A cluster of historically controversial transportation measures face quick action in the legislature today or tomorrow, including:

* A ban on hand-held cell phone use for commercial truckers;
* Exemptions from highway weight limits in some circumstances for some trucks hauling concrete and other goods; and
* An order blocking state Department of Transportation plans to build raised center medians on parts of three roads where some residents or businesses have complained: Falls of Neuse Road in North Raleigh, U.S. 70 in Kinston, and U.S. 64 in Asheboro.

[Correction 1:15pm Wednesday: The original post said the legislative action items also included a cap on the state gas tax. That was an error, based on erroneous information published on the General Assembly's website. There is no proposal on the legislative calendar today regarding the gas tax.]

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David Cox says today’s Road Worrier column ("Median debate takes a turn") gave short shrift to the work done by him and some North Raleigh friends to critique a 2005 NC State University safety study comparing raised medians to center turn lanes on busy four-lane roads.

So I’ll provide much more space for the debate here. ... [MORE]

Rush Limbaugh's Monday morning commentary distilled the populist anger expressed by critics who have attacked the "arrogant attitude" of "bureaucrat" Kevin Lacy, NCDOT's chief traffic engineer, for his handling of a study submitted by David N. Cox and his North Raleigh neighbors (see today's Road Worrier with some reader comments, and the Feb. 3 story with many more).

But licensed professional engineers are split over whether Lacy was right to spark an investigation by the N.C. Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors over whether Cox is guilty of practicing engineering without a license -- a misdemeanor in North Carolina. (Here's a link to the traffic study submitted by Cox.)

Read on for the full texts of Limbaugh's 90-second commentary and three e-mails -- one pro and two con -- from professional engineers. ... [MORE]

Susan Bryant, the Wake County GOP chair, says Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue's administration was attempting to stifle free speech when a senior DOT official accused a North Raleigh resident of practicing engineering without a license. [2/4/11 update: see today's story with reader comments.]

“The governor sets the tone for her administration, and I believe she should immediately take action to demonstrate the state welcomes input from its people," Bryant said today in a news release. "And just because the input is well researched and organized doesn’t mean the people are attempting to impersonate a professional.  Licensing professionals has nothing to do with the Constitutional rights of citizens to make their feelings known."

Bryant cited Kevin Lacy, chief traffic engineer at NCDOT, who complained that David N. Cox and members of his neighborhood group appeared to be practicing engineering without a license when they submitted a report to bolster their campaign to have traffic signals added at two intersections on Falls of Neuse Road (see today's story, with dozens of reader comments). ... [MORE]

Kevin Lacy, the chief traffic engineer for the state Department of Transportation, has asked a state licensing board to investigate a group of North Raleigh residents  lobbying for more traffic signals on project to widen Falls of Neuse Road.

Lacy wants the board to determine whether members of the North Raleigh Coalition of Homeowners' Associations are guilty of practicing engineering without a license, a Class 2 misdemeanor.

David Cox, a member of the group, says Lacy is trying to suppress citizens' efforts to petition their government. He says group members never pretended to be engineers.

"All we ever tried to do was express our view about this," said Cox, who works as a computer scientist. "We never expected something like this, and we think it's wrong. We're just trying to make our neighborhood safe.” ... [MORE]