Downtown Raleigh Alliance wants to make Fayetteville Street the new main street

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Since announcing the Downtown Raleigh Economic Development Strategy, Downtown Raleigh Alliance (DRA) had its eyes set on Fayetteville Street.

DRA and the City of Raleigh announced Thursday the first set of recommendations for the strategy developed by the consultant team led by urban design practice, Interface Studio.

The main focus is to position Fayetteville Street as the city's new main street.

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The consultant team said developing the area is essential for downtown's future, and the key to the overall economic development strategy. They want a more vibrant and active place to help drive entrepreneurship and growth.

"There's been a new need for reinvestment as well as new energy on the street to have it be a reflection of what the community would like it to be," Will Gaskins, the vice president of economic development and planning at Downtown Raleigh Alliance, said.

The "Activating Fayetteville Street" report had ten recommendations that outline ideas and opportunities for reinvigorating the Fayetteville Street area of downtown Raleigh, plus creating more connections to surrounding neighborhoods. During the process of creating the report, the team gathered feed back from over 65 stakeholders, focus group sessions and community members.

But, the process is only halfway done with more recommendations to come.

"There are so many different pieces of it that I think people are really going to get excited (about)," Gaskins said. "It's kind of a new look, and it (has a) different feel to it that I think people can get behind."

The next step is to present the report to the city council before moving on to the next phase of recommendations that will include the rest of downtown Raleigh.

The final plan is expected to be done by June of this year.

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