Two days does not a trend make, but I’m really encouraged by the difference I’m seeing in my commute since the new stretch of I-540 opened from Capital Boulevard to U.S. 264. Today I cruised down Capital Boulevard, getting to work in fourteen minutes, half the time it normally takes! I was amazed to make such good time. My evening commute is just as dramatically better.

The big difference is the drastic drop in truck traffic. Trucks heading east to Knightdale (or as the truckers called it, “Nightmaredale”) and U.S. 64 used to pile onto Capital for a slow crawl down to 401 or the Beltline, where they would inevitably be in the far right lane and need to merge left to get on the inner Beltline. The Beltline end of Capital was always a mess as a result.

Now trucks heading east roll right past Capital, making it driveable again. In fact, traffic moves better for commuter traffic than weekend traffic does, since the traffic lights aren’t apparently synched on the weekends.

Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so I expected smooth traffic then. Tuesday must have been Stupid Driving Day, where in spite of the I-540 opening there were multiple accidents all down Capital. Today is the first real test of the new traffic and so far it looks good. I thought I’d be the last one to crow about a new slab of concrete but this one was obviously long overdue.

[Update:] Welcome News and Observer readers!