Drivers in southwest Wake County who already know NC Highway 55 as a construction corridor should expect more of the same. The North Carolina Department of Transportation says major upgrades at the intersection of NC-55 and Technology Drive near Apex are on track to begin in the spring, WRAL reported.
The work is part of the road network being built up around Veridea, a 1,100-acre mixed-use community in Apex between NC-55, US-1 and Interstate 540. WRAL reports plans call for thousands of housing units, a children's hospital and a new Wake Tech campus.
Two tracks of roadwork
There are really two sets of road projects happening at once.
The first is being paid for by Veridea's developers. NCDOT spokesperson Kim Deaner told WRAL the developers are widening parts of the road and adding turn lanes. "They're already out there working right now. They're using their own funding, and we obviously have to establish funding before we can go out and do things," Deaner said.
WRAL reports the developers are also responsible for other improvements tied to the development, including adding a third southbound lane on NC-55 in front of Veridea's main entrance and widening Old Holly Springs Apex Road, from Woods Creek to the Triangle Expressway, into a four-lane divided highway. Veridea's developers have said the NC-55 improvements tied to the project are expected to be finished sometime next year, before the first residents move in.
"...we're making significant investments in roadways and other essential infrastructure to support the community's long-term growth while improving connectivity throughout the surrounding region," a Veridea spokesperson previously told WRAL.
The second track is public. The $28 million intersection improvement at NC-55 and Technology Drive is set to start in the spring, and town officials told WRAL it could take longer to finish than the developer's work. Deaner said a future project on NC-55 from Main Street to US-1 is competing for more funding.
Traffic and patience
The development is expected to add thousands more cars to area roads. Some drivers told WRAL they are already looking at other routes. "I'll spend the extra money just to avoid that," driver Martha Sloditski said. "It's not worth it."
NCDOT says the long-term payoff is worth the short-term pain. "The goal from a NCDOT standpoint is to alleviate congestion. It's to allow drivers to get from point A to point B safely," Deaner said. "The amount of aggravation, the short term, pales in comparison to how much better things are going to be once we're finished with the project."
What to watch
WRAL's report did not name the contractors on the developer-funded work or say when the state's intersection contract will be bid. Contractors interested in the public side should keep an eye on NCDOT's letting schedule for the Technology Drive project. For the private side, Veridea's own site and road work is already underway, and the timing of the first residents moving in will drive when vertical construction peaks.
Why it matters for contractors
Veridea is one of the largest planned communities in the Triangle, and the road work is just the opening act. A 1,100-acre site with thousands of homes, a children's hospital and a community college campus means years of grading, utilities, paving, and residential, medical and institutional construction. Road improvements funded and built by the developer usually come first, because they have to be in place before people move in.
For road builders, paving crews, traffic-control firms and utility contractors, there's work on both the private and public sides: developer-funded widening and turn lanes now, and a $28 million state intersection project starting in the spring. For everyone else working in southwest Wake County, the message is to plan for the traffic. Deliveries, crew travel and equipment moves along NC-55 near Apex will likely take longer through at least next year, and possibly beyond, since the state project could run longer than the developer's work.