View I-440 / southern Beltline work in a larger map

Expect long delays this weekend when a resurfacing project on the southeast corner of Interstate 440 (formerly known as the Raleigh Beltline) closes three of the four lanes for drivers on I-440 West (formerly known as the Outer Beltline).

From 9 p.m. Friday until 6:30 a.m. Monday, I-440 West drivers will be funneled into the far right lane between the I-40 split and Poole Road.  The ramp from I-40 West and I-440 West will be closed, NCDOT says.

This will cause extra hassles Saturday evening for music fans driving to and from the nearby Walnut Creek Amphitheatre for a Jack Johnson concert. And concert traffic will add to the Beltline backup. [8/20/10 update: Detailed detour advice from Walnut Creek management.] [MORE] ...

Nighttime detours will be marked on I-40 in West Raleigh this weekend as NCDOT schedules overnight closings for the I-40 East exit to Wade Avenue Friday night -- and for Wade Avenue at I-40 West (Exit 289) Saturday night.

The closings are scheduled both nights from 9 p.m. to 10 a.m. the next day. The detours will include looping traffic south to the N.C. 54 (Exit 290) interchange.

The work is part of a project to widen 6 miles of I-40 from Wade to U.S. 1/64.  Also this weekend, traffic will be shifted onto the newly built lanes in the I-40 median.

Also this weekend, another NCDOT project will close the exit ramps from southbound I-540 to east- and westbound I-40 near Research Triangle Park, from 9 p.m. tonight to 6 a.m. Monday.  Detours will use N.C. 54.  This project is for widening the I-540 off ramp to westbound I-40.

View Glenwood Ave repair job in a larger map 

The Fairview and Whitaker Mill road intersections at Five Points were reopened to traffic today, NCDOT says.

NCDOT closed them on July 6 for work on a project to repair Glenwood from Five Points to Wade Avenue.  The closings were only supposed to last two weeks, but the work took longer than expected.

Glenwood is still squeezed into one lane each way between Five Points and Wade. NCDOT engineers say they hope to finish the work and reopen all lanes by mid-September.

View I-40 / I-540 interchange in a larger map

Weekend construction work will close both off-ramps from southwest-bound 540 Outer Loop to  I-40, from 9pm Friday to 6am Monday.

It's part of a $7.6 million NCDOT project to add a lane to the ramp for westbound I-40. Similar closures will be scheduled for up to four more weekends

Marked detours will route drivers to I-40 via NC 54 and Miami Boulevard.

NCDOT is expected to award a contract this week for a three-year, $9.6 million project (see map)  to upgrade Weaver Dairy Road on the north side of Chapel Hill.

It features a new roadway that will extend Sage Road west from Old Erwin Road, connecting with Weaver Dairy near East Chapel Hill High School.  The connection to Sage will turn  Weaver Dairy Road into a direct link between N.C. 86 and to U.S. 15-501, parallelling Interstate 40.

The project runs 2.8 miles from N.C. 86 to Old Sterling Drive. Yates Construction Co. of Stokesdale is the apparent low bidder, at $9.6 million for a job DOT had estimated at $10.8 million.  Construction could begin as soon as Aug. 30, with work to be completed by June 2013.

View I-40 / I-540 interchange in a larger map

NCDOT will be repaving eastbound I-40 this weekend near Miami Boulevard, and traffic will be slowed Saturday and Sunday nights. 

The outer 3 lanes will be closed Saturday night from the Durham Freeway to Miami Boulevard, and Sunday night from Miami Boulevard to the 540 Outer Loop interchange.

The Saturday and Sunday night lane closings run from 9pm to 6am. More info here.

View Glenwood Ave repair job in a larger map

Captain Kevin Craghead of the Raleigh Police Department has these suggestions for drivers trying to get from Glenwood Avenue to Whitaker Mill and Fairview roads on the east side of Five Points:

From Northbound Glenwood Avenue:

Turn right on White Oak Road, then turn right on Sunset Drive, which will intersect with Whitaker Mill Road.  (For those drivers trying access Fairview Road, they should continue straight on Sunset Drive and they will intersect with Fairview Road, which is now two-way between Scales Street and Glenwood Avenue during construction).  They can then turn right on Fairview Road to park and access the businesses on the East side of Five Points, such as the BP Gas Station, the Point Restaurant and the Rialto Theater. 

From southbound Glenwood Avenue:

Turn left on Alexander Drive, then turn right on White Oak Road.  Drivers can then access Fairview or Whitaker Mill following the directions above. 

Police have been ticketing drivers who illegally cut through the Five Points BP at the corner of Glenwood and Fairview, where road work has closed the Fairview intersection.

View Glenwood Ave repair job in a larger map

Five Points business owners say Raleigh police are writing lots of tickets for drivers who cut through corner parking lots to get around obstacles caused by a summer-long repair project on Glenwood Avenue.

"The policemen give them tickets left and right," said Harum Rashed, manager of the Five Points BP gas station and convenience store at the corner of Glenwood and Fairview Road. [See police tips for avoiding chaos and tickets at Five Points.]

“When the construction started, they blocked all the roads and gave me just one small driveway so people can come in and go out,” Rashed said. “I don’t have a problem if anybody cuts through my driveway.”

Bill Peebles, co-owner of the Rialto Theater, says Five Points residents and business patrons should take care to avoid getting a ticket. ... [MORE]

View Glenwood Ave & Wade Ave repair jobs in a larger map

The Fairview and Whitaker Mill road intersections at Five Points will be closed starting Tuesday, July 6, for about two weeks as part of a repair project that is squeezing Glenwood Avenue traffic this summer, NCDOT says.

NCDOT will remove deteriorating concrete slabs between Five Points and Wade Avenue, and replace them with new asphalt pavement. Glenwood is reduced to one lane each way, and the on- and off-ramps at Wade Avenue are closed.

View Glenwood Ave & Wade Ave repair jobs in a larger map;

North Carolina highways will be extra busy this weekend, with AAA Carolinas predicting a 12 percent increase over last year in July Fourth holiday travel.

Triangle drivers were pumping self-service regular gas Wednesday for an average $2.63 a gallon, a penny more than they paid a year ago.

The state Department of Transportation will suspend most construction work from Thursday afternoon until Tuesday morning. But drivers will find traffic lanes closed through the weekend while work is suspended on roads including Wade and Glenwood avenues in Raleigh. ... [MORE]