker "Siren's Lounge." (Google view is still showing the old sign). According to its website and facebook page, Trinity Lounge's core business is various fraternity and sorority events organized by Duke student groups on weekends; during the week it functions as a martini bar, with daily specials, including Mondays.  In its previous iteration, Siren's Lounge has gone steadily downhill from its promising beginnings as a favorite nightclub hangout for Duke students unwilling to travel to Chapel Hill , to a poorly managed and maintained dive, whose owner one reviewer described as "being extremely rude" and "highly intoxicated." Now that the bar is under new management, the reviews have been fare more positive, with reviewers describing it as a "neighborhood pub with a brand new twist" and "a cozy place with a very personable staff."

Whole Foods Continues Renovations

Whole Foods continues expanding into its new space by  moving the bulk section to the produce department right by the main entrance. Coming soon: A new beer cooler should be ready by December 15th; and on December 19th they will be removing the dust wall between the new shelves and the hot bar to start work on the new cheese counter. (Source: Whole Foods Facebook page)

Renovation of the old Triumph Building

(image courtesy of opendurham.org)

725 Broad Street used to house Triumph LLC, a major provider of mental health and counseling services in North Carolina. After they moved, the owner began some major renovations. I was unable to find any information on what is ultimately going to be there, although the search of public records indicates that Eno Ventures is current owner of the building.

Company to break ground on a new apartment complex on Ninth Street

DURHAM, N.C., Dec. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Crescent Resources, LLC completed its acquisition of a six-acre site adjacent to Ninth Street and the historic Erwin Mill building today. Construction will begin immediately on a landmark 303-apartment home community, Circle Ninth Street. The first apartments are expected to be complete in the fall.

There rest of the story is here and here. Check out the official website.