Commute from Morrisville/Cary/Apex/Holly to northern Chapel Hill question :) (Raleigh: schools, to live)

[Indigoblue]

My husband is going to be working in north Chapel Hill and 751 to 40 looks like a potential commute from the Morrisville - Holly Springs strip. Does anyone know if there are any viable west-east shortcuts from 55 to 751?

Any general thoughts on how brutal or non brutal such a commute would be from the various towns along 55?

I see a few streets that go straight across and am wondering how congested they would be during rush hour. They include:

Green Level Road West
Green Level Church Road
Carpenter Fire Straion Road
Okelly Chapel Road
Alston Avenue
Sedwick Drive

I would SO appreciate anyone in the know who could write a quick note on whether these shortcuts would be feasible

TIA

[Indigoblue]

Aww noone is familiar with any of those roads?

[RaleighRob]

Frankly, I doubt you'll find any route to make this commute easier...the distance is simply pretty far no matter which road you use.
Are you sure there's no way to live closer to his work? Cuz to be honest, that is probably the only thing to make the trip a short one.

[bta]

We live right near Okelly-Chapel Rd and I have never seen traffic on it - we use it all the time to zip over to 751. The other roads you mentioned seem fairly deserted most of the time, but I can't speak for rush hour, as I haven't really been on those roads during peak commute times.

If you look at page 5 on http://www.townofcary.org/northwest/chapter3.pdf (broken link) you can see the major east-west routes that are planned for NW Cary. The major routes they highlight will be the first roads to get widened and will probably be a breeze to drive on when they're new. And when everyone else discovers them and they start to get backed up, then hopefully the more minor roads (like Okelly-Chapel) would still be good back roads to take.

It'll still take a while to get to Chapel Hill from Holly Springs, even with no traffic - but at least between NW Cary and 751, you should be able to avoid any stop and go traffic.

[Indigoblue]

Thank you for the info bta

RaleighRob...I'd love to be closer but with his work in Chapel Hill that leaves our choices at:
a) Chapel Hill - very little sq footage for our $$$
b) Hillsborough - more rural than I'd like, but a possibility
c) SW Durham - we're concerned about the schools, but would initially only have one child in school - a first grader

The Morrisville - Holly Springs strip is appealing for the schools, appreciation, and shopping