Transportation Plan - 2009, amended

5.2 Roadways, cont’d

expected to be improved to a four-lane, median-divided roadway with bike lanes. The Town of Cary and RTP are constructing these improvements, so the Town of Morrisville will work with them to address the safety and traffic concerns of residents in Breckenridge. The most important traffic relief for through traffic in Morrisville will be Davis Drive and the extension of NC 540 west and south of its current location, the former mostly beyond the Town limits and the latter entirely outside the Town. NC 540 is planned to be a six-lane freeway; if funding can be achieved sooner through the application of a 30-year tolling scheme, then the Town supports this option to provide the roadway sooner. The north-south connection between Town Hall Drive and Crabtree Cross- ing Parkway, which had been included on the 2002 Transportation Plan, has been removed. See Appendix G for more information. East-West Corridors Six roadways – Morrisville Parkway, Morrisville-Carpenter Road/Aviation Park- way, McCrimmon Parkway, Airport Boulevard, Cary Parkway and more re- cently NC 540 – have carried vehicular traffic across the railroad and NC 54. While this situation will remain unchanged in the short term, several improve- ments are recommended to facilitate the flow of traffic east-west across town. Morrisville Parkway will continue to be a four-lane, median-divided roadway along its length, with no major changes planned for vehicle capacity. A grade separation of Morrisville Parkway and the railroad is planned to improve safe- ty. The Town of Cary has plans to extend Morrisville Parkway in its jurisdiction to the west of Morrisville, connecting some existing portions between Davis Drive and NC 55 by 2010, and extending it west of NC 55 longer-term. Little Drive will also extend west to NC 55 through Cary. Morrisville-Carpenter Road , which is currently in the process of becoming a four-lane, median-divided roadway through various developer-related im- provements, will be a four-lane median-divided road with bike lanes west of Town Hall Drive. At Town Hall Drive, the roadway will narrow, with no median, to avoid impacts to existing development. Intersection improvements at NC 54 and Aviation Parkway/Morrisville-Carpenter Road are underway in 2009 to facilitate traffic movement by allowing four lanes of traffic over the railroad tracks. Long-term, this intersection will remain at-grade. East of NC 54 the road is named Aviation Parkway , which is eventually planned to be a four-lane, median-divided facility with bike lanes. Interim improvements on Aviation Parkway will accommodate more southbound turning lanes onto Evans Road (this intersection will also acquire a fourth “leg” with the McCrim- mon Parkway extension). The Town of Cary plans to widen the causeway of Aviation Park- way across Lake Crabtree eventually to six lanes. West of Morrisville, the Town of Cary plans to extend McCrimmon Parkway to connect to NC 55 in the near term and realign Morrisville-Carpenter Road to Carpenter Fire Station Road and grade separate it from the railroad tracks. Airport Boulevard is currently undergoing widening to four lanes from NC 54 east to Mc- Crimmon Parkway. Future plans include widening the remainder of the road east to I-40 to include a planted median and bike lanes, and extending the road on new location west of NC 54 to Davis Drive and Louis Stephens Drive. Sections of this planned extension have already been constructed within the Town of Cary in the Twin Lakes subdivision. The Town of Morrisville has acquired right-of-way within the THC development. In addition, an extension of International Drive is planned to connect with Airport Boulevard near the in- terchange with I-40. International Drive currently intersects Aviation Parkway but is home to many of the industrial distribution and warehouse facilities in Morrisville. The extension

Approaching NC 54 from westbound Aviation Parkway, showing the at-grade railroad crossing just west of the intersection. This intersection is currently being improved to facilitate traffic flow.

of International Drive to Airport Boulevard will offer an alternative path for heavy truck traffic, effectively removing it from most of Airport Boulevard and Aviation Parkway. The extension, which will be a four-lane collector road, has been prioritized by the Morrisville Town Council to receive dedi- cated transportation funds starting in 2014. This is the earliest available funding, but sections of the road go through undeveloped parcels, so it could be built sooner if it is funded by developers. McCrimmon Parkway between Old Maynard Road and NC 54 is currently two-lanes in some locations, four-lanes in others. The recommendation is for a four-lane boulevard with planted median, bike lanes, and multi-use paths. A turn lane from westbound McCrimmon Parkway to northbound Church Street is currently being designed and will alleviate some traffic congestion at that intersection. McCrimmon Parkway and Airport Boulevard will provide new east-west connectivity by being grade-separated over the railroad (with ramp ac- cess to NC 54). Detailed engineering drawings of both the McCrimmon Parkway and Airport Boulevard grade separations are included in Ap- pendix F. An additional east-west grade-separated railroad crossing is recommended at Carrington Mill Boulevard/Mason Farm Road , which would connect residential areas (via two-lane Mason Farm Road) on the west side of NC 54 with retail and office land uses to the east (via four-

Airport Boulevard, just east of NC 54, in the process of being widened by NCDOT in the summer of 2008.

lane Carrington Mill Boulevard). Perhaps more importantly, this grade separation could provide additional connectivity to Research Triangle Park, with an extension of Little Drive in RTP’s jurisdiction. Currently, a Little Drive extension through RTP would necessitate cross- ing steep topography and encroach slightly on one area of currently undeveloped land in RTP. Since these conditions have not been negotiated with RTP, the grade separation of Carrington Mill Boulevard across NC 54 is a longer-term recommendation. Finally, the construction of the future Triangle Parkway toll facility from I-40 to NC 540 near

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