Along with the 2012-13 budget, the City Council's mass approval of a 41-item consent agenda included contract a contract with Self Help for the Southside revitalization and contracts with McCormack Baron Salazar for the Rolling Hills redevelopment. Those projects involve about $28 million of public money over a period of years.

After the vote, City Councilman Steve Schewel (right) was moved "to explain to our community what we've done and why we're doing it." He went on to give a 15-minute speech that precisely laid out his reasoning for supporting the project and believing that the approved contracts – particularly the far larger MBS package – are good deals for the city.

He also framed the projects in a larger context of housing the poor and aiding the homeless, through the penny-for-housing tax.

Wrapping up, though, he changed his approach from financial to historic:

"Finally, I want to say a word about race," Schewel said.

NCDOT says it now will allow truckers to haul twin-trailer rigs on freeways in the Triangle and Eastern North Carolina where they were not allowed before:

* The Durham Freeway (N.C. 147) from Interstate 85 in northern Durham to Alexander Drive in RTP
* U.S. 64 between U.S. 15-501 near Pittsboro and U.S. 1 in Cary
* U.S. 64 from U.S. 13 / 15 in Martin County to N.C. 94 in Tyrrell County
* N.C. 148 (Felix Harvey Parkway) between N.C. 58 and U.S. 70 in Lenoir County.
* The southern half of Raleigh's 540 Outer Loop, most of which has not been built yet. The loop eventually will extend from Interstate 40 near Research Triangle Park to U.S. 64 / 264 at Knightdale. [Updated 1/11/12]

State law requires NCDOT to withhold permission for twin trailers to use a route until it has conducted a traffic engineering study to show that the route can handle the traffic safely.

Twin-trailer permission is pending for the first section of the Triangle Expressway, which extends N.C. 147 south through RTP to the 540 Outer Loop.

Trucking companies do not need state approval to drive twin trailers on interstate highways, including the northern 540 Outer Loop, and certain other fedeeral routes.

View Triangle Expressway construction in a larger map

Now that the NC 147 Durham Freeway southern spur from I-40 to Alexander Drive is closed forever, thousands of RTP commuters are trying to find the least inconvenient alternate route to work each day.

NCDOT suggests this one, marked in blue on my map: From I-40 go south on NC 55, then go east on NC 54 to Alexander Drive.

Durham commuters also can reach Alexander Drive by exiting the north end of NC 147 onto Cornwallis Road (or onto Alexander Drive).  Raleigh folks can exit I-40 on Page Road or Davis Drive, then head west on NC 54 to Alexander Drive.  Got it? ... [MORE]

S.T. Wooten, general contractor for the R. Kelly Bryant Jr. Pedestrian ridge, informed City Hall last week that final repairs on the bridge lights had been completed.

Finally.

The bridge, spanning the Durham Freeway near Alston Avenue, was dedicated last September. Within a month, the blue lights that are supposed to outline the bridge structure after dark (as shown above) were malfunctioning.

Ever since then, through one repair job and problem analysis after another, the lights have been on again, off again, on again, off again ...

Now, maybe, the lights are on for good.

Maybe so, but just in case, the warranty’s been extended through February next year.
 

View Construction Delays: Triangle Expressway in a larger map

More traffic delays are scheduled in coming days and nights on I-40 and Davis Drive as road crews close lanes to accommodate construction of the state's first modern toll road, the Triangle Parkway through RTP, NCDOT says.

 * Nightly lane closings are planned on I-40 between Airport Boulevard and N.C. 55 from Sunday, Aug. 21, through Friday, Sept. 2, between 9pm and 6am.  Some traffic stoppages are planned between midnight and 5 a.m. for as much as an hour at a time.

* Daytime lane closings, between 9am and 4pm, are planned on Davis Drive between Development Drive and Hopson Road next week, from Monday Aug. 22 through Friday Aug. 26.

These plans come on top of DOT's announcements that the NC 147 spur from I-40 south to Alexander Drive will be closed permanently (see today's story with reader comments) starting Sept. 6, and that northbound lanes on NC 147 north from I-40 to Alexander Drive will be closed at night through Sept. 1.

View Triangle Expressway in a larger map

Get ready for long delays at night in  northbound lanes on the NC 147 Durham Freeway, tonight through Sept. 1.

