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Probably a safe bet that it will remain the only one in the state...
+1
And this is nitpicking, but the road under construction is NC 540 not I-540. I-540 around north Wake could not be tolled after-the-fact per federal regulation. The remainder of 540 is built by the Turnpike Authority as a toll road, and NCDOT calls it a state highway.
Are there any reports available indicating actual accomplishments in a granular measurement (maybe centimeters per year)? This has been going on for decades, I'm starting to think maybe the lower segments are more or less a fairy tale.
At the going rate it will be 2080 before the loop is complete, and by then climate change and covid mutations will have reduced the population to the point where it won't matter.
I have to join the chorus of dissenters here about your impatience for the completion of 540. Work on the extension started in 2019 and is supposed to be finished in the next year or so. It's covering more than 8 miles and crossing several major intersections. The progress is doing pretty well, nearly 60% already in the latest construction progress update from the NCDOT.
Compare this with some other projects such as the East End Connector/I-885 in Durham County, which has taken more than seven years to complete just 4 miles of interstate. It began work in February 2015 and has yet to open, even though signs have now been unveiled for it on I-40 and the Durham Freeway. Supposedly it'll open this month, but there's been a lot of supposed things that have happened for this project for nearly a decade.
I have to join the chorus of dissenters here about your impatience for the completion of 540. Work on the extension started in 2019 and is supposed to be finished in the next year or so. It's covering more than 8 miles and crossing several major intersections. The progress is doing pretty well, nearly 60% already in the latest construction progress update from the NCDOT.
Compare this with some other projects such as the East End Connector/I-885 in Durham County, which has taken more than seven years to complete just 4 miles of interstate. It began work in February 2015 and has yet to open, even though signs have now been unveiled for it on I-40 and the Durham Freeway. Supposedly it'll open this month, but there's been a lot of supposed things that have happened for this project for nearly a decade.
Must be Yankees (and other folks that come from areas where tolls are an accepted way of living) that are so looking forward to pay tolls. Those of us from NC aren't happy about tolls forever, and those of us on the southside of Raleigh aren't happy about having to pay to drive on a nice highway when our brethren on the north side got I-540 for free.
The least they could do if they wanted it faster is to have a "sunset" clause on the tolls so that we get the road sooner and those that are willing to pay to drive it, but stop charging tolls the same date as was the projected completion date when it was just state funds used to build it, not private. That would have been a win-win and fair for all parties.
At least it's electronic and no one's getting paid $100K/yr to sit in a booth and collect tolls while watching videos all day.
Must be Yankees (and other folks that come from areas where tolls are an accepted way of living) that are so looking forward to pay tolls. Those of us from NC aren't happy about tolls forever, and those of us on the southside of Raleigh aren't happy about having to pay to drive on a nice highway when our brethren on the north side got I-540 for free.
The least they could do if they wanted it faster is to have a "sunset" clause on the tolls so that we get the road sooner and those that are willing to pay to drive it, but stop charging tolls the same date as was the projected completion date when it was just state funds used to build it, not private. That would have been a win-win and fair for all parties.
At least it's electronic and no one's getting paid $100K/yr to sit in a booth and collect tolls while watching videos all day.
You're paying for it in some way whether in the form of taxes or tolls. Just because the road is built doesn't mean there won't be additional funds needed for future maintenance or expansion etc.... IMO, it makes sense that those who utilize a road should be more responsible for the funding of that road vs those of us who live elsewhere and don't.
The law already says that the tolls must be removed when the debt has been paid off. It's hard to set a firm date though because they've refinanced stuff and are folding the new extensions into the debt service for the previously opened section. And it's possible there may be future debt incurred for expansions or infill interchanges or major maintenance projects.
You're paying for it in some way whether in the form of taxes or tolls. Just because the road is built doesn't mean there won't be additional funds needed for future maintenance or expansion etc.... IMO, it makes sense that those who utilize a road should be more responsible for the funding of that road vs those of us who live elsewhere and don't.
I don’t love the tolls, but it’s not changing at this point. Some of us fought it 20 years ago, when they literally stole a few miles and maybe $50 million worth of road between 54 and 55 that had already been built with tax money, then folded it into the toll project. Nothing changed then, and this gets us the roads done faster than otherwise, which is a good thing.
Now, I’ll also have an argument that they could have done some things less expensively. I mean who came up with the idea of painting all the concrete, which of course didn’t adhere and had to be removed years later, and some re-coated with high performance coatings. Could have just left it alone to begin with. Same goes for the toll gates themselves. Why not just use metal truss supports instead of building them out of concrete? The gantry overhead is a metal truss so it would blend right in. Then there’s the idiocy of their curve radiuses for most ramps, but they claim that was to save money. I will say that they do keep it maintained better than most similar roads around there though.
Must be Yankees (and other folks that come from areas where tolls are an accepted way of living) that are so looking forward to pay tolls. Those of us from NC aren't happy about tolls forever, and those of us on the southside of Raleigh aren't happy about having to pay to drive on a nice highway when our brethren on the north side got I-540 for free.
Speak for yourself. North Carolinian here, born and raised. I also currently live south of Raleigh. I'm happy to pay the tolls to not have to sit in traffic on 40 and get home to my family at a sane hour every day. As others have mentioned, the tolls are obligated to disappear in the future once all debts are paid.
You get what you pay for and I'd argue NC 540 is superior to the northern arc as well in terms of maintenance/construction.
And it's possible there may be future debt incurred for expansions or infill interchanges or major maintenance projects.
On occasion, improvements have been mentioned for I-540 between I-40 and US 1 that would add a lane, possibly HOV or Express. Tolls would then come into play.
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