As the administration of Democrat Gov. Bev Perdue prepares to start spending $461 million in federal fast-train grants (see today’s story with reader comments),  Republicans in the General Assembly want North Carolina to give the money back. All of it. [1:20pm update: See announcement from USDOT secretary and (3:20 p.m.) NCDOT.]

Reps. Ric Killian of Charlotte and Phillip Frye of Spruce Pine, Republican co-chairs of a House subcommittee that oversees transportation spending, filed legislation Monday that would order Perdue’s Department of Transportation not to ..

apply for, accept, or expend any grant funding from the federal government for any high-speed rail project unless the project has been approved through an act of the General Assembly.

DOT would face penalties, losing Highway Fund money, if it disobeys the ban.

The Federal Railroad Administration is expected in the next day or so to formally commit $461 million in federal stimulus grants -- so NCDOT can start accepting bids -- for 24 projects to build more tracks and bridges and make other rail improvements between Raleigh and Charlotte. ... [MORE]

The House moved quickly today (Thursday) to enact legislation barring the N.C. Turnpike Authority from building or even studying the unpopular Red Route option for a Wake County toll road that would bulldoze neighborhoods and split Garner in half. [Update Friday 4 p.m.:  Gov. Bev Perdue signed the measure into law this afternoon.]

Gov. Bev Perdue is expected early next week to sign the measure, The legislation was sought by Garner officials who had worried they were about to lose a major new employer.  An unidentified health services company has an option on 10 acres in a business park that would have been threatened by the Red Route, with plans for 225 jobs at salaries averaging $50,000 a year, town officials said.

"This is a jobs bill," said Rep. Nelson Dollar, a Wake County Republican, as the House approved the Red Route kill bill by 115 to 1.

"You can build this expressway -- just don't do it to Garner," said Rep. Darren Jackson, a Wake County Democrat.  The Senate had approved the bill last week in a 50-0 vote.

“I think we can announce to the world now that we’re open for business,” Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams said later.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reaffirmed warnings that had been sounded earlier by turnpike officials.  ... [MORE]

In 2007 when gas prices were climbing this high, this fast, the General Assembly put a cap on the state tax paid on every gallon, to stop it from rising above 29.9 cents.  Then in 2009 this tax ceiling was converted to a floor, a tax minimum -- and since then the tax rate has risen to 32.5 cents.

Now there's legislation to convert the current rate to a ceiling again, to keep the tax from rising further. Republican Reps. Pat McElraft of Emerald Isle, Mike Stone of Sanford, Ric Killian of Charlotte and Mike Hager of Rutherfordton introduced House Bill 399 this week.

It would put a 15-cent cap on the variable portion of the tax rate, which is readjusted every six months as a percentage of the changing wholesale gas price. ... [MORE]

The House will surely pass Senate Bill 165 today, and the governor will surely sign it as quickly as possible. So the N.C. Turnpike Authority will surely be barred by law from building or even studying the reviled Red Route option for a toll road that would cut Garner in half.

Turnpike officials concede defeat and  promise to find some other way to get permission from federal environmental regulators to build the TriEx Southeast Extension across southern Wake County. They favor the Orange Route, which would muddy sensitive streams that harbor an endangered mollusk, the dwarf wedge mussel. Environmental regulators are still not ready to forget about the Red Route.

And Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams, still in a combative mood, is not ready to concede victory and lay down his weapons. ... [MORE]

State Sen. Don East, who says he wrote lots of traffic tickets during nearly 20 years as a police officer in Winston-Salem, wants to outlaw red-light cameras.

He does not propose merely that Raleigh, Cary and a few other towns stop ticketing drivers whose cars are photographed running red lights.  A bill he filed Wednesday would make it a misdemeanor "for any person to operate a traffic control photographic system in this State."

"I'm a retired cop, and I believe if you're charged with running a red light, you ought to be able to cross-examine somebody," East said. "You can't cross-examine a camera." ... [MORE]

Two Wake senators have filed legislation to block the N.C. Turnpike Authority from doing what it says it doesn't want to do anyway:  build a new turnpike through the town of Garner.

Senate Bill 165 proposes that the planned Triangle Expressway Southeast Extension "shall not be located north of an existing protected corridor established by the Department of Transportation circa 1995, except in the area of Interstate 40 East."

That means nothing north of a widely favored path known as the Orange Route, which would take TriEx well south of Garner to extend the turnpike across southern Wake County from Holly Springs to Interstate 40 near the Johnston County line. ... [MORE]

Two Wake County senators have filed legislation to block the N.C. Turnpike Authority from doing what it says it doesn't want to do anyway:  build a new turnpike through the town of Garner. [3/3/11 update: More in today's story.]

Senate Bill 165 proposes that the planned Triangle Expressway Southeast Extension "shall not be located north of an existing protected corridor established by the Department of Transportation circa 1995, except in the area of Interstate 40 East."

That means nothing north of a widely favored path known as the Orange Route, which would take TriEx well south of Garner to extend the turnpike across southern Wake County from Holly Springs to Interstate 40 near the Johnston County line. ... [MORE]

In their proposal today for LESS state spending -- more than $2 billion less than Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue's proposed budget -- Republican legislative leaders mention one area that deserves MORE spending: highway maintenance and repaving.

Instructions to the House and Senate transportation appropriation subcommittees (attached below) include this call for a $100 million maintenance boost:

Strengthen the maintenance of transportation infrastructure. For many years, North Carolina has inadequately funded the maintenance of pavement, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure. Please develop a plan to increase the budget for maintenance and contract resurfacing by at least $100 million through a combination of savings, efficiencies and the reallocation of resources.

Perdue also has recommended more maintenance spending this year. ... [more]

You might get a $100 ticket, starting Wednesday, if you obscure your automobile license plate with one of those fat frames that promote pastimes, car dealers and alma maters.

You say you'd rather be fishing? The police would rather be able to read your license plate.

That includes every letter and number of your license number, the state that issued your license, and the month and year your registration expires.

Under a new state law that takes effect Wednesday, you’re not street-legal if ... [MORE].

Some readers think it was silly, or worse, for the General Assembly to ban fat frames that hide basic info -- state name, registration renewal stickers -- on car license plates (see today's Road Worrier column, with reader comments).

If they want to make sure that NC license plates are easily recognizable, then they should repeal all those "SPECIAL INTERST" license plates that are no where near the original White, RED, and Blue colors! - mike_cary

To claim that NC state troopers couldn't recognize a local plate (even one of the variations of vanity plates) is sort of demeaning to their ability. - shawnc1959

Maybe so.  But -- quick! the car is speeding away! -- can you tell me what state is attached to the license plate you see here?  ... [MORE]