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8:43 p.m. • 5-23-13

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Published: 2008-08-20 18:43:00
Updated: 2008-08-20 20:43:48

Turnpike Authority approves toll road bids


Triangle Expressway Map
Toll Roads
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The North Carolina Turnpike Authority's Board of Governors on Wednesday approved bids for construction of the remainder of the Triangle Expressway.

S.T. Wooten Corp. of Wilson bid more than $137.4 million on the Triangle Parkway, a 3.4-mile toll highway between N.C. 147, which is the Durham Freeway, and N.C. Highway 540 in Morrisville.

The Raleigh/Durham Road Builders, a joint venture of Archer Western Contractors and Granite Construction with the LPA Group as lead designer, bid more than $446.4 million for the Western Wake Freeway, a 12.6-mile stretch. It will be an extension of the new N.C. 540, from N.C. 55 near Research Triangle Park to N.C. 55 between Holly Springs and Apex.

The bids total nearly $584 million – about $62 million less than what the Turnpike Authority expected.

Wednesday's vote means the contractors have a notice of bid. Construction can't begin until bonds are issued, which could happen in mid-October.

If so, the Triangle Parkway could open by December 2010, the Western Wake Freeway by 2011.

The first of the three sections of the Triangle Expressway, the Northern Wake Expressway, opened in July 2007 and stretches 2.8 miles from N.C. 54 in Morrisville to N.C. 55 near Research Triangle Park.


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what a scam, our government at its best.

theres a special on kleenex tissues this week at food lion for all the cry babies in here.

Quote from AtALost: "Just don't get how taxpayers have to pay for a company doing an inadequate job."

The reason the public has to pay is that the contractor did what they were told to do. It was a mistake by the DOT in the design that caused the issue, not shoddy workmanship.

But why let facts get in the way of a good rant?

"Change the rest of 540 to a toll road then the new section can be paid for faster. It is a crime eastern Wake gets a free 540 and western Wake gets a toll."

(Looks at map)

I think you need a geography lesson, or at least a class in how to read a map. I-540 runs from I-40 (west of Raleigh) to US 64 NE of the city; by any stretch of the imagination that puts the majority of the route west and NW of Raleigh. Even when the tolled road is built, "eastern Raleigh" still won't have either a free or a tolled route!

Oh, and your suggestion about "make all I-540 a toll road" won't work; FHWA would require ALL their money be paid back to them first; that's hundreds of millions of dollars this state doesn't have right now.

hmmmmmmm will this go toward the 700+ Million they have robbed from the school systems or be another slush fund

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Triangle Drive Times