A project to complete an outer loop around Raleigh, North Carolina, got a $417 million boost, thanks to a loan from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Contracts for the $1.3 billion project to finish the final phase of the Complete 540 Project were awarded last year. Construction is scheduled to begin in May and be completed in 2028.
The low-interest, long-term federal loan comes from the USDOT’s Build America Bureau and will be used to extend the Triangle Expressway toll road 10.8 miles. It will connect with the 17-mile first phase of the project, which is scheduled to wrap up this year after four years of construction.
“This important infrastructure project will provide congestion relief by allowing local north-south travelers options to avoid the busiest segments of 540 in southwest Raleigh,” said Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg. “Completing the route will also ensure the community has an additional evacuation route to help during emergencies such as hurricanes on the coast.”
Flatiron-Fred Smith Company Joint Venture will build the first section of the final phase. Its $450 million contract covers extending the Triangle Expressway from south of Rock Quarry Road to Interstate 87/U.S. 64/U.S. 264.
Branch-S.T. Wooten Joint Venture was awarded a $287 million contract for the final section of the expressway to extend it from I-40/U.S. 70 (future I-42) to south of Rock Quarry Road.
The $1.3 billion Phase 2 will include six interchanges, 24 bridges and 14 culverts.
The overall project extends the six-lane, 70 mph, electronically controlled toll road 28 miles south and east of Raleigh. It will connect with the existing 18.8-mile N.C. 540, which became the state’s first modern toll road in 2012, according to the N.C. Turnpike Authority.
Once completed, the new toll road will connect several towns and cities and ease congestion on I-440, I-40, N.C. 42, N.C. 55 and Ten Ten Road, among other local roads, according to NCDOT. The Complete 540 project will ultimately link Apex, Cary, Clayton, Garner, Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs and Raleigh.
