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

 

Is there any members here registered with Triangle Business Journal? There is an article that I cannot view since i am not a registered user there. "Beyond Complete 540 - these 3 projects will have big impact."
Any chance you can post it here? Thank you.

 

I'm not registered, but when I view one of their articles from Facebook on my phone, it lets me close a pop-up that comes up twice, and then I can read it.

The I-440 Beltline in Raleigh
Crews recently implemented a major traffic shift in West Raleigh, part of an ongoing effort to modernize I-440.
As part of improvements in that area of Raleigh, NCDOT is also reworking the Blue Ridge-Hillsborough grade separation near the fair grounds. It’s a high stakes project in a heavily-trafficked area, and has the potential to streamline commutes for thousands.
Hopkins said the project is “huge” for the area.

Capital Boulevard in Raleigh
By converting part of the road to a controlled-access highway, NCDOT hopes to improve traffic congestion along the road between Raleigh and Wake Forest.
“We just had our statewide scores come out and it looks like all four sections of Capital Boulevard are going to be funded in the draft STIP coming out in January,” Hopkins said, referring to the State Transportation Improvement Program, a plan that identifies the construction funding and scheduling of projects across the state.
The project's section A, from 540 to just north of Perry Creek and Durant roads, competed at the state tier for NCDOT’s funding schedule back in 2016, and won. But a lot has happened over the past eight years, as project estimates for just that segment went from $82.2 million in 2016 to $291.2 million.
The entire four segment project, estimated at $463 million six years ago, is now expected to cost $754 million, according to a NCDOT.

CSX S-Line
Hopkins said you can’t talk about transportation in North Carolina “without talking about the S-Line," a freight rail line owned by CSX (Nasdaq: CSX) that connects multiple states from Virginia to Florida.
In North Carolina, the plan involves what’s commonly known as the Raleigh-to-Richmond Amtrak project — a new passenger rail route between Raleigh and the Virginia capital that will reduce travel times.
Hopkins said it can’t happen soon enough.
“This is the third year in a row where we’re continuing to break ridership records,” he said, adding that a groundbreaking on one stretch of the project at New Hope Road could happen in the next month.

 

Drove 540 to RTP this morning. Tall streetlights at NC 50 not yet working, very dark. smooth, no traffic.

Yesterday going I 40 left house 6:00 got to office at 6:35, 35 miles. So, 35 min 35 miles. Driving with traffic at about 78 mph.
Today left house 6:03 got to office 6:39, 36.5 miles. So, 36 min 36.5 miles. I was on cruise at 72 mph, as i felt isolated on road, easier to be seen. Would have been faster of course if going more above speed limit

Will defiantly save time on way home at 5 pm. Will be much faster for someone going to Apex instead of 1010, or NC 55

 

39 min home last night. amazing. That was with about 2-3 min delay due to the craziness /construction at NC 50. Probably won't use it every night due to the approx. $6 from where i get on to get off.