Traffic on 540 from/to 55 and on 55 itself? Rush hours and non rush hours. (Durham: how much, house)

[The Villages Guy]

Just wondering how traffic is now working on 55 and on 540 from 55, since 540 was finished. Is that new section of 540 busy and did it make any noticeable difference in the amount of traffic on 55?

Also, have they fixed or planning on fixing the issue with traffic being narrowed down, because of the train track bridge above 55?

Thx

[C_Lan]

It helps, but not significantly from what I see. The merge from 540 to 55 heading north has hardly any cars when I drive through there. I'm only on 55 from approx. High House road to Kit Creek. The biggest peeve of mine with 55 is that now in that ~6.5 miles there are maybe 9 lights to contend with. When I moved here there may have been one on High House at the time and it was free driving all the way to 54 before you hit another light.

Took a while for people to use the toll road. I think most are still avoiding it. My wife commutes to Durham and does not take 540. She takes 55 to Hopkins then onto 147 (toll). I think it costs her 34 cents each way that way. Taking 540 triples that cost.

EDIT: I pass the 540 intersection anywhere from 8:45 to 9:15 so I miss most of the rush hour. 540 may have more use earlier in the morning.

[boogityboogity]

I'm guessing that you're asking about 540 and 55 in Apex near Holly Springs (the terminus of 540) and not 540/55 in Cary near Morrisville?

If that's the case, there was an initial improvement when 540 first opened. But with more people moving to HS, the volume is picking back up. I don't think 55 is quite as bad as it was pre-540, but it's getting close.

Occasionally I will take 540 to Rt 1 instead of 55 to Rt 1 ... it takes roughly the same amount of time. 540 is a longer distance (and it costs about $0.35-ish), but it certainly doesn't crawl the way 55 does, and there's less chance of getting in an accident.

[castleguy47]

C_Lan: I imagine your wife takes a right on Hopson (from 55), then to 147 with toll. If she wants to safe the toll with negligible time loss, she could take the next right after Hopson from 55, which is TW Alexander (it waves through RTP into 147). At this point there is no toll to get on 147. Just FYI as the added time is minimal (maybe 1-2 minutes if you hit a light) and you don't have to take the toll road at all.

Anyway, just thought I would pass that on as it is an alternative to paying the toll. I gladly take the toll when I am going the opposite direction, but not when I am going up to Durham via 147.

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by boogityboogity

I'm guessing that you're asking about 540 and 55 in Apex near Holly Springs (the terminus of 540) and not 540/55 in Cary near Morrisville?

Sorry for the confusion. I am interested in the 540 stretch from 55 (Apex/Holly Springs) all the way up to I-40 and also 55 straight up to RTP area.

[BoBromhal]

540 from Holly Springs to RTP is pretty clear every time I'm on there. Seems that currently most people value their $ much more than their time.

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by BoBromhal

540 from Holly Springs to RTP is pretty clear every time I'm on there. Seems that currently most people value their $ much more than their time.

Is it safe to say they are not hitting their volume projections or did they set the bar low for the first few years?

[catbingo]

Honestly, NC 540 during rush hour in both the morning and afternoon is fairly busy. Not I-40 ish busy, but all lanes in both directions often have cars on them the entire stretch between I-40 and NC 55 bypass. During regular hours and the weekends, NC 540 is dead (you're hard pressed to see ONE other car on the road), where NC 55 has a steady flow of traffic. The traffic on NC 55 has improved for the most part, but within the next 10 years or so, traffic levels will probably be back to the pre NC 540 days.

[twingles]

I had a co-worker who travelled 540 last year from Holly Springs to Green Level West in Cary and she said there was a good amount of traffic on it in the mornings (around 7:30). She was surprised how much traffic there was, actually.

We were on 55 this weekend, right near the railroad trestle over 55. What a disaster that area is. Part of it may have been due to the RR crossings being closed.

[luv4horses]

RR crossings closed, and make up school day on last Saturday caused a lot of traffic on 55 in Apex. The zone by the middle school is always busy when school lets out.