You can't ask for much better than same-day service, and that's what DOT provided this week.

In Tuesday's Road Worrier column, Debra Aycock explained a paint problem that makes navigation difficult for left-turn drivers at the big, busy U.S. 15-501 interchange with I-40 in Durham.

By the end of the day Tuesday, a DOT paint crew was out there putting down fresh "mini-skips" -- the two-foot-long lane divider lines that are supposed to guide drivers from the I-40 off-ramp as they curve across 10 lanes of traffic on U.S. 15-501. Aycock pointed out that heavy traffic had erased the lines, leaving drivers confused about how to make that turn and how to end up in the correct lane on 15-501.

Joey Hopkins, DOT deputy division engineer for a 7-county area that includes Durham, said a DOT crew freshened up the mini-skips at this interchange on Tuesday -- and also at a similar trouble spot on the 540 Outer Loop in Wake County, where some left-turn drivers were flying blind. ... [MORE]

Motorists heading north on 15-501 may hit brief delays over the next few weeks near the exit for N.C. 751 (Cameron Boulevard).

The Exit 17 ramp is narrowed to one line due to a road improvement project overseen by Duke University's facilities management department. Motorists are urged to use extra caution and consider other routes.  

The work is part of a project to modify lanes and traffic signals at several intersections along Erwin Road and N.C. 751. Work will continue next month at the Erwin Road/LaSalle Drive intersection.