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The start of construction was delayed for a few years before work finally got going in 2010 on the Timber Drive Extension in Garner, but  the road will open 10 months ahead of schedule after a ribbon-cutting today, DOT said.

The four-lane, 1.4-mile road links N.C. 50 to White Oak Road on the east side of Garner. It will provide an alternative to U.S. 70 for traffic from White Oak Crossing to Garner and Raleigh.

Raleigh-based Fred Smith Co. won the $9.4 million contract in June 2010, with completion scheduled in October 2012. Engineers for the state Department of Transportation said months of warm, dry weather helped Smith finish the work this fall.

The ribbon-cutting is planned for 2 p.m. at the Civitan Center, 1105 Poole Drive, Garner.  When DOT and Garner officials scheduled the event several blocks from the new road, they didn't think they'd be ready to allow traffic on Timber Drive Extension today.  Now they plan to do so, at 4:30 p.m.

In one of the biggest Triangle commercial real estate transactions in recent years, Inland American Real Estate Trust has paid $95 million for the White Oak Crossing shopping center at the intersection of U.S. 70 and Interstate 40 in Garner, according to Wake County property records.

White Oak Crossing includes 710,000 square feet of retail space and is home to Target, Best Buy, BJ's Wholesale Club, Kohl's, Dick's Sporting Goods and PetSmart.

The seller was Charlotte-based Collett & Associates, which developed the property in 2003.

All but 28,000 square feet of the center was leased as of August, according to Collet & Associates.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based Inland American Real Estate Trust was formed in October 2004 and went public in 2007. It is one of five real estate investment trusts affiliated with The Inland Real Estate Group of Companies.

As of the end of March, the Inland American Real Estate Trust had a controlling interest in 938 properties, including retail, apartments, hotels, industrial and office space.

Inland American didn't immediately return a call seeking comment this afternoon.