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Triangle residents are invited to a public workshop in Chapel Hill Thursday evening that will help local leaders set priorities for guiding growth and controlling traffic along the clogged N.C. 54 / Interstate 40 corridor.

The NC 54 / I-40 Corridor Study workshop is scheduled for 5-8 p.m. at the Friday Center for Continuing Education, on N.C. 54 two miles west of I-40.

The corridor centers on the most heavily congested interchange west of Research Triangle Park, and it serves as a busy gateway linking Chapel Hill and southwest Durham.

Traffic counts have grown steadily, with about 47,000 cars a day on N.C. 54. Regional transit plans include a light-rail line along N.C. 54 and I-40, with several transit stops that would be focal points for residential and commercial development.

The workshop is the second of three scheduled for the NC 54 / I-40 Corridor Study. Citizens will be asked to comment on alternative scenarios for guiding growth and traffic over the next 25 years.

The NC 54 - I-40 interchange has the worst traffic congestion in Orange and Durham counties. What to do about it?

Come to a public workshop this evening in Chapel Hill to find out what transportation planners are thinking -- and to give them the benefit of your thoughts.

It's from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Friday Center on NC 54 on the east side of Chapel Hill. For more info call Leta Huntsinger with the Durham Chapel Hill Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization, 560-4366 ext 30423 (email: leta.huntsinger@durhamnc.gov). Let her know if you'd like to join a citizen contacts panel for this effort.

Learn about the NC54 - I-40 corridor study online at http://www.nc54-i40corridorstudy.com/

Durham citizens complain the city-county planning-review process is impenetrable to the average Joe and Josephine. Durham developers complain the city-county planning process is labyrinthine and slow. Both sides agree, though, that it's confusing.

There can be yes, there can be no, and there can be yes and no at the same time.

Take the cases of Boulder/NC 54, which came before the Durham Planning Commission last week.