Don't leave home without your new state highway map

The folks at NCDOT can be forgiven if, like doting parents, they keep showing off pictures of their kids. You've seen 'em before, but you don't really mind looking at fresh photos, do you?

DOT's new 2009-10 state transportation map features a pretty pic of the Linn Cove Viaduct -- last seen on the 1996 map -- on its cover.

This curvy mountain road is part of the Blue Ridge Parkway and now also part of the new Grandfather Mountain State Park. (Also on the cover: old New Bern and the new NASCAR museum being built in Charlotte.)

What else is new, in a state that hasn't put many new roads on the map lately?

* The U.S. 70 Clayton Bypass is there, and the road formerly known as U.S. 70 is now marked 70-Business.

* Another chunk of Charlotte's I-485 loop has been added. (Nothing new on Fayetteville's I-295 loop, yet!)

* There's a new governor's mugshot, too.

* And if you're as confused as I am about which interstates go where in the vicinity of Greensboro, check your new map. I-40 has returned its old Death Valley path through the city, while the new bypass loop is shared by I-85 and something called I-73.

Also new: The map is a little smaller, and easier to fold. And it'll have to do for two years. DOT has stopped its cycle of putting out a new map every year. The next one will be published in 2011. By then the new-map smell will have evaporated.

The map also has an authoritative rundown on North Carolina traffic safety laws that aren't identical from state-to-state. Our rules for right-on-red, motorcycle helmets, when to move over, when to turn on your headlights, and when not to talk on your phone.

This is a great map, and it's free. It's the source material for every other road map you can find, but this one's free. It's also the source for Google and other online maps, and Garmin and other GPS gizmos.

Those electronic maps are notoriously slow at updating things like new freeways, so don't expect them to be fresher than the DOT version.

Get yours online -- download it or request a printed copy -- or by phone at 1-877-368-4968.

Leah Friedman, the N&O's Triangle Troubleshooter, pointed out twice in recent weeks (here and here) that DOT does a poor job of delivering those maps to people who request them.

Add your map observations below.

And if you contact DOT and ask for your copy of the 2009-10 map, let me or Leah know if it ever gets there.