traffic

[IdaClaire]

The Beltline trips up every single person who comes to visit us and passes through Raleigh. Luckily, now that we've moved to Orange County, we don't have to hear the complaints as much now.

It took me a LONG time to finally figure out the Inner/Outer thing, I have to confess, but it makes more sense, now that it has finally hit me, than N/S/E/W designations.

I grew up in the Tidewater area of Virginia, and the traffic near the naval bases is a thousand times worse than the Triangle. Some of the worst traffic I've seen has been during beach season, as tourists heading in and out of Virginia Beach merge with the regular rush hour traffic. Add in an accident inside one of the many tunnels, and

[Snowpea]

For the beltline I just think "Inner Clock, Outer Not" (Clock as in clockwise).

[lamishra]

If the beltline still confuses you, look at a map and draw out the lines around it. For some reason when it comes to the beltline, it REALLY helps if you can visualize it. At some point you will have "AH HA!!!!" moment and figure it out!

[Waterboy526]

No offense to anyone, but how is it that hard to understand. I guess I've always just had a good sense of direction and growing up in the DC area where we have the inner/outter beltway makes it easier, but I've never got lost. It's actually very short compared to the beltway (about 1/3 the size), so you can drive around it rather quickly.

[Beffrey2]

The beltline is very confusing for anyone riding on it for the first time. I remember as a teenager driving up to Raleigh from eastern NC. My thoughts were also that there were not enough signs. I was always getting lost.

Now that I live here...I would say it took me a good while to get fairly comfortable driving on it.

The key is to look at a map. Get very familiar with it. Then when you are driving on the beltline, drive around it one complete time, write the name of all the exits in order. Also, if you see the NC State exit...you know you are on the west side of Raleigh. If you see the New Bern Ave, Knightdale, & Rocky Mount/Wilson exits, you are on the east side...etc.

You have to learn the names and locations of the exits. Once you do that, you will know if you have to head north or south on Hwy 1 (the beltline)

This is the key to knowing which way to head on the beltline.

Also, Remember it is a circle, just about all the exits will take you to downtown Raleigh, because it is in the middle. So if you know the order of the exits, all you will have to do is look to the left and right, to know which way to go onto of the beltline.

So

1. drive around the beltline one time, copy down the order of the exits.
2. Look at map and learn all sides of the beltline....so you will have a sense of direction.
3. Remember it is a circle....Raleigh in the middle....burbs on the outer edge.
4. Once you understand this, the Highway 1 north and south signs are a breeze.
5. You will never understand the "inner" and "outer" beltline signs....who does? Just ignore them is my advice to everyone...they will only confuse you.
6. Take note of all the interstate 40 exits. Because you can only head in one direction (east or west) once taking the exit. This will be easy to understand if you follow above steps.

To me these are the fastest ways to understand Raleigh's beltline, because it is confusing at first.

Once you figure it out, it is very east.

Hope you understand what I just wrote, I did it fast!

[findingmesomeday]

I don't think I got confused by the beltline during my visits there because of the two years we spent in the DC area. The beltway runs on the same idea of inner/outer. Then of course there's the whole political frame of mind of "inside/outside" the beltway!

What did confuse me was the direction in which I was heading, anywhere I drove. With no water or mountains to orient me, I was constantly confused. In the Pacific Northwest and Northern Cal, it was easy, once I got used to the ocean being on the "wrong" side (I'm from the East coast...). Even in Boston it's easy to orient yourself with the topography. But I found the same confusion in Virginia (landlocked) as I do in Raleigh. Eventually I got used to it but it took some doing!