Skip to main content

Ground breaks on "New Era of North Carolina Transportation"

Image
By
Dignitaries break ground on the Triangle Expressway

At about 10:35 this morning, the toll road era of North Carolina transportation officially began. The ground breaking for the 18.8 mile Triangle Expressway ushers in a new and controversial era of road construction in the state.

The ground breaking ceremony was held at the current end of NC 540 at NC 55 near Apex.

"This marks a new era in transportation in North Carolina," said NC Department of Transportation Secretary Gene Conti. "With dwindling transportation revenues and more fuel efficient vehicles, the state needed another tool in its toolbox to deliver megaprojects like the Triangle Expressway."

Over 100 people witnessed the beginning of the new era.

U.S. Congressman David Price, who also spoke at the event, said that today's ceremony was an example of "where we've come from and where we're going."

Construction for the first segment of the Triangle Expressway - an extension of NC 147 from Interstate 40 to the Davis Drive Interchange with NC 540 - should begin soon. That section is expected to open in 2011.

The extension of NC 540 to the NC 55 Bypass in Holly Springs still has some land acquisition to be done. However, the road should be open to traffic in 2012.

Both segments are design-build projects. In a design-build project, the design and construction of a project happen simultaneously. Over the past decade, a number of highway projects in North Carolina used this method.

Fellow blogger, Bob Malme was also in attendance and his report on the ceremony is here.

Story Links:
State's first toll highway finally reaches beginning of road ---WRAL-TV w/video
Officials break ground on state's first toll road ---News14Carolina w/video

Photos below - for the entire set - go here.

In three years or so, this will no longer be the last exit on NC 540.

North Carolina Turnpike Authority Executive Director, David W. Joyner, speaks during the ceremony.
U.S. Congressman, David Price (4th District).
NCDOT Secretary Gene Conti:
Labels:

Comments

Bob Malme said…
I took some photos too, but there mainly duplicates of what Adam shot, so I'll spare everyone another look. I was going to take some shots of the existing roadways in the Triangle Parkway corridor before construction starts, but it started to rain, so I'll try again soon.

This was my first roadway groundbreaking and it was quite similar to a couple building groundbreakings I attended at Duke. Even down to the appearance of David Price (he's a Duke professor officially 'on leave'). None of them had bulldozers moving any dirt after the dignitaries, though.
10:09 PM
Georgia Road Geek said…
They should've given you guys a shovel and let you participate. :)
8:17 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

By
In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l
3 comments
Read more

Ghost Town Tuesday; Mannfield, FL and the stairway to Hell

By
Back in 2015 I went searching the Lecanto Sand Hills for the original Citrus County Seat known as Mannfield.  Unlike Centrailia in Hernando County and Fivay in Pasco County I did find something worth seeing. Mannfield is located in the Lecanto Sand Hill section of Withlacoochee State Forest somewhat east of the intersection of Citrus County Route 491 and Mansfield Road. Mannfield was named after Austin Mann and founded in Hernando County in 1884 before Citrus County Split away.  In 1887 Citrus County was split from northern Hernando County while Pasco County was spun off to the south.  Mannfield was selected as the new Citrus County seat due to it being near the county geographic center.  Reportedly Mannfield had as many as 250 people when it was the County Seat.  The town included various businesses one might include at the time, even a sawmill which was common for the area.  In 1891 Citrus County voted to move it's seat to Inverness which set the stage for the decline of M
6 comments
Read more

The National Road - Pennsylvania - Great Crossings Bridge and Somerfield

By
West of Addison, US 40 crosses the Youghiogheny River at what once was the town of Somerfield.  When crossing the current modern two lane bridge, you many not realize that it is actually the third to cross the Yough at this site.  The first - a stone arch bridge - was known as the Great Crossings Bridge.  Built in 1818, this three arch bridge was part of the original National Road.  The name Great Crossings comes from the men who forded the Youghiogheny here - George Washington and George Braddock. (1)  If you cross the bridge at the right time, this historic bridge and what was once the town of Somerfield will appear out from underneath this massive man-made lake. Historical Postcard showing the 'Big Crossings' bridge and Somerfield.  Image submitted by Vince Ferrari. The Great Crossings Bridge was located in the town of Somerfield.  Somerfield, originally named Smythfield until 1827, would develop as a result of the National Road. (1)  Somerfield would go through va
Post a Comment
Read more