Some Residents Along I-540 On The Fence About New Highway

state Department of Transportation

plans to open a section of Interstate 540 between Creedmoor and Falls of Neuse roads on Friday. Some people living along this stretch say its opening is hitting way to close to home.

Sound walls shield some neighbors along I-540 from noise and cars -- but not all people living along the road feel protected.

Doug Varber, and his neighbors who live along the new stretch of road, worry about their children playing next to the busy highway.

A five-foot-high chain link fence is the only barrier between the children and the six-lane highway.

"I'm concerned about the people driving by and my family and my kids being out in front. I'll have to think twice about having them out front playing," says Varner.

A DOT computer simulation shows what Varner's property will look like after landscaping, but the homeowner and his neighbors want a high sound wall that lines other sections of the highway.

The DOT says that particular area did not meet the criteria for a wall, because not enough people live on that side of the interchange.

"Folks have built houses in an area where a road was not built, did not exist. Now that we've finished it, maybe it's a little closer than they'd like," says Jon Nance.

Nance says landscaping should begin in October and November.