RALEIGH –– After years of planning, preliminary engineering and securing financing, the North Carolina Turnpike Authority broke ground on the Triangle Expressway August 12, an 18.8-mile toll road in Wake and Durham counties. N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Secretary and Turnpike Authority Board Chair Gene Conti and Turnpike Authority Executive Director David Joyner were joined by Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez and Congressman David Price for the official ceremony.

“Today marks a new era in transportation in North Carolina,” said Conti. “With dwindling transportation revenues and more fuel efficient vehicles, the state needed another tool in its tool box to deliver megaprojects like the Triangle Expressway. By the community choosing to toll the Expressway, we will be able to deliver this project decades sooner.”

This project received support from organizations such as the North Carolina General Assembly, the Research Triangle Park Foundation, the NCDOT, the Regional Transportation Alliance, NCGO!, and all the municipalities in the Capital Area and Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organizations.

“I can’t think of a more appropriate place to launch this innovative form of transportation delivery than Research Triangle Park,” said Joyner. “The Authority has been working with local, state and federal officials on a toll-backed financing program for four years. I commend the dozens of organizations and individuals who have labored so tirelessly to move this project from a study on a shelf to construction in such a short time.”



On July 29, The Turnpike Authority closed on roughly $270 million in toll revenue bonds and $353 million in state appropriation bonds, as well as secured a $387 million federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan to complete the project’s $1.01 billion financing package. Construction contracts were awarded to S.T. Wooten Corp. for the Triangle Parkway segment of the Triangle Expressway and the Raleigh-Durham Roadbuilders (a joint venture of Archer Western Construction LTD and Granite Construction Co.) for the Western Wake Freeway segment.

"The Federal Highway Administration is proud to have provided a $386 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan to help jump start the Triangle Expressway project and improve travel in the area," said FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez. "In breaking ground for this project, we're also improving access to jobs in this key education and employment center.”

The Triangle Expressway is a new-location roadway from the NC 55 Bypass near Holly Springs to I-40 at NC 147. This toll road system is approximately 18.8 miles in length and is comprised of three segments: Western Wake Freeway, Triangle Parkway, and existing NC 540 between NC 55 and NC 54. The project is expected to save customers up to 20 minutes per full trip. The Expressway will be built utilizing an all electronic toll collection system, meaning there will be no toll booths and no stopping to pay tolls. The Triangle Parkway is scheduled to open to traffic 2011 while the Western Wake Freeway is scheduled to open to traffic in 2012.