Raleigh's deadly Capital Boulevard corridor

Two pedestrians have been killed by vehicles on Capital Boulevard in recent weeks, signaling that a deadly trend in the city doesn't seem to be letting up.

Context: Pedestrian deaths involving cars skyrocketed in Raleigh last year to nearly 30 — almost double the previous record set in 2019 — and seven of those pedestrians died from accidents on Capital Boulevard.

• The road is on a similar pace this year: Three people have been struck and killed by cars on Capital Boulevard in 2023. That's the same depressing number as Raleigh Police Department reported by July 18, 2022.

Why it matters: The road isn't getting any safer, and it's only expected to grow more congested in the coming years.

Zoom in: As many as 65,000 vehicles travel the stretch of Capital Boulevard between I-440 and I-540, according to the city's Capital North Corridor Plan, which was released in July 2021.

• That number is expected to increase to as much as 75,000 vehicles per day by 2040, the report said.

What they're saying: The majority of pedestrian deaths are happening and increasing along busy or high-speed streets with more traffic, Dan Gelinne, a senior research associate with the UNC Highway Safety Research Center told ABC11.

• "We also see that in general, our roadway design doesn't really support people on foot; [it's] mainly intended for moving motor vehicles," Gelinne said.

What's happening: In an unusual move, Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson used her crime update for the fourth quarter of 2022 to address the number of traffic fatalities, CBS17 reported in January.

• Patterson said then that police are working with the city transportation department to calm traffic and enforce speed limits in certain parts of the city, and increase officers patrolling for impaired drivers along Capital Boulevard.

Yes, but: Data detailing contributing circumstances for pedestrian-involved crashes and deaths is unavailable in some cases, and the Raleigh Police Department did not respond to a question from Axios about why that is.

What we're watching: Raleigh City Council has made some changes to improve safety for pedestrians in the city, but much of the focus has been on the city center.

• It has reduced speed limits in downtown Raleigh in response to safety concerns for pedestrians, and it's acknowledged that more can be done to improve pedestrian safety throughout the city, like adding more sidewalks around Dix Park.

• Around a year ago, however, the council adopted the Capital North Corridor Plan, which calls for major investments to make the road safer for drivers, walkers and cyclists.
• Also last year, the city adopted a Vision Zero program, which aims to eliminate roadway deaths.

The big picture: Raleigh isn't alone in seeing an alarming increase in pedestrian deaths.

• More than 7,500 pedestrians died nationally in 2022 — the highest number since 1981, the New York Times reported.
• "In a lot of cities, there really are an overwhelming number of hit-and-runs, and then it may not be sort of a priority," Angie Schmitt, the author of “Right of Way: Race, Class, and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America," told Axios. "Some of this traffic stuff, even though it does have a really high social cost, it's sort of not considered preventable in some ways or is sort of forgotten about a little bit."

More simply, Schmitt told the NYT last month, "This is a real crisis that’s sort of flown under the radar."