The N.C. Turnpike Authority will close one northbound lane at night from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.  between I-40 and T.W. Alexander Drive. The work will allow construction in the freeway median of a new lane for the Triangle Parkway, part of the Triangle Expressway toll road project. One lane will stay open at all times.

Tonight and Thursday night, road crews will stop all traffic for as much as 60 minutes at a time, to allow for construction of overhead signs.

While we're on the subject: RTP  workers, will the Triangle Parkway make your commute better, or worse? Call me.

Police are seeking information on a Monday-night shooting and a June 15 armed robbery. There were no injuries in either case.

The shooting occurred on the Durham Freeway between Briggs Avenue and Ellis Road. A 32-year-old man told officers he was followed by a Dodge Charger and a white or gray Acura from Nixon Street onto the Freeway's southbound lanes. After he was on the Freeway, occupants of the following vehicles fired at the victim's vehcle, causing him to cross the freeway median and crash in the northbound lanes.

The victim ran from the area and was found approximately two miles away by officers. He said he encountered the other vehicles after leaving a friend's house on Nixon Street about 10 p.m. The Charger and Acura, with several occupants, were in the middle of the street, according to a release by Durham Police spokeswoman Kammie Michael.

According to police, there is no apparent connection between Monday's shooting and a shooting on the Freeway Saturday afternoon. Neither shooting appears to be random, according to preliminary investigations.
 
Anyone with information on the shooting last night is asked to call Investigator Emanuel at 560-4415, ext. 29306 or CrimeStoppers at 683-1200.

Police also want information on a robbery at the Subway restaurant at 2405 Durham Chapel Hill Boulevard. A man entered the business around 9 p.m.  approached an employee and demanded money at gunpoint.
 
The suspect was described as a white male in his 30s, 5 feet 7 inches tall with a thin build. He had a goatee and tattoos on his forearms. He was last seen running west on Durham Chapel Hill Boulevard.
 
Anyone with information is asked to call Investigator Guardino at 560-4583, ext. 29364 or CrimeStoppers.

View NC 147 Durham Freeway road work in a larger map

Be prepared for detours and long delays if your weekend driving takes you northbound on the Durham Freeway (N.C. 147) in Durham -- starting tonight (Friday), NCDOT said.

Better yet: Just don't go there.

A $4.7 million DOT project to rebuild and repave the road will close all northbound lanes tonight and Saturday night from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. on parts of the Durham Freeway between Ellis Road (Exit 8) and Swift Avenue (Exit 14).  Some lanes also will be closed during the day Saturday and Sunday.

Tonight's closing is from Alston Avenue to Swift Avenue.  Detours will be marked, but you can count on backed up traffic long before you reach Alston Avenue. ... [MORE]

NCDOT is closing southbound lanes of the Durham Freeway, between Swift Avenue and Briggs Avenue, this weekend highway reconstruction.

All lanes will be closed from 11 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Saturday and again Saturday night and Sunday morning. The left lane between Fayetteville Street and Briggs is closing all day Saturday, and from Fayetteville to Swift on Sunday.

Friday-night's detour begins at the Fayetteville Road exit (Exit 12), goes onto Morehead Avenue to Fayetteville Street, left to Pettigrew and Pettigrew to Briggs. Saturday night's takes the Swift Avenue exit (Exit 14), right onto Swift across Campus Drive to Duke University Road, left to Vickers Avenue and back onto the Freeway.

According to DOT, the $4.2 million federal stimulus project calls for diamond grinding the road surface, replacing concrete pavement slabs and asphalt shoulder reconstruction to create a smoother surface. Project completion is expected by Nov. 1.

 Demario Eugene Carr, 26, of Davinci Street has died as a result of suffered in a Saturday shooting on the Durham Freeway, Durham Police spokeswoman Kammie Michael announced this morning

According to investigators, this incident does not appear to be random. No charges have been filed but investigators are following several leads.

According to police, about 3 a.m. Saturday the unidentified victim was a passenger in a northbound vehicle; a second vehicle came beside the first and an occupant fired multiple rounds that struck the victim in the face and the vehicle in which he was riding.

The victim’s driver went first to Durham Police Headquarters, which officers intitially thought was the crime scene. An ambulance was summoned to take the victim to the hospital and, once police learned what had actually happened, they blocked off a section of the Freeway near the Roxboro Street exit for about two hours to investigate.

Anyone with information about the shooting was asked to call police Investigator S. Pate at 919-560-4440, ext. 29332 or Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200.