newsobserver.com blogs -- crosstown

Check this map to see how DOT toll plan would affect your drive on I-95

BruceSiceloff — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:02:17 -0500

NCDOT wants to collect tolls on I-95 to pay for a $4.4 billion widening and overhaul project, border to border (see Sunday's story with map, photos and lots of reader comments).

The proposed electronic tolling network is designed to allow lots of North Carolina travelers to continue making short local trips on I-95 without paying tolls. It would make it difficult, but not impossible, for truckers and vacationers who travel longer distances to use I-95 without paying the toll.

As a result, truckers (25 percent of all I-95 traffic) and out-of-state cars and trucks (55 percent) could actually end up paying more than their share of the tolls.

Check the attached Google map to see how this would affect you and your trips on I-95. Blue icons mark locations for 9 sets of electronic toll sensors on I-95. Pink icons mark the nearest exits, before and after the sensors, where drivers going on or off I-95 also would pay tolls.

All other exits? And that's most of them. Toll-free.

When tolling starts in 2019, a car driving all the way between South Carolina and Virginia probably would be tolled $19.20, DOT says. Tolls for heavy trucks will be higher. (Some truckers have commented that today's story does not mention the fees they pay to use North Carolina roads, even when they buy fuel in other states. I'll be reporting more on the trucker perspective in coming weeks.)

Note: I produced this Google map, based on my interpretation of DOT's report explaining the plan (available at www.driving95.com). Any errors are mine, not DOT's -- so let me know if something looks wrong here.

More buses & departure times for Triangle Transit's Durham / Raleigh Express

BruceSiceloff — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:34:43 -0500

To ease overcrowding and offer more options for riders on its second-most popular route, Triangle Transit will add more buses to the schedule for Durham / Raleigh Express (DRX) passengers who live in Raleigh and commute to Durham -- starting Monday.

The DRX bus carries nearly 400 riders on some days, almost as many as Triangle Transit's popular Chapel Hill / Raleigh Express (CRX). The DRX schedule will have buses every 30 minutes when it is expanded to add one morning departure from Raleigh at 7:30 a.m., and two afternoon depatures from Duke's West Campus at 4:32 p.m. and 5:32 p.m.

To accommodate the DRX need, Triangle Transit is eliminating trips or portions of trips that have lower passenger demand on Routes 49, 102, 301, 311, 700, 800 and 805.

Two states endorse rail path with new bridge over Capital Boulevard

BruceSiceloff — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:35:47 -0500

A new bridge to carry passenger trains across Capital Boulevard is part of the alignment recommended this week by North Carolina and Virginia transportation officials for a proposed 162-mile track that would run trains as fast as 110 miles per hour between Raleigh and Richmond, Va.

The favored path for the proposed new track between the state capitals is described in a new 114-page draft recommendation report issued for the planned Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor from Charlotte to Washington, D.C. The report explains the two states' recommendations for the entire path, which passes through Norlina, Henderson, Franklinton, Youngsville and Wake Forest on its way south from Virginia to join an existing Amtrak route in downtown Raleigh.

But no one knows whether the project will ever be built. [5pm update: Pay no attention to the misplaced star on DOT's map, above. There are no plans to bring trains onto the Governor Morehead School campus.]

Virginia and North Carolina are spending nearly $600 million in federal grants to add tracks and make other rail improvements between Charlotte and Raleigh, and between Richmond and Washington.

The two states have received enough money to finish the environmental study and preliminary engineering work for the key Raleigh-to-Richmond link. But they would need much more -- an estimated $3 billion -- for land acquisition and rail and highway construction to complete the line. There are no prospects on the horizon for that money.

The new line to Richmond would be 35 miles shorter than the route now used by Amtrak, and NCDOT says it would cut about two hours of travel time for every rail journey from Charlotte and Raleigh to Washington and the Northeast.

The choice of a path through downtown Raleigh was the most expensive and contentious part of the rail plan.

