Greensboro seeks safety, mobility upgrades for East Gate City Boulevard

Greensboro is trying to redraw East Gate City Boulevard around a blunt fact: people who drive, walk, bike or wait for transit along the corridor have faced crashes, gaps in sidewalks and too few places that feel safe. The city is now asking residents to weigh in on a corridor study that stretches from Elm Street to Interstate 40 and targets one of Greensboro’s most heavily used east-west links.

The effort is framed as both a safety project and a mobility plan. City transportation engineer Deniece Conway said one of the first questions is where the road may need more capacity, including possible extra turn lanes and changes to signal timing. The city is also looking at bus shelters with lighting, bike lanes, sidewalk connections and better crosswalks, especially near busy spots such as US 29 and the intersection of Elm Street and East Gate City Boulevard, where left-turn movements are among the options being studied.

The reason for the attention is clear in the city’s own crash data. Greensboro says several intersections, including South Eugene Street, South Elm Street, South Benbow Street, South English Street and Bennett Street, see frequent crashes. Between 2017 and 2021, one person was killed and four others suffered serious, life-altering injuries on the corridor. Between 2013 and 2022, 30 pedestrians were struck, five fatally, and seven bicyclists were struck by vehicles. The city says the corridor remains an essential daily connection to schools, jobs, transit and neighborhood destinations, but sidewalks are inconsistent, bicycle facilities are very limited and transit stops often lack basic amenities.

That leaves students, older adults and transit-dependent residents among the people most exposed when the corridor falls short. Nearby businesses would notice the changes too. Better crossings, more predictable left turns and safer access to bus stops could affect whether customers can reach storefronts on foot, by bike or by transit without navigating long stretches of road that now feel broken up and hostile.

Greensboro will hold two virtual open house sessions on April 28, from noon to 1 p.m. and again from 6 to 7 p.m., using the same material shared with the community in February. The study builds on the East Gate City Boulevard Corridor Plan adopted by City Council in August 2023, along with the Greensboro Metropolitan Planning Organization’s 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan, adopted in January 2026. It also comes as the MPO’s draft Comprehensive Safety Action Plan remains open for public review through April 23, part of a broader push to reduce serious injuries and deaths across the city.