Interstate 540 (North Carolina)

Interstate 540 & NC 540
Raleigh Outer Loop
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length:	29.9 mi[1] (48 km) I-540: 26 miles (42 km) NC 540: 3.9 miles (6 km)
Existed:	1997 – present
Major junctions
Beltway around Raleigh
	I-40 in Durham US 70 near Raleigh US 1 in Raleigh US 64 / US 264 near Knightdale
Location
Counties:	Durham, Wake
Highway system
Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System Main • Auxiliary • Business North Carolina Highway System ← NC 522 NC 561 →

In the U.S. state of North Carolina, Interstate 540 and North Carolina Highway 540 share a partially completed interstate grade beltway, also known as the Raleigh Outer Loop, around the city of Raleigh.  

Route description

When completed, the beltway will total 70 miles (110 km) in length, surrounding the city of Raleigh and the towns of Apex, Cary, Garner, and Morrisville.  The designation from I-540 and NC 540 happens at I-40, in Durham County, where I-540 goes north and NC 540 goes south.

Interstate 540

I-540 is the designation for the northern completed part of the perimeter loop around Raleigh (not to be confused with the I-440 Beltline). Known formally as the Northern Wake Expressway, it runs 26 miles (42 km) from I-40, in Durham County, to US 64/US 264, near Knightdale.  Majority of the route is 6-lanes, with some major intersections at 8-lanes; the speed limit throughout is 65mph (105km/h).

North Carolina Highway 540

NC 540 is the designation given to the Western Wake Expressway, the western section of the loop. As of August 2007, the North Carolina state route traverses east–west from I-40, in Durham County to NC 55, in Morrisville.  Initially intended to be signed as an extension of the I-540 loop, the route bears mile markers and exit numbers for the complete Interstate loop, going from 66 to 69.

History

As of 2007^[update], less than one half of the project has been completed and is open to traffic. On July 14, 2007, a section of the loop from I-40 west to NC 54 and NC 55 was opened.^[2] However, the route is signed not as I-540 but as NC 540. Officials decided to change the designation in early July at the urging of the North Carolina Turnpike Authority (NCTA). Work on the western and southern portions of the beltway, if paid for by state funds, would possibly not open until 2030. At the request of several Wake County mayors, the NCTA in 2006 began studying the use of tolls to complete these portions of the Outer Loop.

The Authority concluded in early 2007 that it would be financially feasible to build the western section (along with an extended Durham Freeway, which combined would be called the "Triangle Expressway") using toll funds.  The NCTA apparently never wanted an interstate designation for the Western Wake Parkway. To lessen motorist confusion about where I-540 ended, the route was truncated to the I-40 interchange. All I-540 signs that were put up along the unopened stretch between I-40 and NC 55 were taken down in early July 2007; the new section is now signed as NC 540.^[3] (In addition, I-540 as a completed loop would violate the Interstate numbering convention regarding three-digit routes, as spurs begin with an odd number and loops with an even number, and at one point, I-640 — the last remaining available number within the state, as I-240, I-440 and I-840 are already taken — was proposed for the loop.)

Future

Work to build the Western Wake Freeway, which would be renamed the "Western Wake Parkway" under the toll proposal, began August 12, 2009, with the Triangle Parkway portion scheduled to open in late 2011, and Western Wake portion scheduled for 2012.^[4] The state legislature so far, however, has not included gap funding (to fill the missing funds between the total construction costs and that that can be raised by tolls) to help the NCTA start construction, which could mean a later completion date.

In October 2008, the authority was unable to issue bonds to fund the Western Wake Turnpike project as planned due to market conditions affecting municipal bonds such as those.^[5]  On July 29, 2009, the Authority closed on a revised $1.01 billion bond plan, consisting of $270 million in toll revenue bonds,^[6] $353 million in Build America Bonds,^[7] and a $387 million loan from the U.S. Department of Transportation under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.^[8][9] 

After work began on Western Wake Parkway in 2009, engineering and environmental studies began for the southern and eastern sections of Interstate 540. With the completion of TriEx, work could start on the southern section from Holly Springs to Interstate 40 near Garner by 2014 and be complete by 2019. No dates had been set for the eastern section from Garner to Knightdale.^[10]

Segments

The existing, under construction, and proposed segments of the Outer Loop are as follows:^[11]

Segment Name	Location	Mileage
Northern Wake Expressway	NC 55 to US 64	29.0
Western Wake Freeway (Parkway)	NC 55 in Cary to NC 55 South of Apex	12.4
Southern Wake Freeway	NC 55 to I-40 near Garner	16.5
Eastern Wake Freeway	I-40 to US 64	12.9
Total		70.8

Exit list

This exit list encompasses both NC 540 and I-540.

