View Triangle ramp meters recommended in a larger map

A consultant report (see copy below) lists 12 Triangle interchanges where on-ramp meters could reduce congestion by smoothing out the flow of cars as they merge into busy rush-hour freeway traffic.

(4/16/13 update: see today's Road Worrier column with reader comments.) What do you think about this idea? If you have experience using ramp meters on busy city freeways in U.S. or European cities, I'd like to hear from you.

Please email me (bruce.siceloff@newsobserver.com) with your name and daytime contact info.

Documents:

View Glenwood Avenue upgrade in a larger map

NCDOT road design engineers will hold public meetings this week to solicit feedback on their plans for two big West Raleigh projects scheduled in the coming decade, to widen parts of Glenwood Avenue and I-440. [Monday 12/3 update: see today's I-440 story with reader comments.]

- A widening and overhaul for Glenwood Avenue between T.W. Alexander Drive and Duraleigh Road. DOT will start work in 2017 building an expressway interchange at Glenwood and Brier Creek Parkway.  Work starts in 2020 on widening Glenwood between the 540 Outer Loop and Duraleigh Road, with changes to intersections and other improvements also in the works. Learn more and offer your ideas at a public meeting Thursday. Other improvements between Alexander Drive and 540 are farther in the future. [Tuesday 12/4 update: see today's Road Worrier with reader comments.] ... [MORE]

Engineers at the state Department of Transportation have staggered the schedules for four Raleigh-area projects planned over the coming decade, so drivers won’t have to grapple with more than one traffic nightmare at a time. (See today's story with reader comments.)

The timetables are included in an updated statewide plan for transportation improvements through 2023, which was released Wednesday in draft form.  DOT will post it formally for public comment in October. Meanwhile you also can find it here, now (a 10mb pdf), on the state Board of Transportation website. 

It's an updated schedule for road and other projects DOT promises to build in the next five years and expects to build in the next 10 years.  Included are several major Triangle projects that are likely to cause long traffic jams during construction, with traffic improvements after they're finished. 

Click the link below for a PDF map locating 14 Triangle projects planned to start over the next 10 years. Among them are projects to widen I-40 in Orange, Wake and Johnston counties, and to widen the last four-lane section of the I-440 Beltline, and to build Durham's East End Connector.

Documents:

View I-440 / southern Beltline work in a larger map

Expect delays and detours again this weekend when road crews close lanes on two Triangle freeway projects -- affecting Tom Petty / ZZ Top fans along with other drivers on I-440 and I-540.

Work on a $3.4 million resurfacing project on the southeast corner of Interstate 440 will closes three of the four lanes for drivers on I-440 West (formerly known as the Outer Beltline).

From 9 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Monday, I-440 West drivers will be funneled into the far left lane between the I-40 split and Poole Road.  I-440 West drivers will not have access to Poole Road, and one lane on the ramp from I-40 West to I-440 West will be closed, NCDOT says.

The I-440 work will mean extra drive time for music fans heading to Walnut Creek for a Saturday evening show that features Tom Petty and ZZ Top. ... [MORE]

View I-440 / southern Beltline work in a larger map

Expect delays this weekend when a $3.4 million resurfacing project on the southeast corner of Interstate 440 closes three of the four lanes for drivers on I-440 West (formerly known as the Outer Beltline).

From 9 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Monday, I-440 West drivers will be funneled into the far left lane between the I-40 split and Poole Road.  I-440 West drivers will not have access to Poole Road, and one lane on the ramp from I-40 West to I-440 West will be closed, NCDOT says.

Although this part of the Beltline is marked as I-440 West, drivers here are curving east and then north as they head counterclockwise around Raleigh.

Detours will be marked.

View I-440 / southern Beltline work in a larger map

Expect long delays AGAIN this weekend when a resurfacing project on the southeast corner of Interstate 440 (formerly known as the Raleigh Beltline) closes three of the four lanes for drivers on I-440 West (formerly known as the Outer Beltline).

From 9 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Monday, I-440 West drivers will be funneled into the far left lane between the I-40 split and Poole Road.  I-440 West drivers will not have access to Poole Road, and the ramp from I-40 West to I-440 West will be closed, NCDOT says.

This will cause extra hassles for music fans driving to and from concerts Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the nearby Walnut Creek Amphitheatre. And concert traffic will add to the Beltline backup. (See recommended Walnut Creek detour routes.) ... [MORE]

This will be a big weekend for concerts at Walnut Creek -- Creed on Friday, Brad Paisley on Saturday and Kiss on Sunday -- which is going to mean traffic snarls all three nights because road work is continuing on I-440 West between the I-40 East/I-440 split and Poole Road, with the Poole Road exit ramp from I-440 West closed. So alternate routes are advised:

Going to the concert from westbound I-40, take Jones Sausage Road to Rock Quarry Road.

After the concert, if you're using Rock Quarry Road and need to get on I-440 West, take Rock Quarry Road to New Hope Road to Poole Road to I-440 West; or Rock Quarry Road to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Poole Road to I-440 West.

After the concert, if you're using Rock Quarry Road and need to get on I-40, take Rock Quarry Road to Jones Sausage Road to I-40 East; or Rock Quarry Road to I-40 West.

After the concert, if you're using Sunnybrook Road, go north to Poole Road to access I-440.

Walnut Creek management has put out the following traffic advisory pertaining to Saturday's Jack Johnson concert:

Due to the work zone on I-440 West between I-40/I-440 split and Poole Road, NCDOT is advising motorists to use an alternate route when exiting the concert Saturday night:

From Sunnybrook Road to I-40:
Sunnybrook Road to Poole Road to I-440 East to the I-40 interchange.

View I-440 / southern Beltline work in a larger map

Expect long delays this weekend when a resurfacing project on the southeast corner of Interstate 440 (formerly known as the Raleigh Beltline) closes three of the four lanes for drivers on I-440 West (formerly known as the Outer Beltline).

From 9 p.m. Friday until 6:30 a.m. Monday, I-440 West drivers will be funneled into the far right lane between the I-40 split and Poole Road.  The ramp from I-40 West and I-440 West will be closed, NCDOT says.

This will cause extra hassles Saturday evening for music fans driving to and from the nearby Walnut Creek Amphitheatre for a Jack Johnson concert. And concert traffic will add to the Beltline backup. [8/20/10 update: Detailed detour advice from Walnut Creek management.] [MORE] ...

Starting tonight, NCDOT bridge rehab crews will blast and paint steel girders on bridges over Interstate 440 in West and North Raleigh, slowing traffic in some places.

At least one lane on I-440, in each direction, will stay open at all times. The project covers bridges from Glen Eden Road to Capital Boulevard.

The work is scheduled between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., seven days a week, on a project that is to be finished by June 30.  It starts tonight on the Glen Eden Road Bridge and moves east.