Tagged: Triangle Expressway

North Carolina's first modern-era toll road opens later this morning in the Research Triangle Park. The first leg of the Triangle Expressway connects highway 147 to North Carolina 540. Officials say they'll cut the ribbon at about 10:30 a.m. with the road open for traffic around noon. David Joyner is the executive director of the North Carolina Turnpike Authority. He says drivers will not have to pay until January 3rd.

Drivers can start buying electronic transponders for the Triangle Expressway Tuesday, October 11th. The transponders are a means of paying tolls easily. They come in time for the opening of the first section of the Triangle Expressway in mid-December. That's an extension of the Durham Freeway into Research Triangle Park. There will be two transponders to choose from. One is for North Carolina travel. That one will cost $5. The other includes states up and down the coast and is $20. David Joyner is Executive Director of the North Carolina Turnpike Authority.

Work crews are making changes to freeways in R-T-P as they build the new Triangle Expressway. The short segment of the Durham Freeway south of I-40 closed for good this week. That section of Highway 147 provided a quick connection to T-W Alexander Drive in south Durham. It will eventually be part of the Triangle Expressway, a toll road running along the west side of Raleigh from Morrisville to Holly Springs. D-O-T spokeswoman Holly Allen says drivers going south on the Durham Freeway should take a detour via I-40.