Aviation Parkway is a major thoroughfare traveling through northwestern Wake County, serving as one of two major roads connecting to the Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

Route Description

The roadway begins at NC 54/Chapel Hill Road in Morrisville as a two-lane road traveling due northeast. Aviation Parkway is primarily surrounded by residential development until Evans Road, at which point it expands to five lanes. The roadway connects to an industrial complex, returning to two lanes at the location of the future terminus of McCrimmon Parkway. After crossing Lake Crabtree, Aviation Parkway returns to four lanes and has an interchange with I-40. It then upgrades to a freeway, including interchanges with Airport Boulevard and  I-540 before reaching its northern terminus at Globe Road.

Projects

In 2018, the North Carolina Department of Transportation began work on a $21.5-million project to make improvements to the interchange between Aviation Parkway and I-40. The improvements will include reconstructing the bridge carrying the roadway across the Interstate as well as adding a loop ramp connecting westbound I-40 to southbound Aviation Parkway. Construction is expected to be completed in 2020.

In addition to the interchange improvements, NCDOT is currently in the design phase of widening the section of Aviation Parkway between NC 54 and I-40. Scheduled to begin in 2022, the project expands the two-lane road to a four-lane median divided parkway with multi-use paths on both sides.

Long-term plans call for an extension of Aviation Parkway from its current northern terminus at Globe Road to US 70 at the Wake/Durham County line. This extension would be the first phase in the larger Northern Durham Parkway project, creating a multi-lane roadway connecting I-540 in Raleigh to US 501 in Durham.