New apartments announced for the congested Crabtree Valley area

RALEIGH, NC (WTVD) -- Construction will soon begin on yet another apartment complex in Raleigh's Crabtree Valley as already congested traffic on Glenwood Avenue also builds.

Trees are already being cleared on Kidd's Hill behind Crabtree Valley Mall where the Crabtree Lakeside Apartments will be built next to an existing pond.

When completed next year, the apartments will feature 221 units.

The development will be right across the street from a large apartment and townhouse complex completed last year. Another complex is also under construction across Glenwood Avenue at Leadmine Road.

That's the same area of Crabtree Valley where Debbie Griffiths works and she knows what the new construction means.

"The more multi-family residences, the more crowded it's going to get," Griffiths told ABC11.

And because of the congestion that already exists, she limits her seasonal shopping trips to the other side of Glenwood.

"I don't come over here at Christmas because the traffic is so bad," she said.

Heather Stockdale lives in the Crabtree Valley area and said she tries to avoid the stretch of Glenwood Avenue from the I-440 Beltline west in front of Crabtree Valley Mall.

When told of the new apartment complex she said, "More people, more traffic. It's already pretty bad so I mean I don't know what they're going to do about it. But I think Raleigh, in general, has a ton of traffic because there's a ton of people moving here."

That's one of the things Lauren Gaddy who also lives in the area likes about Raleigh.

"It's expanding. It's not the same city that it was ten to twelve years ago. So we're seeing a large influx of people from, you know, the medical field, all over, technology. So, I mean, we just have to find a way to keep up," Gaddy told ABC11.

She says the extra traffic goes with the territory adding, "Sometimes it's difficult to get into Crabtree but it's worth it. This is a destination mall in the area. So if it takes me a little bit longer to get in here I don't mind because it has everything."

Her friend Jackie Taylor manages a clothing retail store in Crabtree Valley and is also pleased with the new development.

"If I can get them to walk down here and not have to be in traffic then, hey," Taylor said.

Stockdale understands that sentiment.

"I think it's good for businesses for sure because, you know, more people more business, customers and everything like that. But for the people that just want to live a low-key life I don't think Raleigh's it anymore," Stockdale said.

Debbie Griffith fears there might come a time when the growth backfires.

She said, "I think there is a saturation point that some people will stay away because they won't want to deal with the traffic."

The City of Raleigh and state Department of Transportation are well aware that Crabtree Valley is one of the most congested areas in the Triangle.

They've been studying traffic there for nearly a decade and have projects in the works but the area is landlocked so the options for engineers are limited.