DOT had considered alternatives that would run north either on the east side of Capital Boulevard, through a CSX freight rail yard -- or on the west side, through a Norfolk Southern freight rail yard. Norfolk Southern protested that the western path would cause the railroad more than $100 million in damages, and residents in nearby Five Point neighborhoods worried about noise and vibration from the added passenger trains.

Residents suggested a compromise that would swing the tracks over Capital from west to east, and DOT engineeers modified the idea last year to create the new option, which was endorsed by the Raleigh City Council.

The new downtown route devised by DOT engineers -- called NC5 -- would be the most expensive option for a 3.4-mile segment of the rail path from a planned Amtrak station near Hargett Street north to Whitaker Mill Road: a total estimated cost of $158.4 million. It features a 700-foot-long bridge that would lift trains over traffic on West Street and Capital Boulevard between Peace Street and Wade Avenue.

NC5 would force 48 businesses to relocate, instead of the 54 businesses that would be displaced by the Five Points route, called NC3. The NC5 right-of-way costs would be $11 million less.

But the long Capital Boulevard bridge would push its construction costs $32 million higher than NC3's.

Ferry riders can comment on upcoming toll hikes until Feb. 16

BruceSiceloff — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:17:57 -0500

View NC 12 & NC Ferry Routes in a larger map

NCDOT will hold a final public hearing next Wednesday in Pamlico County -- and accept public comment until Thursday, Feb. 16 -- on its plans to set higher rates for ferry tolls and commuter passes starting April 1.

Under orders from the General Assembly, NCDOT will start charging tolls on two commuter ferries now toll-free, and it will increase rates collected on three ferries where riders pay now (see 1/11/12 story with reader comments and more in 1/4/12 blog post - and more comments and photos with 2/5/12 story).

At the Feb. 15 meeting in Grantsboro, DOT officials will hear public comment after they outline the options they're considering:

Currituck - Knotts Island (Currituck Sound)
Free ferry, 45 minutes. Will remain toll-free.

Swan Quarter - Ocracoke (Pamlico Sound)
Toll $15 for car & driver. 2 hours 30 minutes.
Proposed new toll $25 to $33, plus possible $5 passenger fare.
One-year commuter pass (now $150) proposed $300, $400 or $500.

Hatteras - Ocracoke (Hatteras Inlet)
Free ferry, 40 minutes. Will remain toll-free.

Bayview - Aurora (Neuse River)
Free ferry, 30 minutes.
Proposed new toll $10 or $12 for car & driver, plus possible $2 passenger fare.
Proposed one-year commuter pass $200, $400 or $500.

Cedar Island - Ocracoke (Pamlico Sound)
Toll $15 for car & driver. 2 hours 15 minutes.
Proposed new toll $25 to $33, plus possible $5 passenger fare.
One-year commuter pass (now $150) proposed $300, $400 or $500.

Cherry Branch - Minnesott Beach (Neuse River)
Free ferry, 20 minutes.
Proposed new toll $4 or $7 for car & driver, plus possible $1 passenger fare.
Proposed one-year commuter pass $150, $400 or $500.

Southport - Fort Fisher (Cape Fear River)
Toll $5 for car & driver. 35 minutes.
Proposed new toll $10 or $12, plus possible $2 passenger fare.
Proposed one-year commuter pass $200, $400 or $500.

Here is the last public meeting location:

Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m.
Pamlico Community College
Ned Everett Delamar Center Auditorium
5049 Highway 306 S., Grantsboro

For more info and to comment, DOT says:

For more information, contact Jamille Robbins, NCDOT- Human Environment Unit at 1598 Mail Service Center, Raleigh 27699-1598, (919) 707-6085 or jarobbins@ncdot.gov. Additional written comments regarding the proposed project may be submitted to Robbins until Feb. 16.

DOT will repave most of Raleigh's northern 540 Outer Loop this year, at night

BruceSiceloff — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:59:23 -0500

View 540 Outer Loop in a larger map

Seventeen miles of Raleigh's northern 540 Outer Loop will receive a fresh coat of asphalt this year in an $8.4 million repaving project that could start by the end of February.

