Planners already preparing for traffic Apple hub will add to area roads

"It’s a safe bet that we need to continue to make some critical investments in transportation and mobility," Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, said Tuesday.

Major projects are already underway, such as extending the N.C. Highway 540 toll road across southern Wake County. The section connecting Holly Springs to Garner should be finished in 2023 – the same time Apple arrives. Improvements to Capital Boulevard and U.S. Highways 64 and 70 also are in the works.

Several approaches will be needed to ease the potential traffic congestion, Milazzo said, such as bus rapid transit, which combines dedicated lanes for buses and priority at traffic signals to speed riders on their commutes.

"Right now, you might look around and say, 'I don’t see any miles of this bus rapid transit that I thought was coming.’ That’s fair, but in less than 10 years, this region is going to have 55 miles of bus rapid transit in Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties," he said.

Officials are looking at building a commuter rail system between west Durham and Garner, including a stop a couple of miles from the Apple site, if it proves to be cost-effective.

"I think we’re very close to it becoming a reality. We’ll just have to see how the study pans out and let folks make their decision next year," said Charles Lattuca, president and chief executive of GoTriangle.

Milazzo said businesses can help keep traffic off area roads by allowing people to work from home, even after the pandemic. Keeping employee hours flexible will help cut rush hour congestion, he said.

"We need to continue to be flexible with the approaches we are looking at or solutions [and] pivot if something comes up," he said. "We need to do something different."