Transportation

Highways and Interstates

Major highways and interstates provide easy access within and through the region. The area’s commitment to maintaining and improving mobility is evident.

A few highlights include:

• More than 50 miles of new freeways have been added since 2000, and many more are under construction or planned.
• $2 Billion in local funds have been dedicated to improve transit over the next decade (light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit, etc.)
• US 64 will convert to I-87, US 264 will convert to I-287, and US 70 east of Raleigh will convert to I-42

Air

The Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) is a 40-minute drive from Clayton. RDU has grown rapidly in recent years, and now serves 65+ nonstop destinations with more than 400 daily arrivals and departures provided by numerous major carriers. They include Alaska, Allegiant, Air Canada, American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, and United.

In addition to the RDU airport, the Johnston County Airport Authority operates an airport located west of Smithfield. The airport maintains a 5500-foot long, 100-foot wide runway that easily supports 65,000 pounds for dual-gear aircraft. The airport offers a full instrument landing system (ILS) with distance measuring equipment and associated approach lighting. Fuel is available, both JET A and AVGAS during normal business hours and afterwards upon request.

Rail

The railroads within Johnston County have been instrumental in the development of all 11 municipalities. CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Corporation provide rail service to many local industries as well as passenger service for Amtrak. These two railroads converge at Selma, North Carolina, west of Exit #98 on Interstate 95.