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Durham		0	1	I-40 – Raleigh, Durham, RTP	I-540 and NC 540 begins; signed as exits 1A (east) and 1B (west)
Wake	Raleigh	2.0	2	Aviation Parkway  – RDU Airport	Signed as exits 2A (south) and 2B (north)
		4.0	3	Lumley Road
		4.2	4	US 70 – Raleigh, Durham	Signed as exits 4A (east) and 4B (west)
		7.0	7	Leesville Road
		9.2	9	NC 50 – Creedmoor, Raleigh
	Raleigh	11.4	11	Six Forks Road
		13.8	14	Falls of Neuse Road
		16.8	16	US 1 (Capital Boulevard) – Raleigh, Wake Forest
		17.0	17	Triangle Town Boulevard	To Triangle Town Center
		18.4	18	US 401 (Louisburg Road) – Louisburg, Raleigh
		20.2	20	Buffaloe Road
		24.6	24	US 64 Bus. – Raleigh, Knightdale	Signed as exits 24A (west) and 24B (east) eastbound
		25.8	26	US 64 / US 264 (Knightdale Bypass) – Raleigh, Wilson, Rocky Mount	I-540 ends; signed as exits 26A (west) and 26B (east)
				Poole Road	Proposed Eastern Wake Freeway (Currently in planning and environmental study)[12][13]
				Auburn Knightdale Road
				Rock Quarry Road
				US 70 Bus.
				White Oak Road
Johnston				I-40 / US 70	Proposed Southern Wake Freeway (Currently in planning and environmental study)[13][14][15]
Wake				NC 50 (Benson Road)
				Old Stage Road
				US 401 (Fayetteville Road)
				Bells Lake Road
	Holly Springs			Holly Springs Road
				NC 55	Western Wake Freeway – Under Construction (Projected: 2012)[16]
				US 1
	Apex			Old US 1
				US 64
				Green Level Road
	Morrisville	66.4	66	NC 55 – Apex, Durham	NC 540 ends; signed as exits 66A (east) and 66B (west)
		68.4	67	NC 147 north (Triangle Expressway) – Durham	Originally Davis Drive before June 1, 2010; to be reopen as continuation of the Triangle Expressway
		69.2	69	NC 54 – Chapel Hill, Cary
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

When NCDOT initially posted the exit signs for exits 66 A/B, 68, and 69, they had posted them as  47 A/B, 49, and 50. The reason for the discrepancy was an apparent error made when summing the mileage for the new highway by the NCDOT's GIS unit, about 20 miles (32 km) of the proposed route was left out. NCDOT corrected the exit numbers and corresponding mileposts prior to the road opening in mid-July 2007.^[17]

