North Raleigh's I-540 Complicates the Very Problem it was Built to Slove

After much anticipation I-540 in North Raleigh, North Carolina has finally opened from US-401 to US64. The new road promises to ease congestion on 64 and 401, as well as lower traffic on smaller back roads near by, but in the end 540 may have the opposite effect as it encourages growth in North Raleigh.

When the first stretch of 540 opened from I-40 to 401, traffic was hardly affected on the nearby roads, especially I-40 which is mostly used for traffic to and past Raleigh from the west side of the state. I-540 did allow greater access to North Raleigh, and shortly after there was a residential boom. Large developments started springing up all through northern Raleigh, even up to Wake Forest. The reason for the development was obviously 540. It provides a direct route from North Raleigh to Chapel Hill and Durham. Just how many commuters from North Raleigh to Durham can be seen during the morning commute, where the exit ramp from I-540 to I-40 can be seen backed up for several miles. As 540 continue to wrap its self around Raleigh it will continue to spread growth through the area. The benefits will be offset by extremely increased traffic however, and a huge development has already been approved where 540 crosses 401 north.

There really is no way to slow down the growth, but it will help to know what sections will be popular in the upcoming months, and what to watch out for. The two main areas that will take off in the next few years are the above mentioned 401 crossing, and the crossing between 540 and US64. These two areas will see the most growth and expansion in Raleigh in the next few years. They both have budding residential communities, and expanding shopping locations. The I-540 and US64 crossing are also located near to the 64 bypass, which gives easy access to South Raleigh, and I-40 east. This area will really start to boom especially once 540 makes its way to I-40.

So 540 will cause extreme growth in Raleigh as it progresses towards completion, especially in key intersections. This will increase the traffic, but until then North Raleigh will enjoy much shorter drives to work. Eventually it will need widening due to the bottlenecks that can be seen even now, so right it's more of a question of when, not if 540 will need expansion.