Story by Hal Goodtree | April 8, 2010 | Tags: Business, cary chamber, News, roads, RTA, Transportation
Cary, NC – One of my favorite benefits of being a member of the Cary Chamber of Commerce is the monthly Economic Development Breakfast. This month, the speaker was Joe Milazzo II, Executive Director of the Regional Transportation Alliance (RTA).
Trains, Planes & Automobiles
The RTA looks at transportation in the region on a strategic level. Established in 2001, it helps bring new carriers and service to RDU, more lanes to I-40 and improved mass transit across the region.
“Transportation is critical to job creation,” Milazzo told the crowd of about 40 business leaders who had gathered at the Chamber. But roads and high-speed rail “don’t build themselves,” he said.
“These projects are for your children because they take forever.”
The long time frame for building infrastructure makes it difficult to move forward through a solely political process. That’s why the Chambers of Commerce in Raleigh, Cary, Durham and Chapel Hill-Carrboro banded together to found the RTA at the beginning of the last decade. Now business has a voice.
The Alliance has grown to 23 area Chambers and over 100 leading corporations including Cisco, IBM, First Citizens Bank and Duke Energy.
A Tale of Two Cities – Atlanta and Austin
Milazzo, a certified public engineer, told a tale of two cities about the future of transportation in the Triangle.
On the one hand, there’s Atlanta. Milazzo related a story about a CEO relocating his company. He took a plane to Atlanta and rented a car to scout the city. After about 45 minutes of going nowhere in brutal traffic, he decided Atlanta was off the list.
Austin, on the other hand, has invested heavily in a modern transportation infrastructure. They have 94 miles of turnpike and 32 miles of light rail.
The Capitol of Texas is one of our main competitors for corporate expansion and relocation. Joe’s point: we have to build 21st century mobility to stay competitive with towns like Austin or risk transportation dysfunction like Atlanta.
Spaghetti Junction in Atlanta. Image from Google Maps.
Triangle I-85 Connector
Good planning sometimes means that a short road can solve a big problem.
Everyone in Cary knows that getting to I-85 from western Wake County is, well, inconvenient. Depending upon where you live, you may find yourself in downtown Durham, on 15-501 or on an “un-improved” section of Route 70. “Unimproved” means stoplights.
The RTA advocates a short new freeway (free of stoplights) connecting NC-147 to the improved stretch of Route 70 and I-85. Also known as the “East-End Connector” (presumably because it passes to the east of Durham), the new route will enable stop-light free driving from 540 up to I-85.
That means a 20 mile trip will take less than half an hour as opposed to the 45-60 minutes it takes right now.
One more benefit: it takes traffic off of city streets and secondary roads while opening up corridors to and from Person and Granville Counties. Okay, that was two more benefits.
As far as road building goes, it’s a short stretch and a relatively modest investment for a major improvement. It’s the low-hanging fruit, and that’s why Milazzo called building the I-85 Connector “the top priority for the Alliance and will be until it’s built.”
View East End Connector : the Triangle Connector to I-85 in a larger map
540 and the Triangle Parkway
The big project in our own backyards is the extension of 540 down to the Holly Springs/Apex 55 bypass.
Also in the mix is the Triangle Parkway, connecting the 540 loop with NC 147. The RTA calls this corridor “an essential part of our future transportation backbone.”
It’s certainly a big project – “the largest highway project in State history,” according to the Alliance. The Turnpike Authority completed a financing package in 2009 worth more than $1 billion.
Naturally, I had to ask about the tolls. “Why do we have tolls and everybody else gets it for free,” I whined. Joe answered diplomatically, but the truth is that if we didn’t want to wait 20 years or raise taxes, a toll was another way to cover the costs.
As Milazzo pointed out, North Carolina was the only state touching the Atlantic that didn’t have a toll road. Chalk up another first for Cary.
But, to be fair, having a 21st century road in our backyard connecting us quickly and easy across the region and beyond is not such a bad thing. Good for citizens and good for business.
Being from Jersey, I’m just toll-phobic. But it wasn’t the fare that really bugged me – it was waiting to pay. If you’ve ever driven from Washington to New York, you know what I’m talking about.
Joe had a good answer for that, too. The new 540 Triangle Expressway will be an “open road” – no toll booths whatsoever.
If you just travel on the Tri-Ex occasionally, automated cameras will photograph your license plate and send you a bill. Works for all 50 states and Canada, one would imagine (Milazzo told a story of driving on an open toll road in Canada with NC tags and getting a bill in the mail. Being a professional transportation engineer, he paid it).
If you plan on using the new road more frequently, you’ll be able to get a transponder. That’s usually a small device that clips onto the sun visor in your car. Automated toll takers “read” the transponder, recording your usage of the road.
Either way, tolls will be based on usage – how many miles you drive. Although the tariff hasn’t been finalized, Milazzo predicted a rate between 15 and 20 cents per mile with a discount for using a transponder.
EZ Tag transponder in use near Houston, Texas.
I-40 Cary/Raleigh Widening
Milazzo also talked about widening the stretch of I-40 that runs along the border between Cary and Raleigh. He cited the RTA as instrumental in accelerating the project.
In essence, the undertaking went from an eight-lane project to six-lanes in each direction, making it far easier and more affordable to do.
The project is ahead of schedule and is set to be completed as early as June 2011. You may have noticed the high-tech conveyors over the road to move gravel while traffic continues to flow at 65 mph.
Our Roads to the Future
My take-away from Milazzo’s presentation was that we have big new road projects nearing completion both to the east and to west of town. When finished, we’ll be cocooned inside the State’s most modern freeway system, speeding access to and from our modest metropolis.
High-Speed Rail
Joe talked briefly about rail transportation. The brief summary is “no one, clear, right answer.” It’s a tangle of competing interests, goals and resources. Some would say a Gordian knot.
After hearing from Joe Milazzo, I’m glad the RTA is engaged in the discussion.
Who Doesn’t Like Apple Fritters?
The Cary Chamber Economic Development Breakfasts run from 8 to 9 AM on the first Wednesday of every month and is free to members. There’s a little networking, a brain-rush of information, hot coffee and apple fritters (amongst other tasty delights).
If you’re in business, do yourself a favor and help build a stronger business community by considering membership in the Cary Chamber. Mention CaryCitizen in your application and we’ll save you an apple fritter.
