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Just so everyone knows, more highways and expanded lanes don't mean less traffic. It only increases capacity and encourages more people to live farther away and to use the roads more.
Southeast Wake County has low population but after the loop is completed there will be hundreds of thousands of families moving in and creating more traffic. Imagine the population of Fuquay-Varina having a population of Cary because that is what will happen eventually as development moves east with the new loop.
That's true to some extent. However, this is not a far-flung road. It is in the heart of the triangle and has needed widening and changes for 20 plus years to fix some dangerous conditions due to the way roads were being built 50 years ago not being up to current standards.
Just so everyone knows, more highways and expanded lanes don't mean less traffic. It only increases capacity and encourages more people to live farther away and to use the roads more.
Southeast Wake County has low population but after the loop is completed there will be hundreds of thousands of families moving in and creating more traffic. Imagine the population of Fuquay-Varina having a population of Cary because that is what will happen eventually as development moves east with the new loop.
I hear what you're saying, but this isn't just some random stretch of highway. It'd dead center in an extremely congested area of Raleigh. It's also old, poorly built by today's standards, and has more potholes than I care count.
I hear what you're saying, but this isn't just some random stretch of highway. It'd dead center in an extremely congested area of Raleigh. It's also old, poorly built by today's standards, and has more potholes than I care count.
Are y'all talking about the 540 stretch that hasn't been built? Because that's what I think the poster is referring to.....
Southeast Wake County has low population but after the loop is completed there will be hundreds of thousands of families moving in and creating more traffic. Imagine the population of Fuquay-Varina having a population of Cary because that is what will happen eventually as development moves east with the new loop.
It will happen whether 540 is completed or not. Buildout of North Wake didn't wait on 540, and neither did buildout of West Wake.
It will happen whether 540 is completed or not. Buildout of North Wake didn't wait on 540, and neither did buildout of West Wake.
As long as states keep begging companies and industry to relocate and create jobs...
the people will need food, clothing, shelter, and highways to get it all to them.
The beauty in building roads before they're needed is that development will one day engulf them on both sides, leaving a very handy road to efficiently serve everyone like the Beltline and I-540.
Just so everyone knows, more highways and expanded lanes don't mean less traffic. It only increases capacity and encourages more people to live farther away and to use the roads more.
Southeast Wake County has low population but after the loop is completed there will be hundreds of thousands of families moving in and creating more traffic. Imagine the population of Fuquay-Varina having a population of Cary because that is what will happen eventually as development moves east with the new loop.
It’s going to happen anyway even without the highways as the Triangle is a very high growth area right now. The best thing to do right now with that in mind is for the NCDOT to build these new freeways with high capacity (6-8 lanes) from the beginning so that they can last for 30-40 years and sufficiently handle the growth that’s coming.
I’d liken it to how they built the last section of 485 in the Charlotte region. They made it 8 lanes from the get go and even with the development that popped up around it since completion, it’s consistently one of the least congested stretches of freeway in the region. I think they would be wise to do the same with the rest of 540.
architect and zeus, there is a fundamental problem to your approach of providing infrastructure prior to development. Not a flaw, but a problem. In a broad sense, infrastructure is always provided AFTER development occurs, not prior. It's sad, but that's the way it is. People want to chose where they live and develop and not be guided by existing infrastructure (planning). So roads, power, utilities always follow development after it has taken place.
More specifically, publicly funded projects must have a purpose and need (P&N). If development hasn't occurred in a given area, there is no P&N for infrastructure. This is often into play during the environmental permitting process of a project. I worked for NCDOT for ten years in the planning and environmental wing of the department. Almost ALL major transportation projects impact wetlands and streams that are under the jurisdiction of the US Army Corps of Engineers or the NC Dept. of Environment. They are nearly impossible to avoid given the nature of North Carolina. Even before the issue of offsetting the impacts to wetlands, the regulatory agencies require (demand) that there is a P&N for the project. Furthermore, they point out (mostly correctly) that development (and wetland impacts) near new roads will occur. A good example is the intersection of I-40 and NC-42. Look at the development that occurred there after I-40 was built.
Sadly, it's not possible to provide infrastructure prior to development even though that would be ideal. Infrastructure construction will always be reactive, not proactive.
Any updates on the 440 project between Wade and I-40? Just wondering when construction may begin.
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