Bike Commuting to RTP (Durham, Cary: house, construction, live in)

[oneseba]

Hello. Will be relocating to Cary in a couple of weeks. I did a little info gathering and chance upon the Cary Bike/Hike map. Also did the search and found people to be commuting from Cary to RTP as well with no problems. The map sort of confuses me though as in certain portions of the roads I intend to take going to work, the green line stops in the middle way before RTP (workplace is at Louis Stephens Drive). I will be coming from Amberly in Cary and I was thinking of using Green Level to Durham up to Kitt Creek and or Firestation road to Davis Drive up to Kitt Creek. Are these viable roads to take? Safety is first concern, I don't mind doing longer commute if needed for a much safer option. Also looking for local cycling clubs with regular club group rides, after work and weekends. TIA.

[Bmateo]

I suggest cross-posting this on www.trianglemtb.com. It is a cycling-only forum with a good membership that can answer your questions. Several commuters over there, and these discussions come up often.

Obviously, once you go over there you'll need to register to post, just like here.

I live in a different area, so I can't offer a good route, but I do see many many many commuters going into RTP, and it seems to be common enough that you should be safe if you choose a good route.

[monkeyboy]

I used to commute from south durham to south cary via RTP. You should have no problems going from Amberly into the park. They just widened Davis and it's a great for commuting, as is Louis Stephens. One suggestion is to get a good light, currently there are no street lights in the park and it is pitch black in the winter.

[Dire Wolf]

I live off Louis Stephens in Cary (which currently doesn't connect to LS in RTP, but will in 2011) and bike commute a day/week to near the Governor's Inn on 54 (between Davis and Alexander). Eventually I'll just take Louis Stephens most of the way into work, but for now here is what I do.

In the mornings I usually take 55 to Kit Creek, then cut over to LS and proceed on to Alexander. 55 has very wide shoulders and is a very fast ride that direction (flat or downhill). I usually don't leave the house till 9, so traffic is fairly light. The only point of concern is the exit ramp onto 540.

In the evenings I take Louis Stephens to Little to Davis to McCrimmon/Koppers. Longer ride, but feels safer to me that Davis the whole way (construction) and easier and safer that 55 that direction. The 55/540 interchange is not something I want to be around in the evenings.

Green-Level-to-Durham is not in very good shape N of Carpenter-Firestation at the moment with all the construction. Long term, I think it will be a very good option. I would definitely avoid the section between C-FS and O'Klley Chapel. Perhaps take GL-to-D from Kit Creek to O'Kelly then cut down to the newly opened Yates Store Rd?

Luckily things will be getting better over the next few years:
- Davis construction will finish and the shoulders should be nice for bikes
- Louis Stephens will poke all the way through
- Green Level-to-Durham should get repaved
- Little Rd will be connected to O'Kelly Chapel
- McCrimmon will connect all the way through from Panther Creek to Morrisville
- Morrisville-Carpenter will re-align with Carpenter Firestation
- Morrisville Parkway will connect all the way from Morrisville to Green Level-to-Durham

[oneseba]

BMateo/Monkeyboy, thanks for the input and the reference to trianglemtb, opened a whole new connections for me. I have a cross and road bike but hopefully get a mountain bike later for trail riding.

DireWolf, thanks for the very detailed, street-to-street post, this is exactly what I was looking for. I know the streets from map point of view but I need insight on how they are during commute. I would be riding early in the day around 7am and coming home around 6:30-7pm. Will probably drive car during winter if it gets dark too early.