The state Department of Transportation says it awarded the contract to the Fred Smith Co. of Raleigh. The work will cover all lanes of 540 from Interstate 40 near Research Triangle Park to Triangle Town Boulevard in northeast Raleigh.

The work will be done at night to reduce travel delays on the Outer Loop, which carries 78,000 cars and trucks each day.

All lanes will stay open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m on weekdays, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays. The project also includes some shoulder repairs and work on ramps at interchanges. Nov. 15 is the deadline for completion.

The first section of the 540 Outer Loop, from I-40 to U.S. 70, opened in January 1997. The newest section included in the repaving project, between Falls of Neuse Road and Triangle Town Boulevard, opened in August 2002.

With Orange backing, rail plan advances

jaydub — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:06:56 -0500

After some confusion on Orange County's position, plans for the light-rail line between Chapel Hill and Durham got unanimous approval this morning from a bi-county transportation committee.

Today's vote for a "Locally Preferred Alternative" route keeps the project on schedule to apply for a federal grant this year. It also moves the project along to another round of public hearings on environmental effects.

The approved route runs from UNC Hospitals to downtown Durham, and includes both the "C1" and "C2" alternatives for a segment between the Friday Center on N.C. 54 and a proposed development site on Farrington Road in Durham. The segment has generated considerable public comment due to its possible effects on a pristine bottomland.

In recent weeks, some Orange County officials had suggested a third route, avoiding N.C. 54 altogether and running the track through the U.S. 15-501 corridor.

Orange Commissioners discussed route options until late Tuesday night before agreeing to support sending both C1 and C2 forward for environmental research.

However, when the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization's Transportation Advisory Committee met this morning, neither Orange County representative Alice Gordon nor alternate Bernadette Pelissier were sure just what they and their fellow commissioners had decided.

"We were talking about this probably until 11 o'clock at night," Gordon said. "Forgive us."

After some telephone calls for clarification, Gordon said Orange County was in favor of advancing C2 alone, because of its anticipated lesser environmental effects. Chapel Hill's Town Council is also on record favoring C2, but supports leaving both alternates open for a later decision.

Patrick McDonough, lead planner with Triangle Transit, said leaving both alternatives under study might avoid some later difficulties, particularly in negotiations to cross Army Corps of Engineers property.

Gordon said the Orange Commissioners are still interested in the U.S. 15-501 routing, but did not want it incorporated in the plans voted on today.

Owners of lousy hybrid Honda Civics have new reason to consider small-claims court

BruceSiceloff — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:45:01 -0500

Lemon owners of the world, unite!
You have nothing to lose but your small-claims court filing fees!

That's pretty much the message sent out by Heather Peters this week after she won her false-advertising claim -- and $9,876.19 in damages -- against American Honda Motor Co. in a California small-claims court. (The 26-page ruling is attached below.)

[2/7/11 update: NC small claims filing fee is $86, plus $30 for service by sheriff. NC small claims would be less friendly to Peters approach, but we do have a lemonlaw. See today's Road Worrier.]

Rejecting Honda's your-mileage-may-vary defense, the judge ruled that Honda misled Peters in its advertising about the fuel economy she could expect when she bought her 2006 hybrid Honda Civic, and again when Honda persuaded her in 2010 to accept a software upgrade that only made her problem worse.

I'll be reporting on this Monday. I'd like to hear from lemon Civic owners who have joined the class-action settlement, and from any who are taking the small-claims route. Please email me, and don't forget your name and daytime phone number.

Some Triangle owners of 2006 hybrid Civics have similar gripes: initial fuel economy well below the advertised 50mpg figure, and getting much worse in subsequent years. (See Jan. 10 Road Worrier column "Some hybrid owners are dissatisfied with their vehicles," with reader comments.)

The problem stems from a bad battery pack Honda used in the hybrid Civic for several years (and replaced a few years ago). There is a big class-action lawsuit settlement pending now -- one of those deals where the affected car owners get a few hundred dollars apiece, and their lawyers get a few million dollars.

