Turnpike Authority briefs Garner council on NC 540 Phase 2 construction, schedule and noise-policy rules

The North Carolina Turnpike Authority updated the Town of Garner Council Tuesday on construction and design for Phase 2 of the NC 540 Outer Loop and answered council questions about costs, traffic detours and community impacts.

The Turnpike Authority said that 86% of the Outer Loop lane miles are open and that crews are building the final 10 miles on the eastern side of the project. Alan Shapiro, identified in the meeting as chief engineer for the Turnpike Authority, told council members the agency still expects the remaining work to be completed in “late calendar year 2028.” He said the phase 2 projects were awarded more recently and reflect higher construction prices: "You get 10 miles of construction for about $740,000,000," Shapiro said, contrasting that with the earlier southern section where three contracted projects (about 16–18 miles) originally bid at roughly $750 million.

The presentation outlined several design changes and traffic impacts that affect Garner. Shapiro said engineers realigned East Garner Road to eliminate a second set of high bridges and reduce long‑term maintenance costs; he said the contract allows the contractor to close East Garner Road for a short, defined period and detour traffic during tie‑in work. "The contractor is only allowed to close East Garner Road and detour for 90 days," he said. Shapiro also reviewed interchange concepts planned near Garner, including a reduced‑conflict interchange at U.S. 70 designed to limit left‑turn movements and a combined “flyover/fly‑under” — the design team’s so‑called “flunder” — at I‑87 to balance earthwork and reduce the number of bridge spans.

Shapiro described how the Turnpike Authority plans and coordinates multimodal accommodations such as shared bike lanes, separated bike lanes and multi‑use paths. He said bridges were widened and earth berms constructed to allow future municipal additions without demolition. The authority also reviewed its noise‑abatement process: the critical reference is the “date of public knowledge” tied to the project’s final environmental document. "That date is June 6, 2018," Shapiro said; under USDOT and NCDOT policy, dwellings with building permits issued after that date are generally not eligible for a federal noise‑abatement evaluation. He explained that even when a receptor is evaluated there are two additional tests — feasibility and reasonableness — and that the agency is limited to building 2,500 square feet of wall per receptor under federal policy. If a wall is found feasible and reasonable, the impacted property owners are balloted and may reject the wall.

Shapiro described ongoing outreach on Phase 2 and said the authority will continue the public engagement approach used for Phase 1: more than 130 presentations, roughly 7,000 participants, over 90 press releases, targeted postcards labeled “Dear Neighbors,” and a project hotline that logged more than 2,500 emails and 1,500 calls, according to his slides. He also noted two neighborhood meetings scheduled for September to review Phase 2 plans and answer resident questions, and pointed council and residents to the project website with an interactive map and a toll‑free hotline.

Council members pressed the Turnpike Authority on cost trends and coordination with local utilities and development. Mayor Pro Tem Elmo Vance thanked the presenter for responding to the council’s request for an early briefing. Council member John Matthews asked whether the authority installs sleeves (encasements) for future water and sewer when building interchanges; Shapiro said the authority had added encasement pipes at multiple locations on Phase 1 and that, where feasible, it seeks to add such conduits during construction. If not installed during construction, municipal or developer requests can be accommodated later but typically require jack‑and‑bore under the highway right of way and coordination with the DOT district office.

Shapiro said the Phase 2 segments will open together from I‑40 to I‑87, like Phase 1, because intermediate interchanges cannot serve as full traffic exits on their own. "None of our intermediate interchanges can serve as an all‑traffic exit. So we need to open from I‑40 to I‑87 at the exact same time," he said.

Council members thanked the Turnpike Authority for the briefing and said they appreciated the agency’s outreach. The presentation and related materials were included in the council’s agenda packet, and staff said the Turnpike Authority will return with more progress updates and additional photos as construction continues.

(Quotes attributed to speakers as recorded in the meeting transcript.)