In 2024, the North Carolina Real Estate Commission disciplined a Raleigh buyer's agent over a road project. The MLS agent remarks on the home his client wanted said a road widening could affect the property and linked to the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). After the first showing, the listing agent asked whether the project bothered his client. He answered "a little, but not much." He had never told his client about it. The buyer closed, then learned the plans could require NCDOT to buy the home within three to five years. The Commission suspended his license for four years and stayed it after a two-month active period. He also reached a confidential settlement with the buyer.
That case had nothing to do with Wake Forest. Still, it shows the risk that now sits along US 1 between I-540 and Purnell and Harris roads. NCDOT project U-5307 will turn Capital Boulevard into a six-lane, controlled-access freeway. The state's current schedule puts several years of land buying ahead of construction. Throughout that stretch, homes near the corridor will be listed, shown and sold while acquisition is still underway.
The Calendar NCDOT Actually Published
Coverage of the project has stressed momentum. A July 2026 article from the Wake Forest Business & Industry Partnership quoted Kim Deaner, the public information officer for NCDOT's Division 5. She called the $1.3 billion project one of the state's highest transportation priorities and said every phase is fully funded. The road won't be tolled. NCDOT studied tolling from January 2024 to November 2025, then ended the study.
The header on NCDOT's project page still lists a 2026 start date. The detailed timeline on the same page, last updated September 21, 2026, shows something else:
| Segment | Limits | Right-of-way acquisition | Construction begins |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | I-540 to Durant/Perry Creek roads | Began September 2025 | 2031 |
| B | Durant/Perry Creek to Burlington Mills Road | Began September 2025 | 2031 |
| C | Burlington Mills Road to N.C. 98 Business (Durham Road) | Fall 2027 | 2033 |
| D | N.C. 98 Business to Purnell/Harris roads | Fall 2027 | 2033 |
NCDOT notes that future dates may change. Design work on Segments C and D is currently paused and is expected to restart in late 2026. Segments C and D run through Wake Forest itself. For homes along them, land buying is about a year away and construction is roughly seven years out.
Who Hears From NCDOT First
NCDOT expects land buying for Segments A and B to take four to five years, so it is working through parcels in priority order. It started with properties that require relocations. Parcels needed for utility work come next, as those relocations are designed.
The FAQ warns that, depending on design status and priority, it "may be several years before an affected property owner is contacted by an NCDOT representative."
This matters in a sale. An owner who hasn't been contacted can't assume their parcel is clear. A buyer can't treat a quiet seller as proof either. The waiting period is just as long for Segments C and D. Their acquisition starts later, and their design is still being finalized.
What Changes at the Curb
Today, Capital Boulevard is a four-lane divided road with private driveways and side streets. NCDOT's plan removes every traffic signal and every direct driveway connection within the project limits. Traffic will reach the freeway only by ramps at interchanges. Service and connector roads are supposed to keep local properties reachable.
NCDOT lists new interchanges at:
- Durant/Perry Creek roads
- Burlington Mills Road
- Falls of Neuse Road/South Main Street (US 1A)
- Purnell/Harris roads
The existing interchanges at I-540, the N.C. 98 Bypass and N.C. 98 Business will be improved. Gresham Lake Road and the Jenkins Road/Stadium Drive crossing become overpasses with no ramps. Holding Avenue isn't on the interchange list, and NCDOT hasn't published how it will be handled. NCDOT also hasn't published a parcel-by-parcel list of driveway closures.
So corridor properties face two separate questions. The first is whether NCDOT needs any of the land. The second is how a car will reach the property once the signal at the corner is gone. Only the first one is ever likely to bring an NCDOT agent to the door.
Some relief arrives sooner. The same July article reported that the $37 million US 401 (Louisburg Road) improvements between Perry Creek Road and the relocated Ligon Mill Road entrance were wrapping up a year ahead of schedule, with only landscaping expected to remain after summer. Deaner described Louisburg Road as an alternative route. That was a forecast as of July, so check current conditions before counting on it.
