Directions to the Legislature, the NCCC System
Office, and Nearby Parking

Following are directions to the NCCC System Office, prepared by the System Office staff.  The North Carolina Legislative Building is one block east of the System Office on Jones Street.  The public parking lot near the corner of McDowell Street and Lane Street mentioned below is the lot you should use to walk to the Legislative Building and the Legislative Office Building behind it.

To get a map of downtown Raleigh:

• Go to www.mapquest.com
• Click on Maps
• Then click on Map a New Location.
• Type in: Salisbury St & Morgan St, Raleigh, NC  27601.

Another useful aid, the Map of the Downtown State Government Complex, mentioned and linked to in the System Office directions below, is also good to have because it has the state government buildings noted on it.

North Carolina Community College System
The Caswell Building
200 West Jones Street
Raleigh, North Carolina
919-733-7051

The Caswell Building is a six-story red brick building on the northwest corner of West Jones Street and North McDowell Street in the state government complex in downtown Raleigh.  It is one full block west of the Legislative Building, adjacent to the Administration Building.

Please park in the Visitors' Area of the State Government Parking Lot on McDowell Street or in metered spaces on the street.  Do NOT park in the parking lots directly across Jones Street from the Caswell Building.  That is paid parking for employees, and there are no visitors' spaces.  The parking deck at McDowell and Lane is open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.  There is a small hourly charge.  

The Department of Environmental and Economic Resources maintains an excellent map of the state government area of downtown Raleigh.  Buildings are listed alphabetically.

Directions from the east, driving Interstate 40:

• Take I-40 West to the Person Street exit.
• Follow Person Street north into downtown.
• Turn left onto Edenton Street and drive past the historic Capitol.
• Turn right onto McDowell Street.
• The Caswell Building is on the left at the corner of McDowell Street and West Jones Street.  To reach the visitors' parking deck, continue north on McDowell Street through the intersection with Lane Street; then turn right into the deck. 

Directions from the east, driving US 64:

• US 64 becomes Edenton Street heading into downtown. 
• Past the historic Capitol, turn right onto McDowell Street.
• The Caswell Building is on the left at the corner of McDowell Street and West Jones Street.  To reach the visitors' parking deck, continue north on McDowell Street through the intersection with Lane Street; then turn right into the deck. 

Directions from RDU and points west, driving Interstate 40:

•  Take I-40 East through the Research Triangle Park. 
•  Take Exit 289 onto Wade Avenue.  Stay on Wade Avenue six miles.
• Take the Civic Center/70 East/50 South exit to Capital Boulevard.
• Get in the far left lane on Capital Boulevard as you head to downtown.
• Turn left at the second light onto West Jones Street.
• The Caswell Building is the third building on the left, at the corner of West Jones and McDowell. Park in metered spaces on the street or in the State Visitors lot one block north, at the corner of Lane and McDowell.  To reach the lot, turn left onto McDowell Street from Jones, get in the far right lane, cross Lane Street, and turn right into the deck.

Directions from the west, driving US 70/Crabtree Valley Mall/Glenwood Avenue:

• US 70 becomes Glenwood Avenue coming into Raleigh.
• Follow Glenwood into downtown Raleigh.
• Turn left onto West Jones Street; there's a flashing light at the intersection.
•   The Caswell Building is several blocks down on the left, at the corner of Jones and McDowell. 
• Park in metered spaces on the street or in the State Visitors lot one block north, at the corner of Lane and McDowell.  To reach the lot, turn left onto McDowell Street from Jones, get in the far right lane, cross Lane Street and turn right into the deck.

Directions from the south, driving US 1:

• Take US 1 north past Cary to Raleigh.
• Exit onto Wade Avenue going into town.
•  Stay on Wade Avenue six miles.
• Take the Civic Center/70 East/50 South exit to Capital Boulevard.
• Get in the far left lane on Capital Boulevard as you head to downtown.
  Turn left at the light onto West Jones Street.  The Caswell Building is the third building on the left, at the corner of West Jones and McDowell.
• Park in metered spaces on the street or in the State Visitors lot one block north, at the corner of Lane and McDowell.  To reach the lot, turn left onto McDowell Street from Jones, get in the far right lane, cross Lane Street and turn right into the deck.

Parking Near the Legislature

There are two public parking lots within walking distance of the legislature. (For security reasons, the parking lot under the History Museum is no longer open to the public.)

The closest parking deck is between McDowell Street and Salisbury Street, just north of Lane Street.  Drive north on McDowell Street.  A hundred feet past the intersection of Lane Street, turn right into the State Government Parking Lot.  The parking deck is white concrete with red railings. Park in the Visitors' Area.

If the ticket spitter on the McDowell Street side won't give you a ticket, that means that it thinks the parking lot is full. The lot may, or may not, in fact, be full. Pull back out onto McDowell Street, which in one block turns into Capital Boulevard.  Go about a block on Capital Boulevard, and take the Peace Street exit.  At the bottom of the exit ramp, turn left onto Peace Street.  Go about one block, and turn right onto Salisbury Street.  Go about two blocks and turn right into the Salisbury Street entrance of the same parking lot you were in on the McDowell Street side.  Sometimes you can get into the lot from the Salisbury Street side when you can't get in from the McDowell Street side.  Even if they have a Lot Full sign out, I have driven up to the ticket booth and talked the guy into letting me in to look for a spot. And I found one spot that day.  Persistence pays!

The second lot is about four blocks from the legislature.  It is in the 100 block of South McDowell Street.  Drive north on South McDowell Street till you pass the intersection of Hargett Street.  Turn right into the public parking lot before you get to the next intersection, Morgan Street.  The parking lot is on the corner of South McDowell and Morgan Streets.  To get to the legislature from this parking lot, walk south on McDowell Street three blocks. Turn right (east), and walk one block to the Legislative Building.

If for some reason both parking lots are full, you can find on-street parking by driving east on Jones Street three or four blocks into a residential area. If you go far enough east, there won't be any parking meters to worry about, and you can park all day for free.