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According to the Associated Press, the legislative critters in the House and Senate ended their sessions before 11 p.m., which is frankly about four hours sooner than I figured they get done.

I've been traveling for much of the day and am in Philadelphia tonight and over the weekend for a conference. It pains me that there's a lot lurking out there to weigh in on, but that'll give us some fodder to chat about next week.

The legislature will be gone until next May, barring a special session. Basically, there are two ways a special session might come up:

• Gov. Mike Easley vetoes a bill. At that point, he's required to at least give the General Assembly the option of coming back.

• If there's some topic that hasn't been dealt with but is so important or time sensitive that it demands immediate attention.

I don't know if Easley has any vetoes on his mind. His office hasn't been making any noise one way or the other that I know about. There doesn't seem to be any substantive issue the legislature is sending that would prompt a veto, but there's always the possibility Easley finds a law to be unconstitutional or technically flawed.

However, door-number-2 could be interesting.

Earlier this week, legislators were talking about the possibility - possibility, by no means a sure thing - of doing a special session on transportation. Rep. Nelson Cole of Rockingham County was the first to mention this to me but there have been a few others.

I've also heard a few people say there's no way in Hades the legislature wants to come back or Easley wants to call them back. I can empathize.

But then, there was this bridge collapse over the Mississippi, which might give that thought more credence. Nothing gives a legislature the fever for infrastructure repair like the thought of constituents plunging 65 feet following an interstate failure - a vision reinforced by this story.

And transportation was one area that all parties agree didn't get a whole lot of attention in the budget. The demand for new roads and road repair is growing as state resources relative to the cost of carrying out those projects are shrinking.

Call the odds of a special session on the topic at 1 in 4, enhanced to that level only because of the news of the week. If the honorables do manage to stay away until May, expect road issues to be a high priority in the 2008 budget revision.

Have delightful weekend. I'll see you back here on Monday, barring the outbreak of hellacious news.