This is a very dangerous area, would benefit from a sidewalk. All you have to do is drive by on a Saturday and you will see how many people walk/bike into the park from this road.

I have walked this path myself going over the Umstead entrance - very scary. Drivers are not expecting to see someone walking and one time I literally had to dive for the grass to get out of the way.

I concur! It is very dangerous to walk on Ebenezer Church Road between Glenwood Ave and Graylyn Drive (ie, Umstead Park pedestrian entrance). There is lots of fast traffic and lots of pedestrians and bicycles along here. I've nearly been run over.

Thank you for your concern about the need for bicycle and pedestrian facilities on Ebenezer Church Rd. The City adopted a comprehensive Bicycle Plan in 2009, which recommends adding a paved shoulder along most of this corridor. However, this section of Ebenezer Church Rd falls into the Metro Park Protection Overlay District, which complicates our ability to make improvements by restricting the amount of impervious surface allowed. Sidewalks are currently not permitted in this Overlay District. Adding a paved shoulder, as the bike plan recommends, would be permissible and possible by initiating a street construction project. The City’s Capital Improvement Program prioritizes construction projects and improvements to this section of Ebenezer Church Rd are currently not scheduled in the next five years. Since Ebenezer Church Road is a State maintained roadway, a street improvement project could also be initiated through the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

The City is currently undertaking a process to develop a new Development Code that will take the form of a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). This will include a complete rewrite of the City’s zoning codes and policies. During this process, the Metro Park Protection Overlay District will be reviewed and changes could be made. For more information about this process, please go to www.raleighnc.gov and type “UDO” in the search box.

For any other bicycle or pedestrian related questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Jennifer Baldwin at jennifer.baldwin@raleighnc.gov or (919)-516-2519.