On July 20, The Holly Springs Town Council voted unanimously to spend $70,000 for a comprehensive transportation plan that will forecast Holly Springs' roadway challenges and solutions for the next thirty years.

The study will pay particular attention to future N.C. 540 interchanges with N.C. 55, and with Holly Springs Road at Kildaire Farm Road. The study was contracted out to Kimley-Horn and Associates.

The town's transportation study comes as one Outer Loop phase approaches Holly Springs from the west and as plans culminate for another phase extending from town to the east. The Triangle Expressway, a toll road that will connect Holly Springs to Research Triangle Park by 2012, has been mostly cleared to N.C. 55. The Southeast Connector, a continuation of the same toll road out to Interstate 40 in Johnston County, is due to be completed in 2019.

The expressway will eventually connect Holly Springs to Knightdale, completing the Outer Loop.

N.C. 55 and Holly Springs Road will have to be widened to accommodate development of the town's interchanges with the expressway, said Holly Springs senior engineer Kendra Parrish.

"We don't envision our existing roads changing, just widening," Parrish said.

N.C. 55 will be widened and will include new interchanges and superstreets to accommodate added traffic and development, she said.

New connector roads may also be part of the new transportation plan.

Kildaire Farm Road will need to be re-aligned near the intersection with Holly Springs Road to allow room for the Southeast Connector, which is now in the final planning stages.

Parrish said town staff wants to make sure this re-alignment will dovetail with the town's plans for that area.

Parrish told town council that it will take at least eight months to complete the transportation plan, which will include a map and a written document.

There will be opportunities for the public to review and comment on the plan.

"We want it done quickly," Parrish said. "But the public component is very important."