On CNN today and at her appropriately named website, dontsettlewithhonda.org, Peters urges her fellow hybrid lemon owners to opt out of the class-action approach, and to seek the streamlined justice of small-claims court instead. She offers to share her evidence, and her site points to legal decriptions of small-claims courts in each state.

Unlike California, North Carolina allows the parties to bring their lawyers into small-claims court. And the damages limit here is $5,000, half the California limit.

Here are two references on small claims court in North Carolina: the nolo.com overview cited on the Peters website, and a more detailed guide prepared by the Legal Aid Society of North Carolina (which is cited as the authoritative source by the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts). I don't know whether either guide is entirely up-to-date, and the Legal Aid folks did not return my calls.

[2/6/12 update: North Carolina's "Lemon Law" helps car owners in some cases. Learn about it from the N.C. Department of Justice, here.]

Honda says it will appeal, and Peters isn't expecting to get her money anytime soon. What will happen here?

Beach drivers will pay $50/week or $120/year for Cape Hatteras seashore permits

BruceSiceloff — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:53:36 -0500

New permits required for driving on the beach at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore will cost vacationers and surf-casters $50 for a week or $120 for a year, the National Park Service says.

New restrictions on beach driving take effect Feb. 15 for the seashore, which includes the beaches from south of Nag's Head to Ocracoke. Besides requiring permits for drivers, the park service now puts limits on the locations of beach routes that will be available -- some of them only from Nov. 1 through March 31 -- for off-road vehicles. (See 1/21/12 story and 2/2/12 story with reader comments.)

The permits will be available at three locations: Bodie Island at the north end of the Coquina Beach parking lot, Hatteras Island at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, and Ocracoke at the National Park Service visitor center.

Did you receive a TriEx toll-road bill for 77 cents?

BruceSiceloff — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:54:19 -0500

Last week DOT mailed out its first batch of bills to car owners who have driven on the Triangle Expressway, North Carolina's first modern toll road, without using an N.C. Quick Pass transponder.

Did you receive a bill? How much was it for? Do you think you'll buy a transponder? I'll be reporting on this, and I'd like to hear from folks who have received these bills. Please include your name and your daytime phone number.

The price of a one-way trip on TriEx is 50 cents for transponder users and 77 cents for the rest of us. If you just drive between I-40 and the Hopson Road - Davis Drive exit, it's 30 cents for transponder and 45 cents for other drivers. So the lowest possible bill anybody could receive is for 45 cents. Otherwise, DOT photographs your license plate and mails a bill to the owner's address.

DOT said the first bills go out 15 days after a car uses TriEx for the first time. Subsequent bills -- inserted with fliers inviting you to become a transponder customer -- go out every 30 days

If you open an account with the turnpike authority, deposit $20 in your account and put a $5 transponder sticker on your windshield, your toll charge is subtracted every time you drive on TriEx. Otherwise,

NCDOT will discuss ferry toll hikes at public meetings this week

BruceSiceloff — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:08:47 -0500

View NC 12 & NC Ferry Routes in a larger map

Ferry patrons will have two chances this week to speak out at public meetings -- tonight in Morehead City, Tuesday night in Southport -- about DOT plans to set higher rates for ferry tolls and commuter passes starting April 1.

Under orders from the General Assembly, DOT will start charging tolls on two commuter ferries now toll-free, and it will increase rates collected on three ferries where riders pay now (see 1/11/12 story with reader comments) and more in 1/4/12 blog post).

At this week's meetings and another one Feb. 15 in Grantsboro, DOT officials will hear public comment after they outline the options they're considering:

Currituck - Knotts Island (Currituck Sound)
Free ferry, 45 minutes. Will remain toll-free.

Hatteras - Ocracoke (Hatteras Inlet)
Free ferry, 40 minutes. Will remain toll-free.

Bayview - Aurora (Neuse River)
Free ferry, 30 minutes.
Proposed new toll $10 or $12 for car & driver, plus possible $2 passenger fare.
Proposed one-year commuter pass $200, $400 or $500.

