Confusion about 540 expansion. (Raleigh, Durham, Cary: chapel, club, transportation)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Oh it'll magically get funded when gas prices sky-rocket again and stay there longer than what was occurring a year or so ago. Right now there just isn't enough of a motivational factor for the general population to do it.
I'd use lite rail to/from work every day if I could. I live in downtown Raleigh and work in downtown Durham. I-40 makes me rage every day. If I could cut that stress out of my life I would be a happier individual.
They can add all the rail you want and it won't stop traffic. It will just invite more people. Critical mass will always be achieved when a place is popular.
North Carolina is so lucky to have conscientious planners studying every byway, highway and corridor across the state looking for ways to improve mobility, even if they can't afford it right now.
This may be the first time in 50 years someone has said this about NC DOT.
So did anyone else attend the Information Session tonight at Wake Tech? I was there from about 5:15 to 6:15. The first 20 minutes were to watch a video about the process of selecting a route and starting construction. I spent the last 40 minutes standing at a few tables manned by employees of some company (not NCDOT, but perhaps the company doing the study) listening to their answers to various questions posed by the attendees.
So I think that we all know that the "protected corridor" is the probable route, at least I'd choose it if I was a betting man. A good reason for this is that the land has been set aside for the last 12 years for a freeway and development on it has been prohibited, therefore the land would be cheaper and easier to acquire. . . . no housing subdivisions, etc. It also avoids some other sticky items such wetlands, watersheds, etc. The other routes have been laid out recently (within the last 6 months) to satisfy requirements to do a study and offer alternatives. We can probably also assume that it will be a tollroad, or it will never get built. What is not clear, however, is the location of some interchanges and the specific location of the road within the protected corridor. The road itself will be 6 lanes wide, which, if you include right-of-way space, medians, etc, would be about 350 ft. The corridor itself is 1000 ft wide.
The most interesting thing that I learned tonight is that the clearing of the land at Donniebrook and 401 is not for the freeway interchange. The man who owns that land decided to sell the timber rights before NCDOT decides to buy his property. Might as well make money on that too. Smart guy.
Oh well...NC can get funding by raising property tax, income tax, gasoline tax and cigarette tax lol
The infrastructure in Raleigh Durham area can't support the influx of the masses from the northern states to avoid higher taxes up north....
Look at the water problem NC had couple in row, not because the drought that play a role in it but overpopulation without actually has a plan to support that much of people last 50 years
This may be the first time in 50 years someone has said this about NC DOT.
Well, all this says is that more people should be reminded that :
1) NCDOT maintains 80,000 miles of roads, 2nd only to Texas.
2) Visit other states' DOT websites and then NCDOT's to better appreciate how much forethought and planning has already been completed to improve mobility for all regions across the state. Examples include superstreets, US1, US-64 conversions, etc.
3) Look at how many miles of new 4-lane highways have been built over the last 20 years in NC compared with other states.
4) I've driven across country many times, and I've never another state with as many bypasses, business routes, alternates as North Carolina. Doesn't Johnston County have 4 US-70 routes?
5) Not too many states have traffic signals in rural countryside like US-401 between Rolesville and Louisburg.
6) I realize many places are falling into dis-repair and need work, I just hope everyone remembers that NC has more roads to take care of than most other states, and I believe NC stands out as having more conscientious minds planning for its future than most other states.
NCDOT maintains 80,000 miles of roads, 2nd only to Texas.
So what? All this proves is that NCDOT is a big bureaucracy... perhaps so large that it's unmanageable. Most other states assign maintenance of secondary roads to county governments. Perhaps North Carolina should do the same, so that NCDOT focuses on primary roads and other transportation modes.
In terms of new four-lane roads, I don't believe NCDOT has outbuilt Georgia which has roughly the same population and growth rate.
Most other states assign maintenance of secondary roads to county governments. Perhaps North Carolina should do the same, so that NCDOT focuses on primary roads and other transportation modes.
Here in the Town of Cary, they do exactly that! Cary's thoroughfares are a blend of state, Town, and privately-owned There is even a link on the TOC website that provides information to it's residents on which particular roads are maintained by DOT and which are the responsibility of the Town or community in which they are located.
Cities maintain their streets, but NCDOT maintains primary roads in the cities. That's why NCDOT has been repaving Glenwood deep inside the city limits -- probably a task that should belong to Raleigh. In fact, Raleigh has lobbied to keep the US 70, US 401, etc designations running though downtown, rather than multiplexing them on I-440, for exactly that reason. It shifts expense onto NCDOT.
NCDOT maintains all roads (even subdivision streets) in the non-annexed areas of the county. If you look closely at street signs, you can see which ones are NCDOT. They have a four-digit coded road number on the signs.
I went to the meeting at Holly Springs HS last night...
Very interesting, lots of maps, information booths, videos, toll information. The maps were huge, you could see individual houses. Engineers stood by the maps answering questions. At least 100 people were there for the short time I was there, I'm sure many more came later.
I really got the feeling that the engineers were confirming what many have already said here - that they know exactly where 540 is going but they need to show they have looked at other options.
Certainly the most contentious option was the southern most route through Holly Springs, Sunset Ridge and Bass Lake. This option would require the purchase of many expensive homes and would be the most expensive. I expect this to be eliminated immediately.
We are told to expect another newsletter later in the year with a reduced list of options...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
