RDU to relocate roads for new runway, project costs nearly $50 million

Drivers heading toward Raleigh-Durham International Airport will be among the first Wake County residents to feel the effects of RDU’s runway expansion, as parts of Lumley Road, Mt. Herman Road and Commerce Boulevard are moved farther north to clear space for the project. At a May 14 briefing, airport leaders said the road realignment is needed to meet Federal Aviation Administration safety-zone requirements, and the contract price for the relocation is nearly $50 million. Work on the roads is not expected to begin until mid-2027, and the relocation is expected to take about two years.

The most visible changes will come on Lumley Road between Highway 70 and I-540, where the airport plans to move the roadway as part of the runway buildout. RDU’s new primary runway, 5L/23R, will be 10,639 feet long and sit about 537 feet west of the current runway. Moving the roads is what allows the airport to keep the existing runway in service while the new one is built, and it is also part of the safety design required by the FAA.

The road work is only one piece of a much larger construction job. Public project documents say the runway replacement will also require drainage improvements, property acquisition, demolition of four airport-owned buildings, relocation of aircraft navigational aids and utility moves that include Raleigh water and sewer mains, Duke Energy power lines and AT&T equipment. RDU said in January 2026 that crews were already working on site preparation, grading, drainage and utility relocation, showing that the runway project had already moved from planning into physical construction.

The runway replacement is the signature capital project in RDU’s Vision 2040 master plan, which the FAA approved after a multi-year environmental review. The airport says its existing 10,000-foot runway was built in the 1980s and needs replacement after about four decades of use. RDU has said the runway project is expected to cost more than $500 million and be completed in 2029.

The broader Transform RDU plan calls for about $2.5 billion in investments over the next 10 years, including a new runway, more parking, a larger terminal and roadway improvements. Airport leaders say the runway project is meant to support more passengers and cargo, preserve transatlantic service and create room for future gates at Terminal 2. For Wake County, the road shifts around RDU are the upfront disruption that comes before a larger change in how the Triangle’s airport handles growth.