
Fix Friendship Road


Hello Mayor Gilbert, Mayor Mayefskie, Mr. Enns, Major Johnson, Sheriff Rowe, and Mr. Warren,
We are the neighbors who live on Friendship Road in Apex, NC between the intersection of Old US 1 and the bridge at US 1 and are joined by the commuter community who use this segment of Friendship Road to travel between Apex and Holly Springs and the cyclist community who share the road with us.
We would like to call your attention to the deterioration of Friendship Road. We need your collective and collaborative leadership to address the issues that we face on a daily basis:
Unsafe Turning: During peak travel times, traffic on Friendship Road struggles to turn onto Old US 1 and regularly backs ups to 35+ cars deep. The promised turn lanes by the Town of Apex remain unfunded and timelines for NCDOT monies for Amgen’s related traffic improvements for this intersection remain unclear. Despite these issues, both Towns continue to approve nearby developments that adds more traffic to Friendship Road.
The current conditions put resident safety at risk as there is no shoulder for traffic to pull over onto to allow emergency vehicles to get through and the intersection would not be an efficient evacuation route should there be issues at Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant.
There are frequent traffic accidents with many more “close calls” . Our quality of life is lower due to regular traffic jams.
We ask the Towns and NCDOT to join together to provide the needed turn lanes and take steps to manage the flow of traffic on Old US 1 to allow for efficient and safe turning.
We ask the Town of Apex and Wake County Sheriff Office to provide traffic officers during peak travel times and during Apex Friendship High School events.
Need Enforcement: Friendship Road is posted with a weight limit of 6 ½ tons in 5 places:
1) Friendship Road / Old US 1 Intersection
2) Friendship Road bridge on Holly Springs side
3) Woods Creek intersection
4) Prior to Amgen
5) Holly Springs New Hill Road intersection (2 signs)
The average weight of an empty dump truck is 6 tons and fully loaded can weigh up to 12 ½ tons; far exceeding the posted weight limit. Yet, dump trucks and 18-wheelers from surrounding construction sites routinely use this portion of Friendship Road accelerating the deterioration of the pavement and further collapsing the sides of the roadway.
We request that the weight limit signs be made more visible with bright colored flags.
We request that the State Highway Patrol to enforce the weight limit.
We request both Towns to automatically add a zoning condition for new development barring overweight vehicles from using this portion of Friendship Road.
Unsafe pavement: The pavement is in poor condition. In many places:
-the top layer of asphalt is worn away
-the road is rough, heavily patched and uneven
-the road’s edges are collapsing
-there is no shoulder to support safe cycling or safe passing around cyclists
-the road’s poor condition is an embarrassment to residents and as a future gateway to Amgen in Holly Springs and to Pleasant Park in Apex, it does not reflect the standards of either community.
With the recent capping of Apex Friendship Elementary and planned renovations to Baucom Elementary, additional bus traffic and parent traffic to Woods Creek Elementary is expected to exacerbate road conditions.
We request that Town of Apex provide a traffic advisory for Pleasant Park visitors, Town of Holly Springs provide a traffic advisory for Amgen visitors, and WCPPS provide a bus advisory to use alternate routes to reach their destination.
We request that NCDOT prioritize the repavement of Friendship Road.
We request a meeting with each of you to discuss how to rectify the issues we face. We will reach out to you but we may be reach us at fixfriendshiproad@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Friendship Road Neighbors, Commuters & Cyclists
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