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I'm being transferred to Cary and wanted to get some insight regarding commute times and best routes. We're looking at some homes in Eagle Ridge in Garner/Raleigh and I'll be working off of Weston Parkway in Cary.
What kind of commute times would I be looking at if I needed to be at the office by 9AM?
That is going to be a difficult commute by Triangle standards. It may very well be a far easier one then you are used to, though!
That sounds like a minimum of 45 minutes during rush hour, and I think that may be conservative.
You could look at a back roads drive, probably coming in on Ten Ten Road, but it won't save any time. you will still end up on 40 west for that last stretch from the US1/440 interchange at exit 293 to Harrison Ave/exit 287. That stretch is a tough one.
I think it might actually be better from Holly Springs during rush hour if you avoid I-40. You could, for instance, take 55 to Salem St/Davis Dr and continue on it until Morrisville Parkway (which ends nearly at Weston).
There are tons of back road routes from either. The problem with trying to take I-40 is that if there is a problem, then all the convenient backups are also jammed. Routes like Davis Dr. and 55 are much more predictable than I-40 in my experience.
Also, at some point down the road Holly Springs will get the advantage of the 540 southern portion. It may be 5 years out, but when it get here, it will be a much faster commute to Weston.
Do you think this or any other proposed highway could help alleviate some of the traffic btwn Eagle Ridge and RTP? If things keep growing w/o the infrastructure keeping up (which seems to be the case), I can see 45 min minimum doubling without too much effort.
Of course, if gasoline prices keep rising I'll have a very scenic bicycle ride to work every day.
My husband works on Weston Parkway, and we chose to live within about 1 1/2 miles of his work to avoid the commute. It's a nice area and I recommend it.
However, having driven around here around rush hour I would say that the traffic does not clear until about 9:30, and it starts back up again around 4:15. The traffic from SAS (located at Harrison & I-40) drives a lot of the local backups. I'd agree with Dire Wolf that Holly Springs or anything that helps you avoid I-40 & Harrison would probably be better, but there are some nasty backups at a couple of intersections around Weston Pkwy, most notably 54 and Cary Pkwy, and that one does go all the way back to 54 and Morrisville Pkwy sometimes.
Do you think this or any other proposed highway could help alleviate some of the traffic btwn Eagle Ridge and RTP? If things keep growing w/o the infrastructure keeping up (which seems to be the case), I can see 45 min minimum doubling without too much effort.
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They are supposed to widen I-40 from the Wade Ave split to US-1. This section is long, long overdue for widening. The downside is that, like most widening, things will have to get much worse during the construction before they eventually get better.
Historically the area has done a pretty good job with road infrastructure and growth. Recently money has gotten tight with funding and the area has started looking into toll roads for some projects. But there are practical limits to how many simultaneous projects and how quickly you can get them done. So all that said, the norm might be to see things get slightly worse (say 10-15 minutes) and then get better and smoother than it was before.
Do you know if this would be any worse than the commute from Holly Springs?
Thanks again.
Some of that depends on which side of Holly Springs you are considering.
From Eastern HS (Sunset Ridge Area) you have less mileage and more options-
Holly Springs Road to Walnut, then 1 north to 40 west
OR
Holly Springs to Penny to Ederlee then straight up thru Regency Park to 1 North to 40 West
OR
Sunset Lake Road to NC55 to 1 north to 40 West
OR
55 to 64 East to Davis Drive and up towards Weston via Cary Parkway or Morrisville-Carpenter Road
plus many variations on those.
If you haven't visited Eagle Ridge yet, you may find it to be pretty far removed from not only Weston but most of the other areas you will probably find yourself spending time in to shop/dine/work out/see a movie. It's a really nice neighborhood and I fully understand the Golf angle, but if I put myself in your shoes and think about Living in Eagle Ridge and Working in Weston, I think I'd last about 6 months before looking for another place to live.
One of the greatest things about the Triangle is that there are many ways to avoid the kind of commute you are thinking of taking on by simply living closer to work. As someone relocating in, you have that choice. We moved here totally burned out by commuting, and so my take on it may be skewed a little bit, but unless you are totally in love with living in Eagle Ridge I would investigate other neighborhoods before committing to that kind of distance between home and work.
We're heading back this weekend to look at HS again. My wife keeps finding really nice homes in Braxton Village (at very good prices as well) and I need to drive by there to see it first hand. If we were going to consider HS I wanted to try to stay on the north side, so I need to go by there to see how far it actually is.
Thanks again everyone for all the great info, feel free to add more if anything comes to mind, I'll be watching the thread and post what we end up doing.
Actually, according to Google Maps (and I think it's right) Eagle Ridge is closer to Weston Parkway than is Braxton Village, and shorter driving time too. Now, you're on 40 for longer, with more potential for traffic tie-ups during rush hour, if you're commuting from Eagle Ridge, so the commute could be longer, but not significantly so. I don't think Braxton Village will be that much more convenient. We actually looked at both Eagle Ridge and Braxton Village, and preferred Holly Glen (next to Braxton Village), and ended up in Fuquay - which if you're on the northwest side of town, is about the same distance/time to Weston Parkway as both Eagle Ridge and Braxton Village. Two neighborhoods you might take a look at are Ballentine (new homes and resales) and Meadowview at Crooked Creek (resales only).
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thanks for all the great information and guidance
