Officials from Durham and Orange counties were talking the other day about closing a section of Pickett Road through some proposed parkland. Again.

"Everything is taking so long!" said Durham County Commissioner Ellen Reckhow.

In 2005, Durham County, Orange County and the cities of Chapel Hill and Durham went together to buy a Duke Forest tract on New Hope Creek for a  shared nature preserve. In 2008, a park-planning group recommended closing the unpaved Pickett Road, which bisects the acreage, and turning it into a parking lot.

So, cities and counties started talking. NCDOT got involved. A few citizens objected. Meetings were held. Eventually, the respective elected bodies were called upon to state their opinions. In May, after more than two years' due process, Durham city and county resolved in favor of closing.  Orange commissioners should get a draft this fall.

"It's amazing how slowly the wheels of government turn," said Reckhow, who shouldn't be surprised: She's been a commissioner since 1988.

A stretch of Pickett Road that has been closed for about a week now will remain so through late November, an engineer with the state Department of Transportation said today.

The DOT is replacing a 400-foot stretch of bridge on Pickett Road running over Mud Creek, which is near Pine View Circle on the western end of Pickett Road, said engineer Cadmus Capehart. The project is expected to last until Nov. 21, and the road will be closed until then. Capehart added that, as of July 31, the work was ahead of schedule.

The road closing is a hindrance for residents of western Durham near the Orange County line, since that section of Pickett Road is the most direct way for many folks there to get out to U.S. 15-501 via Garrett Road.

A detour sends motorists along Erwin and Cornwallis roads.