Southport - Fort Fisher (Cape Fear River)
Toll $5 for car & driver. 35 minutes.
Proposed new toll $10 or $12, plus possible $2 passenger fare.
Proposed one-year commuter pass $200, $400 or $500.

Here are the public meeting locations:

Tonight (Monday, Jan. 30), 7 p.m.
Morehead City-Beaufort, NC No. 1710 Elks Lodge
400 Miller Farm Road, Morehead City

Tuesday, Jan. 31, 7 p.m.
I.L.A. Union Hall
211 W. 10th St., Southport

Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m.
Pamlico Community College
Ned Everett Delamar Center Auditorium
5049 Highway 306 S., Grantsboro

Karen Fussell is NCDOT's first female division engineer

BruceSiceloff — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:10:51 -0500

Karen E. Fussell, a Wilmington native and a 22-year veteran of the state Department of Transportation, today became the first woman ever to be named a DOT division engineer when she was put in charge of all Highway Division work in the six-county Division Three.

Fussell has an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from N.C. State University and is a licensed professional engineer. She will oversee DOT employees in Brunswick, Duplin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender and Sampson counties.

“We are proud to name Karen as Division 3’s new division engineer,” Jim Trogdon, DOT chief operating officer, said in a news release. “Karen has proven her ability to manage large projects, engage the community and build effective and efficient teams.”

In her most recent job, Fussell was a resident engineer overseeing road projects in the Wilson area. She starts her new job Monday, in Division 3 office at Castle Hayne, at a salary of $115,232.

The I-40 slim-fix at US 70 Clayton Bypass goes from temporary to semi-permanent

BruceSiceloff — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:15:23 -0500

View US 70 Clayton Bypass in a larger map

The state Department of Transportation says it will continue for the next several years an unusual traffic lane change put in place last September as an experiment on westbound Interstate 40 at the U.S. 70 Clayton Bypass:

To make the morning rush hour run more smoothly, DOT closed one of three lanes on I-40 and one of two lanes on U.S. 70 as it merges with I-40. The lane slimming was called temporary in September, but DOT will install lane markings to make it semi-permanent on Wednesday. Traffic studies indicate that the morning drive runs a bit smoother and faster with two lanes than it did with three lanes.

What happened? DOT added a third lane for a two-mile stretch of I-40 when it built the new U.S. 70 bypass interchange there in 2008. This created a rush-hour bottleneck caused by drivers who move into the new lane as it opens up and then try to squeeze back into line in the other two lanes, when the third lane ends. So in a very short distance, you had two lanes from the U.S. 70 on-ramp and three lanes of I-40 -- five lanes in all -- squeezing back into two lanes.

The long-term solution is to widen I-40 permanently, from U.S. 70 all the way west to the U.S. 70 Business interchange, where it becomes three lanes wide for good. DOT now is scheduled to start construction on this long-needed widening project (I-5111) at the U.S. 70 Bypass in late 2016. Once the new lanes are installed, by 2021, the lanes that were closed in September will be open again.

Rush-hour commuter train plan chugging toward a Wake County vote

BruceSiceloff — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:03:24 -0500

Transit planners are nailing down details, including the locations of four Raleigh train stops, for a $655 million plan to run rush-hour commuter trains between Duke in West Durham and Garner by 2019. (See today's Road Worrier with reader comments).

You can read tons of details on the buses-commuter trains-light rail plans for Wake, Durham and Orange counties at the ourtransitfuture.com website. It took some searching but I finally found the July 2011 Alternatives Analysis reports on this page. (Note: When you see mention of the "Durham-Wake" corridor, that's the commuter trains. There are separate light-rail studies for the "Durham-Orange" and "Wake" lines.)

The Wake County commissioners face a big vote in May (probably after the primary election) on whether to approve an ambitious plan for more buses, new commuter trains and new light rail trains in that chronological order. And whether to let voters decide in November whether to pay for a lot of it with a half-cent sales tax that would be dedicated to transit needs.