The Disclosure Form Has No Question for This
North Carolina's Residential Property and Owners' Association Disclosure Statement, the current REC 4.22 dated 7/26, has no question about a proposed highway, contact from NCDOT or condemnation. Two questions come close. E4 asks about "utility or other easements, shared driveways, party walls, encroachments from or on adjacent property, or other land use restrictions." G1 asks whether the property is subject to "notices from any governmental agency that could affect title to the property." A seller who has never heard from a right-of-way agent can answer both honestly without mentioning the freeway.
Brokers have a separate duty. The form itself says they must disclose material facts they know or reasonably should know, whatever the seller answers. The Commission's definition is broad:
A material fact is any fact that could affect a reasonable person's decision to buy, sell, or lease real property.
The Commission says brokers on both sides have an affirmative duty to discover such facts and can't defend themselves by saying they didn't know. It names "the status of nearby roads for maintenance or construction" among the factors that can affect desirability or value. Whether U-5307 is material to a given home depends on how close the home is to the work. For a home near a planned interchange or inside a likely acquisition area, the Raleigh case shows how the Commission views silence.
Why the Map Doesn't Freeze a Sale
Buyers who have heard about older North Carolina road fights sometimes assume a published alignment locks up the land. That was once partly true. Under the old Transportation Corridor Official Map Act, recorded corridor maps restricted improving, developing and subdividing property for an indefinite period. In 2016, in Kirby v. NCDOT, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled those restrictions were a taking of fundamental property rights. The General Assembly repealed the Map Act effective June 21, 2019.
The U-5307 segment map therefore doesn't stop anyone from buying, selling or building. Nothing in the law slows the market along the corridor, so homes keep trading. That's one reason buyers have to do their own diligence. It's still wise to have the closing attorney review the title on specific parcels.
If NCDOT Needs Your Land
NCDOT's right-of-way brochure lays out the process. Once design identifies the land needed, an agent contacts the owner found through a title search and explains whether all or part of the parcel is needed. The owner can go along with the appraiser, negotiate, receive a written offer and ask a court to set the value if talks fail. If the impact is small, NCDOT may use a value evaluation, but the owner can request a full appraisal. Compensation is based on fair market value, and the owner must be paid before being required to move out.
Timing affects the money in one case. Relocation help goes to eligible people who must move. It isn't paid to everyone near the route. NCDOT's residential brochure says a homeowner may qualify for a price-differential payment if they owned and continuously lived in the home for 90 days before NCDOT made its offer. A buyer who closes on a corridor home shortly before an offer arrives could fall outside that window.
NCDOT's materials don't clearly say what happens to a pending offer or claim when a property changes hands partway through. If an acquisition is already in motion on a home you're buying or selling, ask NCDOT's Right-of-Way office and a North Carolina real estate attorney. Get the answer before due diligence ends.
Before You Write an Offer or Sign a Listing Near US 1
- Find the parcel on the interactive segments map linked from NCDOT's Capital Boulevard North Upgrade page, and note which segment it sits in.
- Ask the seller in writing whether NCDOT or one of its agents has contacted them. Don't rely on the E4 and G1 answers alone.
- Check where the nearest access point will be: one of the four new interchanges, an overpass with no ramps, or a road like Holding Avenue whose treatment hasn't been published.
- Line up your timeline with the segment's. A/B owners are in a buying window that runs about five years from September 2025. C/D owners have that window still ahead, starting in fall 2027.
- Sellers should talk with their listing agent early about how to describe the project, so buyers hear about it in the listing materials and not after closing.
If you're weighing a home near Capital Boulevard, or getting ready to list one, we'll go through the NCDOT segment map, the access plan and the disclosure questions with you before any deadline. Schedule your consultation with Carolina Elite Realty Group, and we'll walk through how U-5307 affects your specific address.
