Tree crews are rolling down New Bern Avenue this week, clearing out long stretches of greenery as Raleigh pushes ahead with its first Bus Rapid Transit corridor. The work is clustered around the WakeMed area and comes with a familiar construction package: temporary lane shifts, bus stop changes and underground utility work that will stretch over multiple years as the city builds dedicated lanes for faster, more reliable bus service.
Clearing kicks off between Poole Road and Sunnybrook
According to the City of Raleigh, contractors have started cutting trees and shrubs along New Bern Avenue between Poole Road and Sunnybrook Road. Crews are beginning in the median so they can get at underground utilities between Poole Road and Raleigh Boulevard before moving on to other parts of the corridor.
The city says vegetation will first come out on the outbound side of New Bern, with work then flipping to the inbound lanes as the project marches east and west. Some bus stops inside the clearing zone may be shifted or temporarily shut down while major operations are underway.
Traffic, transit and parking headaches ahead
Drivers should be ready for periodic lane closures and parking restrictions as the clearing and utility work moves along. Project managers have already leaned on midday lane closures to give crews room to work without completely snarling rush hour.
Transit riders are being told to keep an eye on detours and temporary stop relocations on the GoRaleigh website. City staff are also urging anyone moving through the area to ease off the gas in the work zone and budget a little extra time for short delays.
Trees out now, native greenery later
In a post on X, the city acknowledged the bare look along New Bern but promised that the cleared trees and shrubs would not be the final word. The post stated that crews are taking vegetation out now and that "we'll replace them with native trees and shrubs," according to the City of Raleigh on X, pitching the removals as part of a longer term corridor upgrade.
That post landed alongside construction updates explaining that clearing the median is a necessary first step so contractors can relocate utilities before they rebuild the roadway and start putting in new BRT stations.
Who is building it and how long it will take
Final design work for the corridor is led by HNTB. Bid documents and Raleigh City Council materials show that construction has been split into at least two areas, with Rifenburg North Carolina LLC handling Area 1 and the Fred Smith Company taking on Area 2. Council records detail the award of Package 2 to Fred Smith along with the contingency funds that go with it.
The City of Raleigh lists the New Bern BRT corridor at about 5.1 miles in length and currently pegs completion for summer 2030.
What this means for Raleigh
Once the dust settles, the New Bern Avenue BRT line is expected to bring dedicated bus lanes, upgraded stations and quicker trips between downtown Raleigh and WakeMed. Even before the concrete is poured, those plans are already shaping how developers and planners look at the corridor.
Earlier coverage has tracked the project's milestones and funding decisions as Raleigh nudges its transit system into a more rapid future.
