RALEIGH, N.C. — Officials with the company contracted to build a portion of the state's first toll road said members of the community can expect detours and lane closures on existing roads before the project is done.

Wilson-based S.T. Wooten Corp was contracted earlier this year for $135 million to build the 3.4-mile Triangle Parkway, which runs from N.C. Highway 147 in Durham to N.C. Highway 540 in Morrisville.

Jonathan Bivens, vice president of  S.T. Wooten Corp., told members of the community during an open house Wednesday that the closures should be in the evening and not during prime-time traffic.

The road could open as early as 2011.

“You get some people saying, ‘I won’t ride it. I won’t pay a toll.’ But you get a lot more people who will say, ‘I will be glad when you get it open so I can get to my job easier and quicker,’” Bivens said.

The Triangle Parkway is one of three parts of the larger Triangle Expressway, an 18.8-mile toll road that, when complete, is expected to cut 20 to 25 minutes off the average commute time between Holly Springs and the Research Triangle Park.

The 2.8-mile Northern Wake Expressway – the first section of the Triangle Expressway from N.C. 540 between N.C. Highway 54 in Morrisville and N.C. Highway 55 near Research Triangle Park – opened two years ago, and drivers have been using it toll-free since then.

The final section, the 12.6-mile Western Wake Freeway from N.C. 55 in Cary to N.C. 55 in Holly Springs is expected to open in 2012.