Raleigh area’s US-1 is a road standing still in a region moving forward

The opinions expressed in this piece are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carolina Journal or its publisher.

Since the dawn of the century, the NC Department of Transportation has considered converting the northern part of US-1, from I-540 to the Franklin County line, into a limited-access freeway. In 2006, the Capital Boulevard North Upgrade Project was launched with a corridor study, and in 2012, it was programmed into the State Transportation Improvement Plan with a price tag of $93 million. Construction was scheduled to begin in 2018.

After Hurricanes Matthew and Florence devastated eastern North Carolina and lawsuits cost NCDOT hundreds of millions, the US-1 upgrade project was put on the back burner. This snowballed into increasing right-of-way and construction costs, and continued congestion concerns…

Story continues

TRENDING NOW

LATEST LOCAL NEWS