Enters Wake County between Morrisville and RTP, near the NC 540 interchange. Ends at I-440 exit 3 in Raleigh. Parallels I-40 through most of the county.
Major Intersections:	NC 540 exit 69, just inside the Wake/Durham county line. I-40 exit 290 outside Cary. And the aforementioned interchange at I-440.
History:	NC 54 first entered Wake County in 1954, when US 70A was killed in Wake and Durham counties. It originally ended at Hillsborough Street near the state fairgrounds while US 1 was routed along Hillsborough, but eight years later 54 was extended east to the Beltline when US 1 was rerouted to the new freeway. What eventually became I-40 in western Wake was originally designed as the NC 54 Freeway, a bypass that probably would have left current 54 unnumbered. Before the road was completed, the Interstate designation was moved to the freeway and 54 was left alone. In 1997, 54 was rerouted to bypass downtown Cary along Maynard Road. The town banned trucks inside the Maynard loop at the same time, so 54's rerouting was an attempt to keep trucks along a consistent route through the town.
Attractions:	Goes through northern Cary, then it becomes a country road again for about 5 miles.  Goes past the state fairgrounds and the NCSU Vet School before it ends at the Beltline.
Comments:	NC 54 sees a wide range of territory in its relatively short run through the county. It's relatively lightly-traveled compared to its northern Interstate neighbor, except when a rush-hour accident backs up I-40 and turns 54 into a parking lot. 54 is the only current state or US highway within the Raleigh city limits that has never been signed along the Beltline. It has never extended beyond the freeway, map claims to the contrary. To old-timers, 54 is sometimes referred to as the Football Road, as it was the only connection between N.C. State in Raleigh and UNC in Chapel Hill until I-40 was finished in Durham County in 1988. Anyone traveling to one school or the other for a football game (or anything else, for that matter) took a stretch of 54 to accomplish the trip.