Since moving to the small town of Wadesboro, I often travel to Monroe and Charlotte for movies, medical appointments or a Harris-Teeter store. The traffic growth is overwhelming. Lots of cars come through our town and continue to the beach on either US 74 to Wilmington and Brunswick County or US 52 to the Myrtle Beach area. In addition, we see more and more large trucks.
Aware of the increasing traffic, the General Assembly in 2002 established the North Carolina Turnpike Authority. The first project to open was the Triangle Expressway, an 18-mile route on the west side of Raleigh that is an extension of the I-540 loop. It is also a toll road. For those living in the southwest area of Wake County, the Expressway offers a fast trip to the airport or westbound on I-40. Unlike Charlotte, drivers in Raleigh and the Triangle area have shown a willingness to accept tolls. In fact, the remaining 30 miles of the I-540 loop will likely be a toll road as well.
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