The U.S. DOT announced today that the department's Build America Bureau will provide up to a $501.5 million TIFIA loan to the North Carolina Turnpike Authority (NCTA) to help finance the Complete 540 highway construction project in the greater Raleigh area.
The Complete 540 project extends the Triangle Expressway an additional 17.1 miles, increasing capacity by adding six new tolled lanes (three in each direction), several interchanges with intersecting roads, 55 bridges, 25 box culverts, and two stream crossings. The project was split into three segments, each with separate design-build contracts to provide participation opportunities to contractors of various sizes and resources.
The Triangle Expressway is a six-lane, 18.8-mile limited access toll road with three through travel lanes per direction. The goal of the project is to improve mobility for trips within and traveling through the area during peak travel periods and to address increased transportation demands on the existing roadway network.
According to U.S. DOT, the primary source of repayment for the TIFIA loan will be the toll revenues generated on the Triangle Expressway system, which includes this project.
The Complete 540 project broke ground last month, and the North Carolina DOT announced earlier in December that construction had begun. The agency said work this month would include median bridge foundation construction for the new interchange with I-40 and work on construction entrances along U.S. 401. The first phase of Complete 540 will extend the existing Triangle Expressway between the N.C. 55 Bypass and I-40.
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SOURCE: U.S. DOT / North Carolina DOT
