Why a new 540 interchange is a 'big deal' for Triangle commutes
(Triangle Business Journal, April 3, 2017)
A just-opened interchange gives drivers on Holly Springs’ Veridea Parkway a direct link to the Triangle Expressway – a connection officials hope can cut down on commute times.
Beau Memory, executive director for the North Carolina Turnpike Authority, says both his agency and the local communities have been pushing for the connection “since the conversations about the Triangle Expressway first began.”
Holly Springs Mayor Dick Sears calls it a “big deal” for both Holly Springs and Apex, and one that can cut minutes from a trip to the airport. “It gives us another alternative to get to the toll road,” he says in an interview, adding that it’s a “safe and quick” alternative to the status quo.
According to NCDOT, the traffic on Veridea Parkway – then known as Old Holly Springs-Apex Road – was 1,900 vehicles per day in 2010. But that number is projected to increase more than 18 times to nearly 35,000 vehicles per day by 2035.
Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance business coalition, says “anytime you can improve accessibility to the most advanced toll road in America it is a big deal.”
“With a new interchange providing improved access to the 70-MPH Triangle Expressway, thousands of travelers will be able to more directly access their destinations in fast-growing southwestern Wake County via 540,” he says.