Complete 540 Project Visualization - from NCDOT Feb 2018

sorry, same pictures Jesse had posted further up in the thread.

 

Been gone on vacation for a while, glad to see NC 50 temporarily relocated @ 540 to start construction of the new bridge.

 

https://www.wral.com/only-on-wral-a-tour-of-the-progress-so-far-building-i-540/19786517/

 

When i went to the meeting a few weeks ago I meant to ask if the toll portion was going to be permanent or just till the road was paid off. I just remember when I lived in Florida. The Florida Turnpike was a toll road. And of course the politicians said that once it was paid off the tolls would go away. Well it got paid off and they lied. They kept the tolls and said they are using the money for maintenance.

 

The life cycle of most toll roads ... The WV Turnpike Commission was created in 1947 and the road was completed in 1954. The tolls were to remain in place until the costs of construction were repaid. The costs were repaid and then maintenance was the major cost until upgrades and renovations were undertaken. The costs of supervising the road created jobs that those people holding them do not want to give up so the tolls continue indefinitely.

 

Indiana Toll Road (I-80/I90) was to be toll until paid off, same as others still a toll rd.

 

Updated Google Maps Imagery of the area including 540 construction
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.6313287,-78.5646892,783m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

wow, that's a crazy picture. thanks! And you can see entire route from 40 to NC55 in Holly Springs on google earth.

 

While not part of the 540 project per se, it is a tie-in. Traffic has been shifted to new lanes eastbound after 309 and up to 312. I hope that the reduction in the grade will reduce the maddening uphill slowdowns prior to exiting at 312. It seemed a little better last night, but there was still an unnecessary reduction in speed of traffic. Hopefully having 4 full lanes open and more-level will fix this. At the very least, it will provide an extra passing lane to get around the inevitable 10 cars that are doing 55 in a 70.

 

https://abc11.com/traffic/ncdot-sues-raleigh-in-effort-to-seize-land-for-540-project/11044307/

Well that's an odd duck of a problem. I thought all purchases/seizures would have had to be completed before construction could begin. Now what? Does this delay the project?

 

I owned a few acres on the border of the southern edge of the Park when they started the Davis Dr. extension. I watched them cut some trees and place equipment on my property before I called up the DOT. I was informed that the court date for the property had been held the Monday prior to starting. I was surprised as I had not even been notified and asked about the owners, which turned out to be the family from which I had purchased the property years before. Now the negotiations really got interesting as they were not in a very good position. Because the extension was still a benefit to me, and I had a good relationship with Liz Rooks at the Foundation, I only raked them over the coals a little bit and they knew it. When time came that another 1/2 acre was needed their offer was more than adequate and included an access right of way agreement, thanks to the input from the Foundation so everyone was happy. But during construction the access right of way that was to be built disappeared and became an option only if I wanted to do the application process from the start and foot the bill. In addition, the access road that allowed us to travel in either direction was paved a few weeks before the construction started to cut it and make it dead end. To add insult to injury they destroyed the forced main sewer line we had spent nearly 100K to install. It had to be turned over to the county after construction in order to use the road right of way. Somehow it was never put on the county maps and the confusion between the state, county, contractors, and engineering company that installed it and did the technical representation allowed the contractor to get by with the destruction. I sold the property rather than go through the years of wrangling and expense that had occurred to get the initial system installed. So I can see how such things happen quite often since the right hand does not seem to know there is a left hand much less what it is doing.

 

omg what a horrible mess. I assume you were, ultimately, properly compensated for the land? Surely you didn't lose money on the broken sewer lines? Sounds like DOT had the land-ownership records wrong? Statute of limitations I'm sure has passed, but it sounds like grounds for an injury lawsuit to me.

 

Yes, because the system was designed to be used for a couple of hundred people if we added more buildings and we were only taxing it by 10% it was too long after the contractors destruction to be recovered. The state said it was the county's fault and the county said it was the state's fault and they both said it was the contractor's fault but that they were clear due to the time frame. I had gotten an evaluation from Allenton when we completed the sewer system at about 4.5 million, but with the loss of the sewer access and greater issues with adding water services the value dropped dramatically. The engineer was livid as part of the right of way negotiations included access to the water line being installed, but when we went to connect they informed us that it was not potable water but untreated transfer and fire department use. Any water access would involve boring under multilane highways.

 

Some YouTube video on progress from late April
NC-540, I-40 to Hwy-50 (4-23-22) - YouTube
NC-540, Hwy-50 to Sauls Rd. (4-23-22) - YouTube
NC-540, Sauls Rd to Fanny Brown Rd. (4-23-22) - YouTube
NC-540, Fanny Brown Rd to West Lake Rd. (4-23-22) - YouTube
NC-540, West Lake Rd to Hwy-55. (4-23-22) - YouTube

Thanks to Rocky for posting other videos from this guy.

 

You are very welcome. I liked those videos you posted. Gosh it looks like it will be another 5 years or so before it even gets back to I-40 on the east side. I wonder how much longer before 540 connects back with itself up at the 64 bypass. I know I will be too old to drive it myself. Heck when I moved up from Florida in '96 they were just finishing up on the stretch of 540 from 40 to Glenwood ave.

I wonder if this guy has any drone videos of 540 from 40 on the east side to where it will connect back with 540 at the 64 bypass.

 

540 going from I-40 to 64 is planned to issue a design-build contract in 2025. But that may be delayed from covid and property values going up which causes right of way acquisition to increase in cost, which requires an increase in project budget. I wouldn't expect to see any work at all on that until at least Summer 2026.

 

I turn 70 in 2028. I very much figure I will no longer be driving or perhaps alive by the time they complete 540

 

i think this is a new video

 

I guess they don't really start grading for road until all bridges are done, so they can use an access road to get concrete, steel etc in. I'm in construction and road construction scheduling never makes sense. seems like they could be doing bridges, storm drain, and grading for roads at the same time. which would speed things up

 

Speeding things up are great for the end users like John Q Public, but like the business quote goes "time is money" and i guess the longer it takes them the more money they will make. Just saying.