See also

• Neuse River
• Triangle Town Center

References

1. ^ Photo of milepost at eastern terminus
2. ^ NCDOT: I-540 Raleigh Outer Loop
3. ^ Siceloff, Bruce (July 4, 2007). "New Bit of Outer Loop Renamed". News & Observer. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/626317.html. Retrieved 7/4/07. 
4. ^ Siceloff, Bruce (August 13, 2009). "Future rides on toll roads". News & Observer. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/traffic/story/63999.html. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
5. ^ Baysden, Chris (October 14, 2008). "North Carolina Turnpike Authority unable to sell bonds for toll road". Triangle Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2008/10/13/daily17.html?ana=from_rss. 
6. ^ "Triangle Expressway System Senior Lien Revenue Bonds". North Carolina Turnpike Authority. July 2009. http://www.ncturnpike.org/pdf/NCTurnpikeAuth1-OS.pdf. 
7. ^ "Triangle Expressway System State Annual Appropriation Revenue Bonds, Series 2009B". North Carolina Turnpike Authority. July 2009. http://www.ncturnpike.org/pdf/NCTurnpikeAuth2-OS.pdf. 
8. ^ "USDOT Approves $386 Million Loan to Build Triangle Expressway in North Carolina" (Press release). U.S. Department of Transportation. July 13, 2009. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pressroom/dot09101.htm. 
9. ^ "Turnpike Authority Breaks Ground on the Triangle Expressway" (Press release). North Carolina Turnpike Authority. August 12, 2009. http://www.ncturnpike.org/pdf/Release_Turnpike%20Authority%20Breaks%20Ground%20on%20the%20Triangle%20Expressway.pdf. 
10. ^ Siceloff, Bruce (2010-03-30). "Southern Wake loop's roadwork to start in 2014". News & Observer. http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/03/30/413414/southern-wake-loops-roadwork-to.html. Retrieved 2010-03-30. 
11. ^ Mileage listed in the NCDOT 2007-2013 STIP (pp. 5-33 - 5-35). Downloadable from http://www.ncdot.org/planning/development/TIP/TIP/
12. ^ "NCDOT STIP R-2829". https://apps.dot.state.nc.us/Projects/Search/ProjDetails.aspx?ProjID=3413. Retrieved 2011-01-29. 
13. ^ ^{a b} "NCTA: Southeast Extension". http://ncturnpike.org/projects/southeast/. Retrieved 2011-01-30. 
14. ^ "NCDOT STIP R-2721". https://apps.dot.state.nc.us/Projects/Search/ProjDetails.aspx?ProjID=3411. Retrieved 2011-01-29. 
15. ^ "NCDOT STIP R-2829". https://apps.dot.state.nc.us/Projects/Search/ProjDetails.aspx?ProjID=3412. Retrieved 2011-01-29. 
16. ^ "NCTA: Western Wake Freeway". http://ncturnpike.org/projects/Western_Wake/. Retrieved 2011-01-29. 
17. ^ Siceloff, Bruce (July 11, 2007). "'Oops' won't Stall 540 Opening". News & Observer. Archived from the original on August 21, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070821133440/http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/632170.html. Retrieved 2007-07-16. 

External links

• I-540 on Wake County Roads
• North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) project website for the Outer Loop
• North Carolina Turnpike Authority (NCTA) website for the Western Wake Parkway project
• "Planners Suggest Making I-540 Toll Road". WNCN. http://www.nbc17.com/news/5325199/detail.html. Retrieved 2005-11-29. ^{[dead link]}
• Siceloff, Bruce (November 29, 2005). "Finish Date of Part of I-540 Loop Postponed". News & Observer. http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/372268.html. Retrieved 2005-11-29. ^{[dead link]}
• "Turnpike Authority To Study Tolls On I-540". WRAL-TV. December 14, 2005. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/122456/. Retrieved 01/07/2006. 
• Siceloff, Bruce (October 31, 2006). "Bit by bit, I-540 gets closer to coming full circle". News & Observer. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/traffic/story/59928.html. Retrieved 2006-10-31. 
• Siceloff, Bruce (December 5, 2006). "Rain delays opening of I-540 to Knightdale". News & Observer. http://www.newsobserver.com/243/story/517992.html. Retrieved 12/05/2006. ^{[dead link]}
• Siceloff, Bruce (January 9, 2007). "I-540 arc to open next week". News & Observer. http://www.newsobserver.com/243/story/530411.html. Retrieved 01/09/2007. ^{[dead link]}
• Siceloff, Bruce (January 16, 2007). "I-540 link opens today". News & Observer. Archived from the original on January 18, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070118080638/http://www.newsobserver.com/243/story/532917.html. Retrieved 2007-01-16. 
• Roberts, Mark (April 10, 2007). "New Section of I-540 Could Open by June". WRAL-TV. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1267697/. Retrieved 04/10/07. 
• Roberts, Mark (May 15, 2007). "Man Takes Fight Over I-540 Toll Road to Web". WRAL-TV. http://www.wral.com/traffic/story/1417699/. Retrieved 2007-05-15. 
• Siceloff, Bruce (June 8, 2007). "Part of I-540 To Be Done By Holiday". News & Observer. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/growth/traffic/story/596394.html. Retrieved 06/08/07.