Back in January, we asked if 2025 will be the year that Raleigh’s first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route along New Bern Avenue will finally get off the ground.

Midway through, we have an answer that looks pretty promising. 

At the Raleigh City Council meeting last week, council members approved a bid to begin the first phase of a three-part build-out for the corridor and the first BRT line of a total of four that are planned for the city that will cover some 20 miles and cost $96.75 million in total. 

Phase one entails paving, sidewalk, and utility work along New Bern Avenue and Wilmington, Blount, and Edenton Streets between downtown Raleigh and Poole Road, connecting riders to WakeMed hospital and a terminus at New Hope Road. 

Credit: Courtesy of City of Raleigh

Of the four bids submitted to the city, Rifenburg North Carolina, LLC, won the contract for the first phase of work in the amount of $28,664,500. Construction is expected to begin this fall.  

“The goal is to get residents to their destination quicker,” a city release stated last week. “After face-to-face meetings with industry leaders and listening to their feedback, City staff decided to break the project into three packages to make it easier and more appealing for contractors. It worked!”

Raleigh’s BRT project, the first of its kind in North Carolina, is nearly a decade in the making. 

Wake County voters in 2016 approved a 0.5¢ sales tax increase to link various public transit networks to communities across the region with frequent, reliable service and enhanced access. 

The first stage of the BRT project will see the installation of approximately 5.4 miles of BRT corridor along New Bern Avenue, including 3.3 miles of dedicated bus lanes, 19 bus platforms, and 10 stations along New Bern, Morgan, Edenton, Blount and Wilmington Streets. It will also add sidewalk and multiuse paths along New Bern Avenue from downtown to Sunnybrook Road, connecting sidewalks, improving pedestrian crossings, and installing trees and public art.

The city is expected to advertise for bids for the second phase of the build-out, which includes road construction from Poole Road to I-440 along New Bern Avenue, this month, with bids opening to contractors in September. In October, the city is expected to advertise for bids for the third phase of the project, which includes road construction east of I-440 and station construction, with bids opening to contractors in December. 

Send an email to Raleigh editor Jane Porter: [email protected]. Comment on this story at [email protected].

Jane Porter is Wake County editor of the INDY, covering Raleigh and other communities across Wake County. She first joined the staff in 2013 and is a former INDY intern, staff writer, and editor-in-chief, first joining the staff in 2013.