North Raleigh commuters face traffic headaches
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Growth has come with a price for many north Raleigh drivers who are seeing their morning and evening commutes stretched.
"We know that there's been a lot more traffic out there. We know that school started back, and certainly, when you have more cars on the road, you have the potential for more accidents and more breakdowns," said Mike Charbonneau with the NCDOT.
The morning drive to work has been especially bad along I-540 and I-40 westbound in Wake County on some days this week - with some motorists reporting a two hour commute. Unfortunately, the bumper-to-bumper stalls may not end anytime soon.
"It means that the Triangle is growing. Wake County is more than a million people now. The school system added an additional 3,000 students, so we're growing. But with growth comes more traffic," said Charbonneau.
The DOT has already added new toll roads and has several construction projects in the works to expand and improve the roads - the 40/440 project being one of them.
While the massive delays from earlier this week seem to have tapered off a bit, the DOT says as long as the Triangle continues to grow - and revenue continues to take a hit - drivers may see more glimpses of the gridlock many moved to the area to avoid.
"The gas tax, the highway use tax and the DMV fees, they're just not keeping pace with the amount of growth we're seeing in North Carolina anymore," said Charbonneau.
