The Research Triangle Park

Hit the Road! Triangle Parkway Opens

Following months of construction and years of careful planning, Triangle Parkway is now officially open to the public. The 3.5-mile highway serves as a southern extension of the Durham Freeway (147) connecting I-40 to 540. It is the initial leg of the Triangle Expressway, North Carolina’s first modern toll road, which will continue on to Apex and Holly Springs by this time next year. Toll collection transponders are on sale now through NC Quick Pass. However, Triangle Parkway is free to drive on from now until January 3, offering the perfect opportunity to test out the new route.

The official ribbon-cutting on December 8 featured speeches from Gene Conti, State Secretary of Transportation, and David Joyner, Executive Director of the NC Turnpike Authority. Each gave a round of thank you’s to the many partners who worked hard to make Triangle Parkway a reality. North Carolina has seen its fair share of highway openings, but they likened this experience to having a first child. This much-needed road was nearly postponed for several decades due to limited State funding. Saving it meant re-imagining it as a toll project. But that required buy-in from a reluctant public. Getting construction underway was only possible with region-wide support. Mr. Joyner and Mr. Conti acknowledged the many communities who had signed a joint resolution endorsing the Triangle Parkway, ‘paving the way’ for construction. These included town and county governments, local Chambers of Commerce, and the Research Triangle Foundation.

As we’ve mentioned before, the Triangle Parkway project is significant for its commuting and economic development benefits. The ribbon-cutting ceremony also touched on some other noteworthy aspects of the project. First is the team effort mentioned above, where state and local leaders worked together to reach an important milestone for our region.

Secondly, with the opening of Triangle Parkway, North Carolina is now home to one of the most technologically advanced highways in the world. We are the first state to build a toll road with no toll booths. Driving from one highway to another will remain a seamless experience, no cash or coins required, with toll collection taking place by mail or by debiting a user’s account. Transponders will be compatible with other toll systems around the nation such as EZ Pass and SunPass. Frequent travelers to Florida or the Northeast won’t need separate equipment in each state.

In addition, we’re already seeing rapid adoption of new technology. Over 4,000 transponders have been purchased so far by drivers anticipating the tolls going into effect. NC Quick Pass had expected it would take 8 months to sell that many, rather than 2. While no one’s exactly a fan of paying tolls, it’s encouraging to see that folks are willing to try out a new option. Drivers with transponders will have lower rates than bill-by-mail customers. Being prepared pays off all around!

A final takeaway here is that planning ahead is important. The opening of Triangle Parkway represents the culmination of a long journey from ‘line on a map’ to reality. If you look below at the 1958 map of RTP – our original transportation plan! – you will see a north-south line running down the middle, showing what would become Triangle Parkway. In fact, most of the roads and highways on this map had not yet been built, and yet you can see the planned routes for what would become I-40, 540, and 147. The land for Triangle Parkway has been set aside all these years, and just recently was transferred from the Research Triangle Foundation to the Turnpike Authority for use as right-of-way. The highway network envisioned in the original plan has been a blueprint for over 50 years of development.

If you’re in the area, be sure to take a quick drive down Triangle Parkway to see how it’s turned out. It might even come in handy with your holiday travels!