View 540 Outer Loop - East in a larger map
Nighttime drivers on a northeastern arc of Raleigh's 540 Loop will squeeze into a single lane in each direction, starting tonight, as DOT begins concrete inspection work that had been postponed recently.
The lane closings will slow both east- and west -bound drivers on 540
between Triangle Town Boulevard and U.S. 64 Business (New Bern Avenue)
in northeast Raleigh. The work, which had been delayed because of rain and technical problems, will affect traffic only between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. The work is expected
to be finished in a couple of weeks.
Radar will be used to check the locations of steel connecting rods that stitch together the parallel lanes of concrete. The bars are supposed to be buried about six inches deep in the 12-inch slabs, but an inspection found some of them close to the surface.
If more rods are in the wrong place and repairs are needed, DOT and the concrete contractor agree that taxpayers will not be saddled with the bill. It's the contractor's responsibility.
Bruce Siceloff reports on traffic and transportation. A News & Observer reporter and editor since 1976, he took over the 
