Complete 540 Project Visualization - from NCDOT Feb 2018

looks like all the drone videos are gone again.

 

We now know when NC 540 will open across southern Wake County (yahoo.com)
NC 540 from Holly Springs to I 40 ribbon cutting Aug 27, road opens Aug 28. 3 weeks from today. What do you think? Still have walls to complete near NC50 and striping, general clean up in that area also. Like i said earlier the stretch from NC 55 in Holly Springs to us 401 has been done for a while. Stripes down and road signs up. (Holly Spring Rd intersection still had work to do but more along than NC 50). But I hadn't been by Holly Springs rd. in several weeks.

 

NC Quick Pass
link for quick pass if anyone plans on using 540.

 

I saw it will be $8.15 to drive the entire length one way with quick pass. 35% more without. So if you drove the whole length round trip every day for work without quick pass, that would be $440 a month.

 

While I doubt 540 would be beneficial to someone going all the way from JoCo to RTP (the distance is a little bit longer by taking 540, and would only save a few minutes), I bet this will be a huge timesaver for someone going to US 64 near Apex, for example. And for every one of those people that takes it, that's one fewer person in my way on I-40!

I say that thinking of the morning commute, however. Thinking of the afternoon commute, I wonder how busy I-40 will be between the new NC-540 and NC 42. We'll see...

 

right now, I'm planning on using it for the drive home from RTP. now on 40 it takes about 1 hr., some days less some a little more. I'm thinking 540 will be 40 min. my morning drive is about 35 min. so, no need to use 540.

 

Will be interesting to see. I think the new lanes on 40 helped a bit with this, so it mitigates slightly the advantage of 540.

Once it opens, it would be neat to look at Google Maps and get directions going both ways and see the difference it says at different times of the day.

 

If the Cleveland Rd exit is any indication, it will be anywhere from 1 week to 1 year before Google Maps adds the road and shows it as open.

 

https://abc11.com/post/complete-540...ing-new-section-triangle-expressway/15185908/
New 18-mile extension of N.C. 540 will not open in August as previously planned

To nobody's surprise, 540 will not open on the expected date.

 

Crazy, when they made the announcement of an opening date, the upcoming hurricane was already forecasted to bring a ton of rain. You would think DOT would have taken that into consideration.

 

When I heard the August 28th date, I didn't think there was any way possible for them to make that deadline. It was less than a month away at that point, and there were interchanges that weren't even paved yet! I think they just started paving one side of NC 50 a few days ago!

You can see at NC 50 and at I-40 that they are making good progress, but it still seems like there's a LOT to do before Labor Day.

 

LOL. Is Kim Deener still at DOT?

 

yes

 

3 days of rain for Debby, then maybe 1 week to fix erosion issues equals a 1-month delay.
from TBJ:
A new target date to open several miles of the Complete 540 project to traffic in southern Wake County is on the calendar after a late August opening was washed out by Tropical Storm Debby.

After years of litigation followed by years of construction, Complete 540 Phase 1 could open to the public on Sept. 25, the day after a tentatively scheduled ribbon cutting ceremony, according to officials with the North Carolina Turnpike Authority.


The storm wiped away plans to open the 18-mile section, which runs from the N.C. 55 Bypass in Apex to Interstate 40 in Garner, ahead of the Labor Day weekend. But weather delays are nothing new for the huge project. Crews had hoped to complete the first phase earlier this summer.

they added the word "could" this time.

 

N.C. Turnpike Authority Prepares For The Opening Of The Extension Of The Triangle Expressway | JoCo Report