NCDMV says wait times down nearly 90%; new Fuquay-Varina office aims to cut them further

A fast-growing part of the Triangle is getting an expanded NCDMV location.

2026-08-10

A new DMV driver license office is scheduled to open in early 2027 in a former Walgreens building on Main Street in Fuquay-Varina.

The new site will include an expanded driver license office and a co-located license plate agency to help meet growing demand in southern Wake County. Fuquay-Varina has experienced exceptional population growth since 2010, more than doubling its number of residents.

On Monday, Fuquay-Varina Mayor Bill Harris and NCDMV Commissioner Paul Tine discussed the benefits the new location is expected to provide.

Tine said wait times have fallen by nearly 90% over the past year and that NCDMV has added more than 1,000 appointments per day statewide since March. He said expansions like the one in Fuquay-Varina should help build on those improvements in southern Wake County and northern Harnett County.

"When this facility opens in early 2027, it will house both an expanded driver's license office and a license plate agency under one roof," Tine said. "That means customers will be able to handle the full range of their DMV needs in a single visit. A true one-stop shop in a community that continues to grow at a remarkable pace."

Tine, who has served as commissioner since May 2025, said the new location will have 14 service stations, compared with four at the current office.

He also said NCDMV is replacing decades-old COBOL-based computer systems and modernizing its technology. Tine said those improvements have helped produce significant gains for the agency and its customers.

"We're down almost 90% right now over where we were when I first showed up," Tine said. "We've done all sorts of enhancements around the customer, and it's been really fun to work with my team that really cares about service to build out these enhancements."

The only other NCDMV driver license office serving southern Wake County is in Garner. Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina both have license plate agencies.

WRAL has extensively reported on wait times at NCDMV and growing customer frustration. In 2025, North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek said his office found that the average customer service visit exceeded 1 hour and 15 minutes statewide, a 15.9% increase from 2019.

Fuquay-Varina's current DMV driver license office is at 131 S. Fuquay Ave.

The new location will be at 816 N. Main St.

"If you went to the old DMV office, there was a long line out the door, and the wait time was sometimes two hours, three hours, and this addresses that issue of the long wait time," Harris said.