I-40 Regional Partnership Initiative

I-40 Regional partnership initiative

The I-40 Regional Partnership is a cooperative initiative of the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT), the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO, cities and towns along the corridor, Triangle Transit, RDU Airport, the Research Triangle Park (RTP), the North Carolina State Highway Patrol (SHP), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Regional Transportation Alliance (RTA), and other partners.  The Partnership is designed to provide an ongoing focus on the Triangle's most critical freeway in order to maintain its long-term viability.  

Meredith McDiarmid, PE, NCDOT State Systems Operations Engineer, serves as the corridor executive for I-40 in the Research Triangle area (between I-85 and I-95).  Click here for a one-page summary PDF of the I-40 Regional Partnership.

Background

Interstate 40 is a critical limited-access roadway that serves regional, statewide, and national purposes.  I-40 in the Triangle connects Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, Durham, Research Triangle Park, Morrisville, RDU Airport, Cary, Raleigh, Garner, and Benson with each other, with other communities in Orange, Durham, Wake and Johnston counties, and with the rest of North Carolina and the nation.

I-40 is the most heavily-traveled and congested highway in the region, with traffic counts of more than 140,000 vehicles per day near Research Triangle Park.  While the completion of the I-40 Cary/Raleigh widening in spring 2011 and the recent opening of the I-40/I-540 interchange improvements in fall 2010 are welcome news to area commuters, our growing region will require additional investments in the I-40 corridor if the "Triangle's Main Street" will continue to be able to provide the safe and efficient mobility needed for our economic vitality and quality of life.

Focus of the initiative

The I-40 Regional Partnership initiative is designed to help participants discover, share, and examine the current status of Interstate 40 in the Triangle in order to identify both short- and long-term opportunities for improvements to the Interstate in the Triangle region.  Current objectives include improvements to I-40 interchanges including a possible ramp metering pilot, improvements to reliever routes such as NC 54 and US 70, and transit enhancements via a possible pilot Bus on Shoulder System (BOSS) project.

The Partnership held its first meeting in spring 2009 and has met periodically since that time.  The Regional Transportation Alliance (RTA)  coordinates the activities of the Partnership, and several RTA Focused, Accelerated, Simple and Timely (FAST) research program volunteers have provided ongoing assistance for the initiative.  Visit letsgetmoving.org/i40 for more information.

Primary links

View the current revision of the I-40 Regional Partnership Action Plan.

Learn more about the next I-40 Regional Partnership meeting, which will be held on Thursday, June 28, 2012.

Learn more about I-40 Regional Partnership Action Teams here.

Review summaries of past meetings.

Partial list of I-40 initiative partners and participants
» North Carolina Department of Transportation
» NC Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
» Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization
» Cities and Towns along the I-40 corridor
» Triangle Transit
» NC State University
» North Carolina Turnpike Authority
» North Carolina State Ports Authority
» North Carolina Railroad Company
» North Carolina State Highway Patrol
» The Research Triangle Park
» Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority
» Triangle-J Council of Governments
» Federal Highway Administration
» Regional Transportation Alliance