View I-40 widening / Beltline renaming in a larger map
For better or worse, NCDOT says it has finished removing all the "Inner" (clockwise) and "Outer" (counterclockwise) signs from Raleigh's Beltline.
New signs tell you instead that you're either on ... [MORE]
View I-440 / southern Beltline work in a larger map
Resurfacing work at the southeast corner of Raleigh's I-440 Beltline will close three out of four lanes tonight for Inner Beltline traffic between US 64 and I-40.
Also, the on and off ramps between Poole Road and the Inner Beltline / I-440 East will be closed.
The closures are scheduled from 9 p.m. tonight (Sunday) to 5 a.m. Monday. Detours will be marked.
That means slow going for drivers heading in the clockwise direction. It's marked as eastbound I-440, but cars traveling this part of the loop actually are pointing to the southwest.
View I-440 / southern Beltline work in a larger map
Resurfacing work at the southeast corner of Raleigh's I-440 Beltline will close three out of four lanes this weekend for Outer Beltline traffic between I-40 (Exit 300) and Poole Road (Exit 15), DOT said today.
That means slow going for drivers heading in the counter-clockwise direction. It's marked as westbound I-440, but cars traveling this part of the loop actually are pointing to the northeast.
The lanes will be closed between 9 p.m. tonight and 5 a.m. Monday. Also, the Outer Beltline on-ramp from westbound I-40 will close intermittently during the weekend.
View Beltline @ Crabtree Creek in a larger map
Readers have raised questions about DOT’s $50,000 plan to put a second safety fence on a pair of I-440 Beltline bridges over Crabtree Creek, where two people have fallen through a narrow gap to their deaths since 2005. (See Dec. 4 story and Dec. 8 letters from 1, 2, 3 readers.)
1) Why will it cost so much to erect a simple chain link fence along the bridge railing?
2) Rather than a vertical fence to prevent people from jumping or falling off the bridge, why not a horizontal net to catch them?
Terry Gibson, the state highway administrator, paused outside a legislative meeting room today to answer those questions.
1) COST. ... [MORE]
View Beltline @ Crabtree Creek in a larger map
Citing the Nov. 27 death of a man who fell through a gap between two bridges after stopping to aid drivers in an accident on Raleigh's I-440 Outer Beltline, state Transportation Secretary Gene Conti said today that DOT will add a protective fence to the bridge.
"We regret that this terrible accident occurred, and we’ll do whatever we can to prevent another such tragedy, here or anywhere else across the state,” Conti said in a speech to the Crabtree Rotary Club. ... [MORE]
I'm reminded lately by news stories and by e-mail from readers that major highways around Raleigh -- including I-40, the Beltline, the 540 Outer Loop -- are disturbingly dark at night.
If you could rank cities by an index of streetlights per freeway mile, I bet you'd find Raleigh down near the dark bottom of the list.
And some of our Triangle neighbors, too. Drive I-40 from Raleigh to Chapel Hill at night, and you'll find only two islands of illumination around the interchanges at Fayetteville Road and N.C. 55.
It will be interesting to find out whether the absence of street lights on the Beltline contributed to the death Nov. 27 of Lee Eames, who fell from the bridge over Crabtree Creek after he stopped to help victims of an accident.
Good lights -- like those installed on I-85 in Durham when it was rebuilt a couple of years ago -- might have made it easier for oncoming drivers to see the wrecked cars, and to avoid swerving in Eames' direction. ... [MORE]
View Beltline @ Crabtree Creek in a larger map
While investigators study the weekend death of a Willow Spring man who fell through a gap between bridges on Raleigh’s Interstate 440 Beltline, state Department of Transportation officials have launched a wide-ranging study to figure out how to prevent similar deaths on 17,000 state-maintained bridges across North Carolina.
“We’re trying to determine the magnitude of this problem, not just with this bridge but statewide,” Terry Gibson, the state highway administrator, said today. “I’ve got our folks across the state ... studying every bridge in the state that has a gap like this.”
Carroll Lee Eames Jr. of Willow Spring had stopped his car on the Outer Beltline Friday night to help victims of a three-car accident on the bridge over Crabtree Creek, between Six Forks Road and Glenwood Avenue.
A Raleigh police report said the three cars were in the second lane from the inside median, which includes a breakdown lane on the median shoulder. Eames was in danger of being struck by oncoming cars that swerved to avoid the disabled cars, and he jumped over a low concrete barrier on the inside of the breakdown lane. ...
View I-40 / southern Beltline work in a larger map
Repaving work on Raleigh's southern Beltline this weekend will close lanes and send some drivers on a detour.
The state Department of Transportation will close the exit ramp from westbound Interstate 40 to the eastbound I-440 Outer Beltline from 9 p.m. tonight to 5 a.m. Monday.
A marked detour will send drivers west to the Rock Quarry Road exit, where they will be directed to loop back onto the eastbound lanes of the Outer Beltline.
Also this weekend, the Outer Beltline will be reduced to one lane from Rock Quarry to Poole Road.
A separate paving project on thenorthern Beltline will close some lanes on Sunday between Wade Avenue and Wake Forest Road, so road crews can apply permanent stripes to the pavement. The work will affect traffic between 9 a.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday.
DOT will close one lane in each direction on the I-440 Beltline this Sunday so a road contractor can put down stripes on new pavement.
That'll be welcome news for drivers who had a hard time seeing the temporary stripes. Several folks have complained to the Road Worrier. A couple of weeks ago, Trudy Kappel asked:
Do you know if the lines painted on the newly repaved section of I440 are the final work? They vanish on a dark rainy night.
Sunday's striping work will take place between Wade Avenue and Wake Forest Road, and between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Sure, those Inner / Outer Beltline markers make sense if you’re looking down at a Raleigh map – or perhaps flying high over the city in Sky 5.
From that vantage point, you get the picture: Inner Beltline runs clockwise around Raleigh, and Outer Beltline runs counter-clockwise. Many drivers like it this way.
But in the thick of traffic, a lot of us have a hard time knowing which way to turn. (Question: Will Inner take you toward Glenwood Ave. -- or toward New Bern Ave.? Answer: Where are you now?)
So after about 20 years of high-level hand-wringing, NCDOT has launched a project to get rid of those Innie and Outie signs. The work is part of a bigger job that also will widen I-40 in West Raleigh.
Is this a good idea? Let me know what you think of the new map, which will divide our inner loop between East / West I-40 (southern section) and East / West I-440 (the rest of it).
Please e-mail me or leave a message at 919-829-4527. Don't forget to include your name and your workday contact info.