But Triangle Transit wants to get a quick endorsement in the next few weeks of the commuter rail portion, so it can move forward with other studies that would be necessary before it can file an application in August for federal transit grants. Triangle Transit says we can beef up bus service and start the commuter trains running without federal help.

But we'll definitely need federal help to build the light rail line, and we wouldn't say no to federal money to help out with the commuter trains.

Stay tuned.

I-95 widening and toll collection could start in 2016

BruceSiceloff — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:34:48 -0500

NCDOT says it wants to get moving on long-sought improvements to Interstate 95, starting in 2016 with a project to add lanes along 60 busy miles between Lumberton in Robeson County and Interstate 40 in Johnston County.

The state expects to join Virginia in winning federal approval to pay for improvements to I-95 by collecting tolls from its drivers. A long-range plan to add lanes, rebuild interchanges and replace bridges is estimated to cost $4.4 billion.

The Federal Highway Administration recently approved an environmental assessment of NCDOT's plans for upgrading I-95 from Virginia to South Carolina. Public hearings are scheduled from Feb. 7 to Feb. 27. Details and documents are online at www.driving95.com.

Beach drivers will have to pay for new permits along Cape Hatteras seashore

BruceSiceloff — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:11:06 -0500

View Larger Map

New limits on beach driving will take effect Feb. 15 at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the National Park Service said today. Off-road drivers will be required to buy permits that would add up to $50 to the cost of a week at the beach. [1/21/12 update: see today's story with reader comments.]

The park service had promised to develop new rules for off-road vehicle use along the seashore when it settled a lawsuit filed by environmental groups seeking protections for endangered turtles and shorebirds that nest on the beach. Seashore visitors who take their cars onto the beach to fish, watch birds or get away from the crowds will be required to watch an instructional video and buy a permit.

A park service spokeswoman said the fees, to be announced in the next week or two, will be set somewhere between $90 and $150 for a one-year permit and between $30 and $50 for a seven-day permit. The park service will update online and printed maps to with new information about times and locations were beach driving will be allowed.

The new rules were praised by officials with three environmental groups that sued the National Park Service in 2007.

"The park service's rules are a compromise that provides protections for both pedestrians and wildlife while still allowing responsible beach driving," Julie Youngman, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said in a news release. Other parties in the lawsuit were Audubon North Carolina and Defenders of Wildlife.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore stretches for about 70 miles along the Outer Banks from south of Nag's Head to Ocracoke. The rules will be published Monday in the Federal Register (and are attached to this blog post, below, in a PDF file).

Constriction, closing due for Durham's Main Street

jaydub — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:29:32 -0500

Traveling on Durham's Main Street is about to get a bit more difficult, and it's going to stay that way for more than a year.

Three reconstruction projects are scheduled for Main Street between Ninth Street and Peabody, including replacement of the Campus Drive bridge.

City Transportation Director Mark Ahrendsen said estimates are the bridge project will take up to 12 months, requiring Main Street to be closed for the duration. NCDOT is also planning to resurface the street in conjunction with bridge replacement.

The bridge project can't start, though, until after the city replaces a water line under Main Street. That project is starting in two to three weeks, Water Director Don Greeley said, and could be finished in July though the contractor has up to nine months for the job.

Ahrendsen said the bridge project will be scheduled so as not to conflict with Duke University's move-in day, in mid-August. NCDOT is considering offering incentives for finishing the job in less than a year.

NCDOT considers the bridge, built in 1950, to be "functionally obsolete" due to the narrow confines of the Campus Drive underpass and its low clearance.v

Experiment in Durham puts buses on side of the road

jaydub — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:41:09 -0500

If you're driving I-40 in the next few months and see a bus rolling along the shoulder, it's probably not in trouble.

It's in an experiment.

NCDOT, Triangle Transit and several other members of an "I-40 Partnership" are going to try out a "bus on shoulder system" on a section of I-40 in southern Durham County. The system allows public-transit buses to use the shoulder as a regular lane of travel.

"It's a great tool we can use to promote more bus transit ridership," said City Councilman Mike Woodard.

