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as much as i want a fixed road, it should have be done correctly in the first place. That aside, the next 13 months assuming they are on-time, will not be fun. I drive home on 40 for about 5 miles and sometimes will need to use it during the contruction hours. Since i just moved to the triangle area i am not familiar with detours or other roads and even at 10pm on a saturday there are plenty of cars on 40. I am hoping this is a well planned contruction project and it goes smoothly. I'll post more once it gets started so that we can compare routes and stories. might as well help each other out during the next 13 months.

DOT won't do any nighttime asphalt work if the overnight temperatures fall much below 50 degrees, and the forecast calls for a low of 38 on Monday, when the work is supposed to begin. So they might delay the start for a night or two until things warm up. More I-40 news, including a preliminary schedule and other details, are at my Crosstown Traffic blog.

Meanwhile, welcome to the Triangle and I-40, josh79b. 

I noticed today on 40 west there are already signs out that mark the construction sites.  Most of the signs are posted around the Durham freeway exit, exit 276 and 278.  I, myself plan on avoiding I-40 by exiting off onto Davis Drive and coming into the Southpointe area on NC 54.  Hope this helps anyone who has to travel from Raleigh to the Southpointe area daily. 

 Lenai Butterfield

Having suffered through the original years of the I-40 construction project (I live at exit 278 and work at exit 273B), I am really not looking forward to this repair project--and those feelings are compounded by some frustration as a taxpayer because I feel certain that the cost some of this re-work will take funding out of projects that are really needed.  That being said, I will be keeping an eye on things in my little corner of the I-40 situation and posting if I think I can help.  I do know some shortcuts and detour routes other than 54, which can become as big a mess as I-40 (think two lane road, rain, accident....)  Just having this resource at the N&O is a big improvement over the last time we dealt with this mess!

 I'm a Maryland Terrapin down here in enemy territory--by the way.

That's the message I saw, driving north toward Hillsborough on I-85 and I-40,  Tuesday night while I-40 repairs were under way near the US 15-501 interchange in Durham. Actually it was the last of four flashing electronic messages that started four miles back at Efland.

DOT is enticing truckers and other through travelers to bypass the I-40 repairs by taking I-85 north to Durham, then the NC 147 Durham Freeway south to I-40 at RTP. (Here's a map you can print out, with instructions.)

It worked Tuesday night -- construction traffic was light, and there were no delays. I think the first test of DOT and Lane Construction Corp.'s ability to limit I-40 backups will come the first time they close it down to a single lane for an entire weekend at a time. That is scheduled for Friday evening, April 20.

Are they going to leave the speed limit at 55 construction zone during the day when no work is taking place?  That is a horribly dangerous situation because some people (including my wife) do obey that, but most will resume normal 75-80 mph.

This is when it gets messy for a lot of people. This is when the rest of us want to hear from you.

All day Saturday and all day Sunday, not to mention Fri-Sat-Sunday nights, eastbound I-40 gets squeezed into a one-lane tube of slow-oozing toothpaste. Repair work is planned in the Durham area, roughly from US 15-501 to NC 751. From 8pm Friday Apr 27 thru 6am Monday Apr 30.

Check your plans, check your map, check the alternate routes (I85/NC147 or US 15-501/NC 147 -- or your personal favorite shortcut). Check I-40 Worrier, and sign up for email alerts.

Most of all, let me know how this mess affects your weekend. I'll be out there reporting on this Saturday (on the 7th day I plan to rest). Pls post to this forum, or email me, or call me (812-8506).

I wasn't out there on I-40 near Fayetteville Road and NC 751, but on our I-40 Worrier site you could see the jams in DOT's webcams, and you could read DOT's congestion update report:

Currently, there is a three mile, 1 hour delay due to the I-40 Construction Project near Durham. (posted 11:16pm 5/11/7)

That means they were backed up all the way to NC 54 at least. Were you out there? What did you do? I bet a lot of people tried to bail out onto NC 54 -- and I bet it wasn't any better. 

What's wrong with taking I-85 to the Durham Freeway and vice versa? WTVD drove both routes and the I-85/Durham Freeway route is about 2 miles longer than staying on I-40, and there's no construction on it. It seems to me if you're travelling from RTP to Hillsborough that's the way to go.