North Carolina Highway 540

Interstate 540 and NC Highway 540
Raleigh Outer Loop
I-540 highlighted in red; open section of NC 540 in solid green; future section of NC 540 in dashed green
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length:	42.2 mi (67.9 km) I-540: 25.8 miles (41.5 km) NC 540: 16.4 miles (26.4 km)
Existed:	1997 – present
Component highways:	I‑540 (Durham–Knightdale) NC 540 (Apex–Durham)
Major junctions
Beltway around Raleigh
	I‑40 in Durham US 70 near Raleigh US 1 in Raleigh US 401 in Raleigh I‑495 / US 64 / US 264 in Knightdale US 1 near Apex US 64 in Apex NC 147 Toll in Morrisville
Location
Counties:	Durham, Wake
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business North Carolina Highway System Interstate U.S. State Scenic ← NC 522 NC 561 →

Interstate 540 (I-540) and North Carolina Highway 540 (NC 540) are part of a partially completed beltway around the city of Raleigh in the U.S. state of North Carolina forming the Raleigh Outer Loop. When complete, the route will completely encircle the city, meeting its parent route of Interstate 40 in two locations.

The initial phase of construction is designated Interstate 540, and was completed in January 2007. It runs from Interstate 40 near the RDU Airport to I-495/US 64/US 264 south of Knightdale. The original plan was for the entire route to be designated as part of the Interstate Highway System, possibly renumbering the route to I-640 when the beltway was complete. When it became financially unfeasible to construct the entire route with public funds, it was decided that the remaining portion of the route (approximately 2/3 of the total completed mileage) would be constructed as a toll road and designated as a NC State Route rather than an Interstate Route. The first section of NC 540 was opened in July 2007 extending westward from the western terminus of I-540. Further extensions have carried NC 540 around the western side of Wake County to its current southwestern terminus south of Apex. Future projects are planned to complete the southern leg from Apex to Garner and eastern leg, from Garner to Knightdale, under the same toll system. In particular, the portion south of Garner has been held up due to conflicting interests in choosing a path for the route. No clear timetable exists for completion of these two legs.