Capital Blvd. won’t become a toll road. So when will freeway construction start?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- NCDOT proceeds with US 1/Capital Boulevard freeway project without tolls.
- Utility relocations likely begin in 2027; road construction expected in 2031.
- NCDOT estimates six‑year build; cost rose to about $1.34 billion.
Last year, local officials got behind the idea of charging tolls to speed up construction of a new freeway between Raleigh and Wake Forest.
But opposition from state lawmakers and many residents has eliminated that option. The N.C. Department of Transportation is moving ahead with the project, but for now construction isn’t expected to begin any sooner than it was before tolls were considered last year.
NCDOT plans to turn 10 miles of U.S. 1/Capital Boulevard into a six-lane expressway between Interstate 540 in Raleigh and Purnell/Harris roads in Wake Forest. Eight years ago, the state expected the highway would cost about $465 million and that construction would begin in 2021.
But soaring land and construction costs caused delays. NCDOT now estimates the project will cost $1.34 billion, with construction of the first phase not expected to begin until 2031.
That feels way too late to many people who use Capital Boulevard. The population of Wake Forest has nearly quintupled in the last 25 years, to more than 60,000, and the four-lane divided highway is routinely clogged with people commuting to Raleigh and Research Triangle Park.
Converting the road into a six-lane expressway with a speed limit of 65 mph is a top priority for the Regional Transportation Alliance, an arm of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. The alliance supported using tolls to begin construction sooner, as did the Raleigh City Council last May.
But state lawmakers, led by Rep. Mike Schietzelt, a Republican whose district covers parts of northern Wake, moved to block tolling. Schietzelt said community leaders, business owners and residents he spoke with generally opposed the idea.
The House passed a budget bill last May that included a provision that would have prevented the state from turning U.S. 1 into a toll road. The bill didn’t pass the Senate, but the message was clear, said Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance.
“That amendment clarified a very broadly-held legislative perspective,” Milazzo said at RTA’s annual meeting last month.
In November, the N.C. Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, which does transportation planning for the region, voted to withdraw its support for tolling, after asking the state to study the idea a year earlier. Chris Lukasina, CAMPO’s executive director, said NCDOT now has money earmarked for the project in its 10-year plan and has gotten an early start acquiring property it will need to widen the road.
“That had decision-makers on our board saying, ‘OK, that is the goal,’” Lukasina said. “We said, ‘Well, the intent here isn’t to toll something. The intent here is to get the thing done.’”
Complex project will take years of prep work
NCDOT has identified 17 properties it will need to buy for the project, including Bennett Square Shopping Center near Gresham Lake Road and Celebration Church at the corner of Capital Boulevard and Thornton Road. There will be many more in the years ahead.
The state has also hired contractors to design the southern section, between I-540 and Burlington Mills Road.
Turning a four-lane highway lined with homes and businesses into a six-lane freeway is complicated, said Sara Sherman, project manager for NCDOT. The state plans to replace four busy intersections with new interchanges at Durant/Perry Creek roads, Burlington Mills Road, Falls of Neuse Road/Main Street and Purnell/Harris roads. It will also build new parallel access roads to reach other side streets and the dozens of properties that now have driveways on Capital.
“I would describe it as the highest complexity,” Sherman said.
Adding to the complexity is the number of utility lines that must be moved before construction can begin. They include water, sewer, natural gas, power and numerous telecommunications and internet lines — 14 companies and municipalities in all.
“You usually don’t have that many utility operators in one corridor,” Lukasina said. “But U.S. 1 is a major corridor for a lot of different things.”
The utility work is the first thing the public will notice about the project, probably in 2027, Sherman said. Construction of the road between I-540 and Burlington Mills Road is expected to start in 2031, followed by the northern sections a couple of years later, she said.
Once construction begins, NCDOT estimates it will take six years to complete the highway and access roads.
Milazzo said the Regional Transportation Alliance hasn’t given up on finding ways to get the highway built sooner.
“RTA is looking for other solutions with key partners and key elected leaders,” he said. “Innovative funding, perhaps innovative financing or project delivery to accelerate this project. More to come on that.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2026 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Capital Blvd. won’t become a toll road. So when will freeway construction start?."
