RALEIGH
The N.C. Turnpike Authority has announced a new opening date for the southern leg of the Triangle Expressway, after weather-related delays forced a postponement.
The 18-mile toll road, also known as N.C. 540, is now scheduled to open to traffic at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place the day before.
The Turnpike Authority had previously said the road would open just before Labor Day weekend. But erosion control problems brought to light by Tropical Storm Debby in mid-August forced a delay.
After meeting with contractors, the Turnpike Authority announced the new date Tuesday afternoon. Patrick Norman, the authority’s chief engineer, says the rescheduled opening looks solid.
“The entire team is working tirelessly to ensure this schedule holds,” Norman said in a written statement. “We have made considerable progress completing all the necessary work to open the project safely on September 25.”
The Turnpike Authority is an arm of the N.C. Department of Transportation that builds and maintains toll roads. Local officials in Wake decided 20 years ago to ask NCDOT to use toll revenue to build the southern half of the 540 Outer Loop around Raleigh when it appeared the state wouldn’t have enough money for many years.
The new leg extends the expressway from N.C. 55 near Apex and Holly Springs east to Interstates 40 and 42 at the Johnston County line. Starting from I-40 near Research Triangle Park, the road will provide an alternative route through Wake County that avoids Raleigh.
There will be five interchanges along the route — at Holly Springs Road, Bells Lake Road, Fayetteville Road (U.S. 401), Old Stage Road and Benson Road (N.C. 50).
All the interchanges will open Sept. 25, with two exceptions: The eastbound half of the Bells Lake Road interchange will remain closed until November, as contractors remove a temporary asphalt plant there. And the exit ramp from westbound N.C. 540 to Old Stage Road won’t be ready to open until November as well.
Other work will continue after the highway opens, including on lighting, signs and the overhead equipment the Turnpike Authority uses to collect tolls.
The new leg of the Triangle Expressway will include the Triangle’s fourth completed diverging diamond interchange, at Holly Springs Road. Traffic on Holly Springs crisscrosses at either end of the interchange in a way that will eliminate left turns across traffic to get on and off the highway. It will also reduce the amount of time drivers spend sitting at red lights.
Engineers say the design is safer and more efficient at moving traffic. Three other diverging diamond interchanges have opened in the Triangle at Western Boulevard and I-440 in Raleigh; Jones Sausage Road and I-40 in Raleigh, and I-40 and N.C. 42 in Johnston County A fifth is under construction on Airport Boulevard at I-40 near Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
The southern leg of the Triangle Expressway is the first of a two-phase effort to complete the 540 Outer Loop around Raleigh. Construction began this year on the final 10-mile section from I-40 up to I-87 in Knightdale. It’s expected to open sometime in 2028.
