Complete 540 moved another step toward completion on October 6, 2026, with a $32 million contract to equip its final ten miles for electronic toll collection.
The final ten-mile section is slated to open in late 2028 if the current schedule holds.
For someone comparing homes in Garner and Knightdale, the contract moves tolling preparations forward—but it doesn't change today's drive. After opening, the final section could offer another paid route between eastern and southern Wake County. Whether that route helps will depend on the interchange a household can reach and where its drivers need to go.
The Tolling Contract Moves Forward. The Highway Is Still Under Construction.
Kapsch TrafficCom announced October 6 that the North Carolina Turnpike Authority had awarded it a $32 million contract covering toll-system design and installation, followed by multiyear maintenance and operations.
The equipment will support electronic toll collection on the last section of Complete 540. It's a contract for the tolling system, not a new award to construct the highway.
Those road-construction contracts were awarded in September and October 2023, and work began in spring 2024. NCDOT estimates the broader Complete 540 project at approximately $2.5 billion.
Drivers already have access to much of the southern loop.
An approximately 18-mile extension opened September 25, 2024, connecting N.C. 55 in Apex across southern Wake County to I-40/I-42 near Garner and Clayton. Including that extension, NCDOT describes roughly 36.8 miles of Triangle Expressway as open today.
The remaining approximately ten miles will connect the I-40/I-42 end to the existing I-540/I-87/U.S. 64/U.S. 264 interchange in Knightdale.
NCDOT's September 29, 2026 construction update reaffirmed a late-2028 opening target, subject to change.
Once open, the final section will let drivers follow 540 from Knightdale to the existing southern toll corridor without leaving the loop to bridge the gap.
Five New Interchanges, and Why Their Locations Matter
Imagine comparing two homes in eastern Wake County. One is near White Oak Road; the other is near East Garner Road. Both look close to the future highway, but only White Oak Road has a planned interchange.
The North Carolina Turnpike Authority's March 2026 project map identifies five local interchanges: White Oak Road, U.S. 70 Business, Rock Quarry Road, Auburn Knightdale Road and Poole Road. East Garner Road crosses the corridor without ramps, so a resident near that crossing would still need local streets to reach a highway entrance.
For a Knightdale household traveling regularly toward Garner or southern Wake County, the finished link could provide another way to reach I-40 and the existing southern toll corridor. From Garner, it could serve trips toward eastern Wake.
Whether either trip improves depends on the starting street, destination and traffic conditions. The interchange map cannot establish minutes saved.
There's also a distinction between two roads carrying nearly identical numbers.
The existing I-540 around northern Wake County is different from Toll N.C. 540, the Triangle Expressway across western and southern Wake. Completing the loop won't turn northern I-540 into a toll road.
That distinction already affects how people compare routes around Knightdale, as discussed in HomesRaleigh's Knightdale neighborhood guide.
The new eastern connection will add a paid option. Whether it's the route a household prefers will depend partly on the toll.
How Much Will the New 540 Connection Cost to Drive?
North Carolina's Triangle Expressway uses all-electronic tolling, without traditional cash tollbooths.
According to NC Quick Pass, account holders receive 50% savings compared with drivers billed through mailed toll invoices.
Current Triangle Expressway rates distinguish vehicle classes. Published roadway tolls for ordinary two-axle vehicles fall under Class 1, while higher vehicle classes pay more.
Drivers can use the NC Quick Pass toll calculator to estimate charges for routes open today. It doesn't provide a dependable opening-day quote for the unfinished Knightdale-to-Garner section, so current-road rates shouldn't be treated as 2028 Phase 2 prices.
That uncertainty matters differently depending on someone's routine.
A household that might use the new road twice each workday has a recurring expense to consider. Someone who expects to use it occasionally may view the charge differently.
It's a familiar calculation for Triangle drivers. In an earlier Garner-to-Research Triangle Park commuting discussion, residents weighed the appeal of avoiding congestion against paying tolls. Their experiences varied with access, destinations and frequency of use. Those past accounts aren't current travel measurements or predictions for Complete 540's final segment.
What Buyers Near Complete 540 Face Before It Opens
Construction is already affecting parts of eastern and southern Wake County.
NCDOT's September update described how East Garner Road had reopened after a summer closure that lasted 45 days rather than the 180 days originally permitted.
It also described a temporary traffic pattern near the I-540/I-87 interchange designed to avoid a planned 56-hour closure of a loop ramp.
Those were reported construction developments, not notices that the same restrictions are in effect today. NCDOT's current construction activities page provides project updates, with schedules subject to weather, equipment and other conditions.
For a buyer considering a property close to the highway, construction access is only one concern.
Road alignments, the distance from the home to the completed roadway and potential traffic noise may also warrant a closer look.
Noise barriers are a particularly important example because the plans aren't uniform along the corridor.
According to NCDOT's noise-wall information, the final study for the section between I-40/I-42 and south of Rock Quarry Road found no noise walls that satisfied its feasible-and-reasonable criteria. No walls will be built along that section under the study's determination.
The section from Rock Quarry Road toward Knightdale has separate noise-wall evaluation and balloting information.
A buyer shouldn't assume that a barrier shown or discussed elsewhere in the project applies to a particular property.
NCDOT's official maps and project records can help establish the roadway's planned relationship to a home. The Complete 540 project team can also be reached at (800) 554-7849 for location-specific questions.
Even buyers who rarely expect to use the toll road may care about how close the finished highway will run to their homes.
Choosing a Home While Complete 540 Is Still Unfinished
For someone comparing homes in Knightdale, existing access to I-87 and northern I-540 may be more important today than proximity to the future toll corridor. A buyer making regular trips toward Garner might place greater weight on the planned Poole Road or Auburn Knightdale Road connections.
In Garner, the comparison could involve existing access to I-40, the location of the planned White Oak Road or U.S. 70 Business interchanges, and how much driving on local streets would be required.
The highway's completion provides no sound basis, by itself, for predicting a home's resale price or future appreciation.
Buyers can start by browsing Knightdale homes for sale or Garner homes for sale, then comparing individual properties against the current and planned road connections. The Knightdale search also offers Save Search; visitors who aren't signed in can use the sign-in or registration prompt to save their search criteria.
For a more specific comparison, buyers can contact Raleigh Realty with the addresses they're considering and the places they regularly need to reach. That makes the discussion about actual trips from actual homes, rather than promises about future travel times, toll charges or property-value gains.
Conceptual editorial watercolor of suburban homes near a stylized toll road. Not a photograph, route map or depiction of an actual Complete 540 interchange or property.