Skip to main content

I-540 getting a new name

By
I read the headline, "New bit of Outer Loop renamed," in the paper this morning and thought nothing of it -- they were simply giving the western stretch of 540 a secondary name after some legislator or governor that had something to do with building the road. Right?

Well...
Days before the next stretch of Raleigh's Outer Loop is due to open for traffic, the state Department of Transportation is scrambling to give it a new name.

Workers this week began replacing red-and-blue Interstate 540 shields with black-and-white diamond signs to mark the new 4.5-mile stretch of six-lane freeway as N.C. 540.

"It's going to look like an interstate, and it's going to drive like an interstate, but it's just going to be called N.C. 540," said Kevin Lacy, state traffic engineer.

The 540 identity crisis stems from a state Turnpike Authority plan to build the 18-mile Triangle Expressway through RTP and western Wake County. The toll road would overlap with part of the new 540.

After gaining federal approval in January for the future switch to a toll road, turnpike officials lobbied the DOT not to label the new stretch of 540 an interstate. Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett, who doubles as turnpike board chairman, settled on the N.C. 540 name in May.

"The final decision was to maintain the 540 designation for continuity ... so drivers would not all of a sudden lose the road they were driving on completely," Lacy said, adding that "we are also, believe it or not, trying to minimize the confusion. We didn't want I-540 to end at some point for no reason."

Earth to Lacy: I-540 is going to end at some point (I-40, specifically) for no reason. Not only does this violate North Carolina's rules against duplicating route numbers -- although I guess I-/US 74 and I-/NC 73 have already destroyed those rules -- but there's long been a precedent established in other states where toll roads can have Interstate numbers as long as no federal money was used to build them. Not to mention, how much money are they going to waste on now-useless I-540 shields on the new section of the freeway?

This thing stinks on so many different levels that it could only happen in North Carolina.
Labels:

Comments

Adam said…
Or could it be a hedge against the tolled Triangle Expressway not being built at all? If it is not built as a toll road that road isn't going any further for a decade or two,what's the point of calling it Future I-540 then?

Either way it doesn't make sense and just another feather in the NCDOT Dunce Cap.
12:27 PM
Anonymous said…
The only name that needs to be on I-540 is VOID. The reason I moved to Apex was to get away from North Raleigh life, to be in the country. Now with this monster trying to come through all of that is going to be a thing of the past.

Is there not enough retail and strip malls in Wake county? All I hear is talk about how great it will be for people living in Holly Springs and how much growth will result. Those people need to move closer to RTP and not expect Apex residents to lose their homes to bail them out of there commute. I am being forced to move because I don't want to live beside a 6 lane interstate in Scotts Mill.

No one talks about people like us who do not want the road at all...
And yes we all knew it was coming but only now do we all see the massive scope of this that was unknown 10 years ago when the neighborhood was being built. Kill the project!!!! Its not fair to those who live in Apex and have no need for it.
11:57 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

By
The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926.  Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California.  The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant.  However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes.  The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield.  In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range.   ...
3 comments
Read more

Three Points Road (Los Angeles County)

By
Three Points Road is a rural cutoff route which connects Pine Canyon Road (Los Angeles County Route N2) and California State Route 138 near Neenach of Antelope Valley.  Originally the community of Three Points (named for the junction Pine Canyon, Oakdale Canyon and Oakgrove Canyon) was served by 265th Avenue West.  The modern three-mile-long corridor of Three Points Road was developed by 1950 to serve as a softer transition to California State Route 138.  Part 1; the history of Three Points Road Three Points Road is named in reference to the community near the extinct Neenach Volcano known as Three Points.  Three Points itself is a reference to three canyons it sits in the middle of: Pine Canyon, Oakgrove Canyon and Oakdale Canyon.  Three Points was homesteaded by the Laffery family in 1892.  Nearby Gookins Lake was named after one of the Laffery family members.   Three Points (blue pin) can be seen at the intersection of Pine Canyon Road (now Los...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hawaii Route 50

By
Hawaii Route 50 is the longest Sign Route on the island of Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The entirety of Hawaii Route 50 is overlaid atop Kaumualii Highway from Lihue west to the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands. Hawaii Route 50 is one of the original 1955-era State Highway designations on Kauai.  Much of the Kaumualii Highway corridor was constructed during the sugar plantation boom of the late Hawaiian Kingdom.  The first tee beam bridge in Hawaii would be constructed along the Kaumualii Highway in 1911 at the Hanapepe.  Much of this highway would be modernized to two-lane standards through the 1930s and 1940s. This page is part of the Gribblenation Hawaii Roads series.  A compellation of all Hawaii-related media from both Gribblenation and RoadwayWiz can be found by clicking  here .  Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 50 and Kaumualii Highway Hawaii Route 50 is the longest highway on Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The highway begins at Rice Str...
Post a Comment
Read more