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So I've been to Southpoint several times. Each time getting in is easy but getting out is a pain. Is a better idea to come in on Renaissance Parkway, park by the theater, and then leave the same way to Highway 40, avoiding the mess getting out of the shopping mall near Fayetteville Road?
So I've been to Southpoint several times. Each time getting in is easy but getting out is a pain. Is a better idea to come in on Renaissance Parkway, park by the theater, and then leave the same way to Highway 40, avoiding the mess getting out of the shopping mall near Fayetteville Road?
Yes. Avoid Fayetteville/Exit 276 like the plague. Renaissance to 751 to 40 via exit 274 is a much better option. I haven't been to Southpoint since before Thanksgiving but usually this time of year they put up cones on all of the turn-outs onto Renaissance from the mall so that you have a protected turn. It throws some people off with the merging situation but it is still 1000x better than going the other way IMO.
If you are coming from West Cary/Apex....avoid 40 altogether and get to Renaissance via 751 by way of O'Kelly Chapel or Morrisville Pkwy.
When the mall was first proposed in 2000, the entrance on Fayetteville was proposed to connect to the internal road with a short (~150') section, then T into the internal road. We expected that would back traffic onto Fayetteville, since that layout doesn't work anywhere, even with the entry traffic having the right-of-way. (Too many timid drivers stop thinking they need to yield to the other traffic.)
The developers would not move the internal road further back, because Nordstrom's insisted on having the entrance aim directly at their doors AND they required X amount of parking in front as well. So the only way to ensure not backing out to Fayetteville was to curve the road towards the Macy's side, so that traffic would flow freely into the site.
The analysis also showed the egress traffic backing up from the main exit around Sears towards the theaters, which has happened during peak times (Friday nights and Saturdays.) To keep the intersection working, the movements into Renaissance Plaza were restricted, keeping the signal phasing simpler than a full four-leg intersection. (In hindsight, I should have allowed the direct left into Renaissance Plaza at the main intersection, rather than the U-turn movement then right.)
What was unexpected was the traffic distribution. It was expected that most traffic would come in and out of Fayetteville Road. However, a lot more traffic uses the driveways on Renaissance Parkway due to the "Streets" part of the mall being a lot more popular than anybody thought (remember this was one of the first of that style of mall with the outside activity/restaurant area.)
So, using Renaissance as an exit is definitely better, although entering from Fayetteville is not a problem that I see (other than the next three weekends.) But it could have been worse had the architects had their way with their traffic design.
That is def. the way I do it: enter through Fayetteville and exit on Renaissance. Flows pretty well considering the amount of traffic going in and out.
TrafficSys thanks for the explanation of the mall parking.
The problem for me is the Fayetteville Rd.-Highway 54 intersection. People driving south on Fayetteville stop and block traffic in the intersection for those of us going through on 54. I do my best to avoid this intersection during the Christmas season, but sometimes you can't.
I drove from Raleigh to Southpoint yesterday, arriving about 5:20 pm. Took Fayetteville Rd exit. Not much issue around the mall. Left the mall 20 minutes later, I'm sure it was well-timed as far as driving around to that stoplight on Fayetteville and it being green, but the only wall-to-wall I ran into was 40 coming back east at 5:50
TrafficSys thanks for the explanation of the mall parking.
The problem for me is the Fayetteville Rd.-Highway 54 intersection. People driving south on Fayetteville stop and block traffic in the intersection for those of us going through on 54. I do my best to avoid this intersection during the Christmas season, but sometimes you can't.
A legacy of when I-40 was built in the mid-‘80s. The interchange and N.C. 54 intersection were designed way too close, but since there was “nothing out there”, it wasn’t a big problem. Wait ten years, and the mall comes in. Fortunately, a colleague pushed for the single-point interchange or else it would be a lot worse. (The Durham city council, when they approved the rezoning, made the SPUI a requirement.)
At this point, we’re stuck with the spacing, but hopefully a different intersection, such as a Michigan left (or median U-turn) might be able to be implemented.
I remember the I-40/Fayetteville interchange before the mall. I wasn't sure if a mall was needed, but a new interchange was and the mall people were willing to upgrade it to build the mall.
I'll have to look up a Michigan left turn, but it does sound like a backhanded compliment.
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