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Construction is almost finished on the final leg of the N.C. 98 bypass around the south side of Wake Forest, and NCDOT engineers might open it up to traffic by the end of next week.

It's the 1.6-mile section from U.S. 1 west to N.C. 98 on the west side of town. Work started on the four-lane, $11.5 million project in March 2008.

“We had hoped to have it all open this week, but these afternoon thunderstorms got us off track,” said Boyd Tharrington, a DOT engineer overseeing the project.

“We’re looking forward to getting it done. We think it’s going to be a big help for folks traveling east and west on N.C. 98, and it should make that trip through Wake Forest a lot easier.”

Durham saw its first slices of the federal stimulus pie Tuesday, when the governor's office announced how it divvied up its first $466 million for transportation.

Durham gets five projects:

• Resurfacing the Wake Forest Highway (N.C. 98) from Junction Road to Sherron Road;
• Widening and resurfacing the Old Oxford Highway from Roxboro Road to Granville County;
• Resurfacing Hillandale/Fulton Street from I-85 to Erwin Road;
• Patching and resurfacing Old Page Road from Angier Avenue to Mineral Springs Road;
• Resurfacing Duke Street (U.S. 501) from Hudson Avenue to Horton Road.

The five projects cover 18.11 miles; Durham is getting $4.85 million worth of stimulation.

Sweetening the pot, according to City of Durham transportation manager Mark Ahrendsen, the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization is getting about $7.89 million that has not been allocated to projects yet; and about $8 million in transit funding.