08-03-2025
NCDOT proposed 10-year project plan shows delays, including to Capital Boulevard freeway
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Hundreds of North Carolina Department of Transportation projects across the state may be facing delays, includes a plan to turn a portion of Capital Boulevard into a freeway.
NCDOT released its proposed 10-year plan, which is updated about every two years. Known as the State Transportation Improvement Plan, it outlines ongoing and planned project statewide.
In the plan, phase one of the Capital Boulevard project is delayed possibly for five years.
'It is an outstanding project' said Joe Milazzo, the executive Director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, which says it's the voice of the regional business community on transportation. 'We've wanted to see that move forward for a long time. It is going remove every one of the traffic lights between 540 and the Franklin County line and so that will save people enormous amounts of time, headache and stress,.
The project is broken into four phases. The current STIP plan has construction for the first phase, which runs from Interstate 540 to Durant Road start in 2026. The newly-proposed STIP plan doesn't have construction start until 2031.
Construction for the second phase would also start in 2031, according to the newly drafted STIP. The other two phases, which run all the way to Purnell Road in Wake Forest, would start in 2033. The newly-estimated cost of the project is now more than $1.3 billion, an approximately 60% increase from the current estimate of more than $827 million.
'The primary reason would be because of inflationary pressures and the requirement we have to balance the STIP,' NCDOT Deputy Chief Engineer Drew Cox said. 'Even though we experience those, we still have to keep the STIP fiscally constrained. We're required to do that by state and federal law. That would be the primary reason, but the right of way and utilities along that corridor are a challenge.
'The drastic increase goes back to the pressures we've had with inflation and increased costs for doing business,' Cox said. 'The other thing we have tried to accommodate in our planning, which has been a real challenge over the last few years, is we've gone back and re-evaluated how we're doing estimates to try and accommodate some of the changes we're seeing over the last three or four years.'
According to Cox, about 200 projects in various stages may be facing delays and there could be factors other than costs contributing.
'There are other reasons though that can be unrelated to budgetary constraints,' he said. 'Challenges with right of way, challenges with utilities, projects in urban areas. Capital Boulevard is one of those. The time required to purchase right of way, the time required to adjust utilities can also serve to create challenges that cause you to move your construction schedule dates.'
According to the proposed plan, the widening of I-85 between Hillsborough and Durham is delayed beyond 2035.
The plan is a draft for now until potentially approved later this year. Public feedback may be provided until April 4 through the NCDOT website.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said construction costs have increased significantly since 2020.
CBS 17's Mary Smith is an Investigative Reporter focused on Digging Deeper and Getting Answers. If you have a story that needs investigating, send an email to Investigates@
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