Mayor Jones seeking an alternative
The North Carolina Department of Transportation is updating its 10-year plan, and the part important to Wake Forest, the total rebuilding of Capital Boulevard to a six-lane restricted-access expressway from Raleigh to the Franklin County line, would push the start date another five years to 2031, ten years from the original start date.
When asked for comment about that further delay, Mayor Vivian Jones replied: “At the CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) meeting this month we should hear from the Toll Authority about their study into making Capital a toll road.
“After that, CAMPO will vote on what to do and then, if we decide to go ahead with the tolling, we will begin a public discussion. As far as NCDOT’s plans for Capital, they are saying start in 2031, the Toll Authority is saying finish in 2031. We will see what CAMPO decides to endorse.”
If all the delays have left you a bit foggy about the DOT plan for Capital Boulevard, it calls for construction in four phases for ten miles of road. The first would be from I-540 north of Raleigh to its intersection with Durant Road and Perry Creek Road, a 1.5-mile section that DOT says would cost $516 million; the second section would reach to Burlington Mills Road, maybe another 1.5 miles; the third would get to the intersection of South Main Street and Falls of the Neuse Road; and the last would end construction at Harris Road and Purnell Road.
There would be only four access points in the DOT plan, which would require a system of frontage roads on both sides as well as two new bridges over the Neuse River. There is a bridge over the CSX rail line just north of the Burlington Mills intersection; building a six-lane bridge or bridges would impact the historic Powell House.
Now the total cost would be $1.34 billion. The project currently is unfunded. A year ago or more, DOT was ready to begin purchasing land for the first leg of the project, and it is unclear if any land has been bought.
If you want to comment on DOT’s proposed 10-year plan, go to www.ncdot.gov/initiatives-policies/Transportation/stip/.
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One Response
I dread the inevitable increase in traffic on narrow sections of Ligon Mill Rd south of the railroad tracks due to people avoiding US1 if converted to a toll road, and during construction. It is already unsafe, and will get worse if southern sections of Ligon Mill Rd are not widened prior to construction on US1.