The Raleigh City Council got its first look Tuesday afternoon at four pricey options for converting a ten-mile stretch of Capital Boulevard into a toll highway.
The presentation, by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), and the North Carolina Turnpike Authority, was the latest turn in a project that has been talked about for decades. An earlier iteration, first proposed in the early 2010s, would spend about $93 million to turn Capital Boulevard into a four-lane highway between Interstate 540 and Purnell Road in Wake Forest. But problems with funding delayed the project five times, according to CAMPO Executive Director Chris Lukasina.
“Inflation has kicked in,” he told the council. “Rising costs outside of inflation have kicked in within the transportation sector as well.”…