Change comes to Raleigh’s Atlantic Avenue, as city tries to fix dangerous intersection

The drawn-out rebuilding of a section of Atlantic Avenue in North Raleigh reaches a critical stage next week.

Contractors are scheduled to close the intersection of Atlantic and Ingram Drive on Monday, Sept. 23, and shift the northbound lanes to the west. The shift will allow them to regrade Atlantic, raising it three feet and alleviating a dip that contributed to numerous accidents at the intersection with Ingram.

The grading and repaving of the northbound lanes should take 60 days, says Dennis Trujillo, the project manager for city. Northbound traffic will then shift back and Ingram will reopen in and out of the Brentwood neighborhood.

“It will feel very different,” Trujillo said. “The road will be up, and those lanes will pretty much be close to their final spot.”

The city is overhauling a one-mile section of Atlantic between Highwoods Boulevard and New Hope Church Road. The $9.6 million project includes widening the existing lanes, adding more turn lanes and building a grassy median down the center and a 10-foot multi-use path down the west side.

It also includes reducing the depth of the dip at Ingram Drive. The intersection lies between the crests of two small hills, making it hard for drivers to see traffic ahead. There were more crashes at the intersection than the much busier ones at New Hope Church Road and Highwoods Boulevard, said city spokeswoman Tiffanie Mazanek.

Raising the road three feet won’t eliminate the dip, but it will help, Trujillo said.

“It will be a little less intense and make the roadway that much more friendly for drivers,” he said.

Two other changes that should make the intersection safer: a new lane for left turns onto Ingram and the median that will prevent people from turning left from Ingram onto southbound Atlantic.

Work on Atlantic began in the spring of 2022 and was to be completed by the end of last year. Then Goldsboro-based JSmith Civil defaulted on its construction contract with the city, and the project was at a standstill for several months .

Carolina Sunrock took over last fall and expects to complete the project by the end of next summer, Trujillo said.

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