Traffic

DOT plans new toll road exit in southwest Wake

Holly Springs and Apex are among the fastest-growing towns in North Carolina, so state traffic engineers are making plans to accommodate the booming population in the years to come.

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HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. — Holly Springs and Apex are among the fastest-growing towns in North Carolina, so state traffic engineers are making plans to accommodate the booming population in the years to come.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation is building a $20 million interchange for N.C. Highway 540 – the Triangle Expressway toll road – at Old Holly Springs-Apex Road. DOT spokesman Steve Abbott said about 1,900 vehicles use Old Holly Springs-Apex Road each day, but engineers expect that number to soar to 43,000 a day by 2035.

"Right now, the road is lightly traveled, but there's a lot of development coming in there," Abbott said.

The bridge over the highway is already in place, so crews just need to build the ramps to connect the two roads. If environmental testing goes well, the interchange could be open as early as 2018.

"Now, if you want to go in that area, you have to get off at U.S. (Highway) 1 or (N.C. Highway) 55 Bypass and drive back," Abbott said. "You'll be able to get off right in the middle" once the interchange opens.

The interchange also will open nearby land to development. Abbott said a developer is already planning a large mixed-use project near the new interchange.

"It's really an undeveloped area right off of U.S. 1, so it's prime territory," he said.

Cary hopes to open a new exit on N.C. 540 at Morrisville Parkway around the same time as the Old Holly Springs-Apex Road interchange opens.

Driver Ashley Clark said the new exits could help her beat the traffic.

"This area's really booming and growing, and another exit would be great," Clark said.

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