Cary family moves out of freeway's path

The Howells started saying goodbye on Wednesday to 41 years of memories at their Cary home.

The family's property on Green Level Road is located in the middle of what will be the $446 million Western Wake Freeway, a segment of the state's first toll road.

“They’ll be an exit ramp right behind the house,” Judy Howell said.

The family have until next week to move after accepting an offer from the North Carolina Turnpike Authority nearly 90 days ago. They are relocating to Apex.

“When you have to move out of a house you didn’t plan on moving out of, it’s kind of like being evicted,” she said.

The Turnpike Authority said, so far, it has negotiated deals with 10 homeowners, whose properties are in planned path for the road. Four more deals are expected by the end of April.

The 12.6-mile Western Wake Freeway is the third piece of 18.8-mile Triangle Expressway. It will run from existing N.C. Highway 540 in western Wake County south of Interstate 40 to the N.C. Highway 55 bypass in Holly Springs. It is expected to open in 2012.

The first section – N.C. Highway 540 between N.C. Highway 54 in Morrisville and N.C. 55 near Research Triangle Park – opened two years ago, and drivers have been using it toll-free since then.

The other section, the 3.4-mile Triangle Parkway from I-40 and the Durham Freeway to N.C. 540, is expected to open later this year.

When it is complete, the Triangle Expressway will use an electronic, no-stop, cashless toll system. The price of the tolls has yet to be determined, but the Western Wake design team estimates it could be about 10 cents to 20 cents per mile.