City Transportation Director said the experiment is based on established bus-on-shoulder systems in other cities. It came out of the I-40 Partnership's effort to decrease congestion on the region's most heavily traveled thoroughfare.

"It basically serves as the Triangle's Main Street," he said.

Bus-on-shoulder is going into effect within the next six months, said Meredith McDiarmid, the I-40 "Corridor Executive" with NCDOT. Its first sections will be westbound from N.C. 147 to U.S. 15-501 and eastbound from 15-501 to Page Road.

Buses will be required to give way to vehicles stopped on the shoulder and emergency vehicles, she said.

Expect daytime delays on northbound Capital Blvd @ Atlantic Ave

BruceSiceloff — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:43:36 -0500

View Capital Boulevard in a larger map

Road work will close one of two lanes on northbound Capital Boulevard daily this week between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., NCDOT says.

All lanes will be open during the morning and afternoon rush hour, but this work is likely to cause traffic backups during the day.

It's for bridge and road maintenance work expected to take four or five days, depending on the weather. There's rain in the forecast later this week, and that could push completion of this work into next week.

Oh. HERE's the outrage about gas prices

BruceSiceloff — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:07:14 -0500

The Road Worrier today (see column with lots of comments) reports that Americans paid more on average for gas in 2011 than ever before, and that prices are climbing sharply.

And asks the rhetorical question: Where's the outrage?

I put it that way because I have interviewed lots of motorists about gas prices ever since gas prices became an issue – since well before March 15, 2005, when the Triangle average price for regular clicked above $2 for the first time. There was plenty of shock and dismay then, and again when the price passed $3 on Sept. 3, 2005 (and again, since you ask, the first time we hit $4 on June 17, 2008). Lately, though, folks seem more resigned to high gas prices.

Sure enough, lots of readers responded to express outrage.

They called and commented and emailed to complain about the high price of gas. And they placed the blame on the following: Barack Obama (who got the most blame votes), the news media, Democrats, Republicans, price-gouging oil companes, and price-gouging gas stations.

One caller blamed the Road Worrier himself:

Mr. Siceloff, every time you … write on gas prices – to expect this is going to happen, it’s going to go up and all that kind of thing – I’ll guarantee you that within a day or two, gas stations start raising their prices. Every time you raise the flag, it prompts them to do so. … I do enjoy your articles, but I wish you’d quit writing about gas prices.

Here are more comments:

When crude oil prices soar in Europe and elsewhere, I can just hear the NC politicians' drool flow. And what could be better news for greedy gas station distributors (Kangaroo comes to mind) than a front page story that says to expect soaring gas prices soon? Apparently, the higher that gas prices climb, the higher that tax revenues climb. Lord knows the NC politicians need this extra revenue. And Lord knows that our state's economy, especially our state's citizens, don't need this extra burden on our backs. Our state will never come out of economic recession as long as it continues to slam its citizens with higher gas taxes. - Connor Williams

"Drivers take stoical view" is an interesting headline, but it should actually have read "Drivers are helpless as gas prices rise". What recourse does a person really have to high gas prices? Where I live in Raleigh, we have a mass transit system that is a joke. - Lou Mallia

DATA bus route changes to be aired in public meetings Wednesday

BruceSiceloff — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:13:49 -0500

The Durham Area Transit Authority will hold public information sessions Wednesday and next week to outline proposed changes that would affect every DATA bus route. [1/12/12 update: DATA would shorten routes to make buses run on time, but there would be tradeoffs. See today's story.]

Triangle Transit, which took over management of the DATA system in 2010, is proposing the changes to boost service to several locations and to improve on-time performance for buses that frequently run behind schedule.

The meetings will take place upstairs at the Durham Station transit center, 515 W. Pettigrew St.

* Today: Open house 2-3 p.m. and 4:30-6:30 p.m., with presentations at 3-4:30 p.m. and 6:30-8:30 p.m.
* Jan. 17: Open house 12-3p.m.
* Jan. 18: Open house 7-10 a.m.

The Durham City Council will consider the proposed route changes this spring. Details are online at http://dbbs.gotriangle.org.