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Warning for commuters: Next Wednesday morning more than 18,000 people will converge on the RBC Center for a day of inspiration from a group of speakers (Rudy Giuliani, Colin Powell, Steve Forbes, ... hey, do you have to be Republican to get hired as a motivational speaker?) at a business seminar called "Get Motivated!"
The last time this daylong workday event came to the RBC in October 2007, it recalled the traffic jam in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (the 1951 version with Michael Rennie, not the Keanu Reeves remake in 2008).
Traffic was congealed for two hours on Interstate 40, Wade Avenue and surrounding West Raleigh streets. Backups were felt on the I-440 Beltline, Hillsborough Street and Blue Ridge, Trinity and Edwards Mill roads. Hundreds of ticketholders arrived late at the RBC. Thousands of commuters arrived late to work. Some people got mad.
So if you plan to Get Motivated on Wednesday, you'd better get there early.
But if you just want to get to work, get as far away as you can from RBC and West Raleigh. And you should leave home early, too.
How bad will West Raleigh traffic be? Think about those State Fair days when NCSU schedules a football game next door at Carter-Finley Stadium. Stir in an inch of snow and a big wreck, at rush hour. That bad.
Here's why:
* RBC folks are preparing to receive more cars than at any event in their history. They expect a sellout, more than 18,000 folks in search of motivation. This will be worse than your average sellout.
* While sports fans are good carpoolers, most motivees will drive alone from home, so there will be many more cars. And many of these drivers will be unfamiliar with RBC and area roads.
* No transit service will be available. The NCSU Wolfline bus to the park-and-ride lot at nearby Carter-Finley is canceled, because NCSU park-and-ride privileges are canceled that day.
* Did we mention this all happens during the morning rush hour? And the event is timed to end with the afternooon rush hour. Police expect the traffic impact to be slightly less horrible then than in the morning.
If you plan to attend 'Get Motivated!'
Try to arrange a carpool. For one thing, sharing this frustration with a few friends will make it more tolerable than suffering alone.
Don't come in on Wade Avenue. There are slightly less crowded routes into the RBC, including a little-used back-door route from Chapel Hill Road (NC 54) via the new extension of Edwards Mill Road.
Prepare for surprises and delays. Police will be opening and closing exits off I-440, Wade Avenue, Edwards Mill and I-40 when things get backed up. You might get rerouted. Whadaya mean, Lake Boone Trail to Blue Ridge Road?
Parking lots open at 5:30 a.m. (OK, that's too early) and doors open at 6:45 a.m. for the event, which is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. RBC parking costs $10 per car, and you'd be very smart to have that exact amount in your left hand when you roll down your window for the lot attendant.
If you're not going to RBC
For anyone who normally commutes via Wade Avenue or I-40 in West Raleigh, plan ahead to make a major, radical detour. Pretend you've just heard that Wade and I-40 are closed.
Take the 540 Outer Loop from North Raleigh or from eastern Wake. If you're coming in on I-40 from Clayton to the Beltline, turn right instead of left: Head for US 64/264 to I-540, and loop around the north side of town. This may sound drastic, but it'll beat spending the next hour traveling 12 miles through West Raleigh on I-40.
Likewise in reverse for commuters who normally drive into West Raleigh from the western Triangle. Instead of I-40 and Wade, think I-540 and Glenwood.
If you commute to RTP from the south via U.S. 1/64, don't come to the Beltline and I-40. Think about cutting over onto N.C. 55 or Davis Drive.
Maybe this prospect will motivate you instead to call in sick.
Bruce Siceloff reports on traffic and transportation. A News & Observer reporter and editor since 1976, he took over the 
