State leaders to review toll study on potential Capital Boulevard Freeway
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- As the Triangle continues to grow, so do the calls for changes to Capital Boulevard.
These days, there aren't many things we can all agree on but one topic that brings us all together, Capital Boulevard needs work and the good news is the process has somewhat started.
"The STIP shows you what projects we're doing and Capital Boulevard is in the draft STIP that has to get approved by the legislature. That hasn't happened yet," said Kim Deaner, NCDOT.
The Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, or STIP, is released every two years. It spells out how and when NCDOT projects are expected to be delivered over the next ten years and how they plan to pay for it.
"At any point, if that anticipated cost goes higher than what we though, we readjust the STIP. We have to stay within our revenue," Deaner said.
As of now, this is a $1.3 billion project that will be done in four phases making Capital Boulevard a freeway between I-540 all the way to the Wake-Franklin County line. If approved, the first two phases would begin construction in 2031.
"So no more stoplights. An intersection like this is going to be an interchange," Deaner said.
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"We've been wanting it for years. It's been talked about for years. Everybody wants it but we haven't been able to get it," said Mayor Vivian Jones, Wake Forest.
Mayor Jones is also chair of the North Carolina Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO.) Because of the delay in construction Mayor Jones says CAMPO requested a toll study that will be presented during their meeting on Wednesday night.
"It seemed that we weren't getting anywhere with just the freeway possibilities. And looking at the tolling and how they're doing the tolling around Raleigh and how well it is working, and you look at the people building roads in Raleigh, I think the Toll Authority is the only one who's built a road on time and on budget in the last 50 years," said Mayor Jones.
Mayor Jones says the idea is a toll road can get the funding it needs much sooner and she says that's a price most of her community is willing to pay.
"Mostly I'm hearing that they are for it. Of course, some people are saying, 'I don't want to pay tolls.' I don't want to pay tolls either but I want to be able to get where I'm going and it's a toll to our psyche to have to sit on Capital Boulevard," Mayor Jones said.
Since the project was announced, there have been questions about how to expedite the country and find ways to pay for it. The project has since been delayed by surging costs, as CAMPO says they're considering tolls as a way to speed up the timeline - with a goal to begin construction before 2030.
"Yeah, I don't love the current situation but that would help with traffic for sure," said Eric Reynolds, who lives in Wake Forest and commutes often to Raleigh.
Eric said on a given day, the ride down Capital Boulevard from Wake Forest can take as long as 45 minutes.
"It's just always filled with traffic no matter what time you're driving. And there's like 17 stoplights the whole way down," he said.
There were several potential toll options discussed at Wednesday's CAMPO meeting, including building out a full toll road in the model of the Triangle Expressway, or create dedicated Express Lanes on the reimagined stretch of US-1. Transportation officials like Joe Milazzo with Regional Transportation Alliance say businesses in the area are eager for improvements.
"It's important for commerce, it's important for quality of life. And right now, the delays on that have created a lot of challenges for growth, just for people getting to where they want to be on a daily basis," Milazzo said.
Leaders acknowledged that three of the four scenarios the study evaluated would provide significant revenue to help fund the project and speed up construction. Next up will be opportunities for public engagement before CAMPO revisits the issue at their May meeting.
