Since Tuesday, Sept. 8, nobody has been able to drive straight through Lake Wheeler Road between Goode Street and Umstead Drive. The City of Raleigh has closed that stretch to through traffic for a Complete Street rebuild next to Dorothea Dix Park and the State Farmers Market. The News & Observer reports it will likely stay closed until summer 2028.
Every place you'd go on that stretch is still open. People who live along it, businesses, and their customers can all still reach their properties. Both Dix Park entrances off Lake Wheeler, at Goode Street and at Umstead Drive, are open too. The only thing that's gone is driving through without stopping. The road the city is building takes the same approach, with lower speeds, roundabouts, and a new park entrance. In practice, the closure is a two-year preview of how the street is meant to work for good.
Pick your entrance by where you're starting
The closed block used to be the way you got into the park from either direction. Now the right turn depends on which way you're coming from. The city's guidance boils down to three routes:
- Coming from I-40: Take Goode Street into Dix Park.
- Coming from downtown: Head south on South Saunders Street and turn onto Umstead Drive.
- Just passing through: The official detour runs on Maywood Avenue and South Saunders Street.
WRAL reported the same entrance plan the week before the closure. It also noted that residents and businesses inside the work zone keep access to their properties.
Once you're in the park, Dix Park lists several free lots. Lots B, D, E and G have accessible parking and sidewalks leading into the park. The Gipson Play Plaza is at 715 Biggs Drive. Coffee, sandwiches, ice cream, beer and wine are sold at the House of Many Porches Market, 701 Palmer Drive, inside the park. That means a morning at the playground doesn't require leaving the park to find lunch.
The Farmers Market never relied on the closed block
The State Farmers Market is at 1201 Agriculture Street, where Lake Wheeler Road meets Centennial Parkway. The state's directions send visitors from I-40 Exit 297, and parking on site is free. The N&O reported that the closure doesn't change access to the market.
What changes is the combined errand. A Saturday that used to pair produce shopping with a walk at Dix could run up Lake Wheeler in one easy drive. Now it's two stops reached from two directions. Depending on where you live, you may go in from the interstate side for one and from Saunders for the other.
The market itself hasn't changed. The state's shopping directory lists Logan's Garden Shop, Market Grill by Carolina Crispy Fry, the N.C. Seafood Restaurant, the State Farmers Market Restaurant, and the Market Shoppes with their specialty and food stores.
Vendors sounded calm on opening day. CBS17 spoke with Laurie Jones of Lane's Plants, who said, "I feel like everybody will find their way here if they want to come." John Harmuth of Long Hill Nursery said that "as long as the pathways are open" for customers, "I'm a happy guy." Both comments make the same point. These businesses depend on people who come on purpose, and people who come on purpose still have a way in.
What riders lose, stop by stop
The bus changes are smaller in scope but sharper for anyone who uses them. GoRaleigh Route 21 is the line on this stretch, and it currently runs only northbound toward downtown. GoRaleigh's service alert lists three stops closed starting Sept. 8:
- Stop 8836, Daladams
- Stop 9239, Grissom
- Stop 8837, Fuller
The alert sends riders to stop 8835 at Goode Street or stop 8421 at South Saunders Street and Dorthea Drive. The Goode Street stop stays open for the whole project. For anyone who boarded at Fuller or Daladams, the walk to the nearest open stop is now part of the trip until construction moves on.
The construction moves in four pieces
The city's project page splits the work into four phases. As of its Sept. 18 update, the first one was underway:
- Phase one: Between Hammell Drive and Mercury Street. This is the current phase.
- Phase two: Between Daladams Drive and Fuller Street.
- Phase three: At the South Saunders Street intersection.
- Phase four: Between Mercury Street and Maywood Avenue.
The city's schedule shows the project finishing in summer 2028. A city status alert dated Sept. 14 said crews were actively working and that the two-year access plan remains in effect. The city has a $26.7 million budget for the whole project. The $21.8 million figure in news coverage is the construction contract awarded to Rifenburg North Carolina, which is one piece of that total.
Expect the noise and equipment to shift over time. The Hammell-to-Mercury block is the busy one this fall. Later phases move the work to the Daladams and Fuller area, then to the Saunders intersection, and finally to the Maywood end.
The finished road is built for people who stop
The thesis comes together in what the city is building. Today Lake Wheeler is a two-lane road with no sidewalks or bike lanes. The plan replaces it with a street that works better the more slowly you use it.
According to the N&O, the speed limit drops from 35 mph to 25 mph. Roundabouts are there to keep traffic at that speed. There will be one at South Saunders Street and three more at side streets. The city describes the side-street design that's gotten the most attention as an elongated roundabout covering both Mercury and Goode Streets. The N&O calls it a "peanut" roundabout. A raised median will cut down on unsafe left turns, and side-street intersections will be raised to make crossings safer for pedestrians.
On foot and by bike, the city's pre-construction presentation shows a separated pedestrian and bicycle path on the park side and a sidewalk on the residential side. It also shows high-visibility crossings, rapid-flashing beacons, raised crosswalks, and pedestrian-scale lighting. The N&O's summary describes sidewalks on both sides plus a bike path on the park side. The two sources word it differently, but both put a dedicated bike route along the park.
Two more changes are aimed squarely at park visitors. A new entrance off Lake Wheeler Road will lead straight into the Gipson Play Plaza parking lot. GoRaleigh also plans a new route running south from downtown on Lake Wheeler, with three stops near the park. Right now Route 21 serves this stretch in only one direction. After the project, there will be service in both directions.
Put those pieces together and the road being built in 2028 matches how it works during the closure. It's slow, it's built around getting to Dix Park and the market, and it's more useful for arriving than for passing through.
What's on the calendar while the detours are in place
Dix Park's official events calendar shows a full October, and every event is reachable from Goode Street or Umstead Drive:
- Oct. 8: Public Library Pop-Up and Learn to Fix Your Bike
- Oct. 10: Celebrate "Oaktober"
- Oct. 14: Oak City Salsa Social
- Oct. 17: Music at the Market
If you're going to an evening event, pick your entrance before you leave. The old habit of turning onto Lake Wheeler and choosing a lot as you go no longer works on the closed block.
If you own a home near the Lake Wheeler corridor and want to know how a two-year rebuild, followed by a slower street with a direct park entrance, could affect your property's value, Angela Drum and our team can walk you through it. Request a complimentary market strategy and home valuation built around this corridor and its 2028 completion date.
