RTA Member Briefing: November 29
- November 27, 2024
- Posted by: Jacob Rigg
- Category: Member briefing
RTA Members,
In this week’s weekly member briefing, we celebrate today’s milestone for the Complete 540 project, and give thanks to our members.
Turnpike Authority achieves substantial completion of the 540 southern Wake freeway mainline corridor and all interchange roadways
Today, Wednesday, November 27 — just before Thanksgiving 2024 — the remaining ramps at the Bells Lake Road interchange opened to travelers. This means that 100% of the interchange roadways along the 540 southern Wake freeway corridor are now open to traffic, and that phase 1 of the Complete 540 project has achieved substantial completion of the mainline corridor and all interchange roadways.
Just over two months ago, on Tuesday, September 24, the NC Turnpike Authority and NCDOT held a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening and substantial completion of mainline southern Wake 540 corridor, known as “phase 1” of the “complete 540” project.
The ribbon cutting heralded a momentous day for mobility in the metropolitan Triangle, as the southern and western 540 corridor achieved a cross-regional link to itself, as well as linkages to the I-885, US 1 south, and I-42 freeways.
While September 24 remains the key day for the corridor’s progression, and the strong two months of travel since the mainline corridor opened, there were still a few ramps that were not available for travelers, involving portions of the interchanges serving Old Stage and Bells Lake roads.
Last week, all of the remaining Old Stage ramps opened to traffic. And as noted above, today the Turnpike Authority opened the remaining ramps at Bells Lake.
While there are still project activities to go along the corridor, Complete 540 phase 1 is effectively complete from a user experience standpoint. This is a great day for the 540 freeway and for regional mobility.
We will celebrate this accomplishment, and 20 years of partnership, at the RTA annual meeting on January 24th, where we recognize our friends at the NC Turnpike Authority. I encourage you to RSVP for the January 24th, 2025 luncheon event now. Please contact RTA membership operations coordinator Jacob Rigg to register for the event or with any questions about event logistics, and reach out to me anytime.
Thank you for your support and membership — we give thanks to you today, and always.
Let’s get moving,
Joe
