Town of Cary
Home MenuWalnut Street Road Diet
Project Overview
The current Walnut Street Road Diet is the evolution of a concept originally proposed over 10 years ago as a way to improve access into downtown Cary. Today's project will be done in phases that permit staff to make improvements to the corridor and evaluate the effectiveness before necessitating future phases.
Phase One, completed in the summer of 2024, improved pedestrian crossing facilities and introduced buffered bicycle lanes to Walnut Street from Cary Towne Blvd to Byrum Street, as shown in the aerial image below. This was done using the existing street footprint and restriping it to delineate designated lanes for cars and bicyclists.
Future phases of the Walnut Street Road Diet may include more comprehensive work like installing median islands and building separated facilities to enhance safety for bicycles and pedestrians while updating aging utility infrastructure. Future work will be planned as current work is implemented and evaluated on its impact to multi-modal safety.
Walnut Street Road Diet: Phase One Completed Summer 2024
- Installed In-Road Pedestrian Warning Light System - these warning lights enhance the crosswalk that leads to R.S. Dunham Park via a series of LED light pucks embedded into the roadway. See them in action.
- Assessed underground stormwater infrastructure and scheduled repairs as needed.
- Design and implement the road diet
- Pavement markings and signage to convert one vehicle lane in each direction into a buffered bike lane.
- Traffic signal modifications at Cary Towne Blvd/Walnut Street to accommodate the road diet.
- Construct a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon at Cary High School – project webpage
On-Going Activities
- Continued speed monitoring and enforcement by Cary Police Department.
- Assess and evaluate Phase One:
- Review speed data, enforcement statistics and observations
- Monitor feedback from area citizens and street users (311)
- Review data from radar speed signs
- Collect traffic speed and volume count data approximately 6 to 12 months post-construction to compare with pre-construction counts
Future Phases
Understanding that safety in this corridor is paramount, staff will examine data and public feedback on Phase One work before committing to any additional work on Walnut Street. During this period, citizens can expect continued speed data collection and enforcement by Cary Police Department.