A $13.3 million project is underway to extend Airport Boulevard through Morrisville, aiming to eventually connect Davis Drive to Chapel Hill Road and give drivers a more direct shot at Interstate 40 and Raleigh-Durham International Airport, according to North Carolina transportation officials. Phase 1 is already under construction and is expected to continue through November 2028. But a second phase that would complete the full connection to N.C. 54 remains unfunded, with no completion date set.
As reported by CBS 17, the current phase of the Airport Boulevard extension project connects a previously dead-end road segment to Town Hall Drive and Church Street, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The North Carolina Department of Transportation awarded the Phase 1 construction contract to Sunrock Industries LLC in March 2026, formally kicking off work on a stretch designated NCDOT project HL-0033.
What Phase 1 Actually Builds
The current phase spans 0.44 miles and will deliver a four-lane divided roadway with a median, according to the NCDOT Engagement Hub. Plans also call for a 5-foot sidewalk on the north side, a 10-foot multi-use path on the south side, and new traffic signals at Town Hall Drive and Church Street. Where the Indian Creek Greenway crosses the new stretch of road, crews plan to install a High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk, or HAWK, beacon, per the Town of Morrisville — a nod to the 1.8-mile trail that runs alongside Town Hall Drive.
Once complete, Airport Boulevard would extend between Garden Square Lane and N.C. 54, also known as Chapel Hill Road, linking with the existing segment that leads toward the airport, per the CBS 17 report. The eventual second phase would allow motorists to access I-40 directly along the entire length of Airport Boulevard and may shift some traffic off Interstate 540 and Morrisville Carpenter Road, according to the same report. For now, that piece of the puzzle sits without funding or a timeline.
A Two-Decade Plan Finally Breaking Ground
This is not a new idea. The extension has been designated a priority thoroughfare in Morrisville's Comprehensive Transportation Plan since at least 2009 and was reaffirmed in the town's 2019 master plan, according to the Town of Morrisville. Funding for Phase 1 came together through the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization's Locally Administered Projects Program for State Fiscal Year 2022, combined with local municipal bond funds that Morrisville voters approved in 2021.
The timing lines up with the town's growth curve. Morrisville's population climbed from 30,106 residents in 2020 to an estimated 33,075 by 2026, a 9.8% increase, per U.S. Census Bureau estimates — a surge that has intensified congestion on corridors like Morrisville Carpenter Road and N.C. 54. Sunrock Industries, the contractor now building Phase 1, previously widened Morrisville Carpenter Road from two lanes to four, a project meant to relieve some of the same pressure the Airport Boulevard extension now targets.
Not Everyone Is on Board
The project has not moved forward without friction. In October 2025, resident advocacy groups launched petition drives and raised objections at public meetings, citing safety concerns about routing a 45-mph four-lane road near two local schools, along with worries about lost tree canopy and greenway space, according to WRAL News. Those concerns have not derailed construction, which NCDOT says is on track to run through November 2028.
The extension also builds on other recent work along the same corridor. NCDOT completed a separate interchange project in March 2025 that converted the junction of Airport Boulevard and I-40 into a Diverging Diamond Interchange, a redesign Hoodline previously reported was aimed at improving traffic flow toward RDU. Commercial investment has followed the corridor's momentum too, including Asensus Surgical's 63,000-square-foot lease at The Stitch facility at 1001 Airport Boulevard, even as the company later cut jobs while keeping its hub open.
Once finished, Phase 1 is expected to improve access to Research Triangle Park, I-40, and RDU International Airport, according to the NCDOT project webpage. Whether the full vision — a continuous four-lane route from Garden Square Lane all the way to N.C. 54 — ever materializes depends on funding for the still-unbuilt second phase, a question that remains open for now.
