News-Record.com

In order for construction crews to install girders for the bridges on the Western Urban Loop, Bryan Boulevard between Fleming Road and Inman Road will have lane and road closures in accordance with the following schedule:

10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday
- Eastbound Bryan Boulevard will be closed. The signed detour route will be left onto Inman Road, right onto Fleming Road and left back onto Bryan Boulevard.

- Westbound Bryan Boulevard will be closed. The signed detour route will be left onto Fleming Road, right onto Old Oak Ridge Road, right onto Inman Road, and right back onto Bryan Boulevard.

All lanes of Bryan Boulevard will be open to traffic by 6 AM each morning.

10 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday- Eastbound Bryan Boulevard will be closed. The signed detour route will be the same as above, which is left onto Inman Road, right onto Fleming Road and left back onto Bryan Boulevard.

- Westbound Bryan Boulevard will be closed. The signed detour route will be the same as above, which is left onto Fleming Road, right onto Old Oak Ridge Road, right onto Inman Road, and right back onto Bryan Boulevard.

The expected closure of a section of Bryan Boulevard will be delayed until Sunday due to rain.

A portion of the road between Fleming and Inman roads will now be closed between 8 p.m. Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday because of construction on the Urban Loop.

Crews will work on the support structures for bridges that will take the loop over Bryan Boulevard.

Drivers on eastbound Bryan Boulevard will be detoured left onto Inman Road, right onto Fleming Road and left back onto Bryan Boulevard. On westbound Bryan Boulevard, drivers will be detoured left onto Fleming Road, right onto Old Oak Ridge Road, right onto Inman Road and right back onto Bryan Boulevard.

The city of Greensboro is holding a series of public workshops to receive input from residents to create a master plan for bicycles, pedestrian and greenways.

The meetings will allow residents to share their opinions and ideas
to improve the safety and convenience of bicycling and walking, as forms of transportation, recreation, and fitness, throughout the Greensboro area.

The public workshops will be held from 5:30 pm to 7:30 p.m. on:
- Wednesday, Trotter Recreation Center, 3906 Betula St., Greensboro
- Thursday, Barber Park, Indoor Pavilion, 1500 Dan's Road, Greensboro
- Oct. 19, Summerfield Elementary School, multi-purpose room, 7515 Trainer Drive, Summerfield
- Oct. 20, Lawndale Baptist Church, Fellowship Hall, 3505 Lawndale Drive, Greensboro MapLink: http://tinyurl.com/9kcbq

For more information, or to complete our brief opinion survey, click here.

N.C. 68 south of Alcorn Road will be closed beginning from 5 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday.

The road is closed so N.C. Department of Transportation crews can perform emergency repairs on a culvert in this area.

Motorists should follow the signed detour route utilizing Alcorn Road and Peoples Drive to return to N.C. 68.

Alamance Church Road will be closed between Kimesville Road and Linebery Road beginning at approximately 7 a.m. Monday and is scheduled to reopen on Nov. 21 at approximately 4 p.m.This closure is due to replacing the existing bridge with a pipe.

Traffic will be detoured using Kimesville Road to Coble Church Road to Beulah Church Road back to Alamance Church Road.

Webb Avenue near Glen Raven will be closed from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, at the railroad overpass between Lakeview Avenue and Flora Avenue so that railroad crews can replace ballast on the bridge.

Webb Avenue traffic will be detoured using Glen Raven Road to Durham Street Extension to Flora Avenue back to Webb Avenue.

Lakeview Avenue will be closed at its railroad crossing just north of Webb Avenue from 9 a.m. Monday through 5 p.m. Wednesday so that railroad crews can upgrade the crossing and replace the ties.

Lakeview Avenue traffic will be detoured using Glen Raven Road to Park Avenue.

OAK RIDGE – Work crews hope to reopen a closed section of N.C. 68 by mid afternoon at the latest after a sinkhole forced traffic to be detoured overnight.
The section south Alcorn Road was briefly reopened early Wednesday for rush hour traffic, said Lane Hall with the state transportation department. Crews closed it again about 9 a.m. to make a final asphalt repair.
Hall said the road may be reopened even earlier than mid afternoon.
“They were hoping about noon,” he said. “It should be very soon.”

It seems Tennessee is one of the most lax states in the nation when it comes to getting your vehicle registered, and migrant workers on Virginia's Eastern Shore are making the most of its laws.

Our sister paper, the Virginian-Pilot, published a story on a disturbing trend arising from the Delmarva Peninsula. I post it here because the reporter appears to have contacted Greensboro/Winston-Salem law enforcement, only to learn the trend is NOT showing up on Triad roads.

But it's something for me (a police reporter) to keep an eye on... especially as migrant workers find the Piedmont a good place to earn cash in the tobacco fields, as my colleague Marta Hummel has reported.

OAK RIDGE — Work crews reopened a section of N.C. 68 on Wednesday afternoon near Oak Ridge after repairs to a sink hole discovered under the asphalt one day earlier.
State transportation officials allowed traffic through starting around 3:45 p.m. With the exception of morning rush hour, crews had detoured traffic for almost 24 hours to address conditions discovered Tuesday.
“It was a very serious condition, and we’re glad we found it before anything happened,” said Lane Hall with the North Carolina Department of Transportation. “The road could have caved in. … I don’t know how close it was to doing that.”
Pavement striping must still be applied to the 80-foot section of affected road. Hall said striping should be made in the coming days.

... in Davidson County.

The right lane on I-85 Business from U.S. 64 to N.C. 8 will be closed Monday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. so that work crews can put in sign posts.

All westbound Bryan Boulevard lanes will be closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday night and Tuesday night between Fleming Road and Inman Road. Sorry, I forgot to put the direction in when I first posted this -- Jonathan.

There will be a detour onto Fleming Road, Inman Road and back onto Bryan Boulevard.

The closure is expected to cause delays. Work crews will be putting in bridge girders as part of the Western Urban Loop construction.

Lemons Road will be closed between Lauren Road and Albert Road on beginning at approximately 9 a.m. Tuesday and will remain closed for approximately two weeks. This closure is necessary so that crews can perform bridge work.

Traffic will be detoured around this area using Gideon Grove Church Road to Simpson Road to US 220 and in the reverse direction.

It's sometimes hard to see what's down the road ahead of you.

But the N.C. Department of Transportation knows it has a major road block ahead. It's one that will cost billions of dollars to move.

Facing a major gap between anticipated needs and expected revenues, N.C. DOT has established N.C. Thinking Ahead!, a group looking at the state’s future transportation needs.

The state estimates it has $16 billion in unfunded projects through 2015 and a total of $34 billion through 2025.

Who gets paid over in the Melvin Municipal Building to come up with this stuff? A "Rail-ebration" for the grand opening of the downtown Depot? C'mon, guys. Surely you're more creative than that.

And don't get me wrong... I like trains as much as the next guy. Nothing excites me more than being ripped off by a government-subsidized rail service with a safety record that rivals the RMS Titanic. (See here, here, and here.) Ah, at least there will be music and model railroads. THOSE should be cool.

Have you been to the renovated J.Douglas Galyon Depot downtown yet?
GDOT wants you to come this weekend. It's hosting a "Rail-ebration" to celebrate the reopening of the depot and the return of Amtrak to downtown.

What: Depot openhouse with entertainment, music, kids activities, model railroads and giveaways.
Where: J. Douglas Galyon Depot, 236 East Washington St., Greensboro
When: 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday

From the Greensboro Department of Transportation:

GREENSBORO – Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2005 – The City of Greensboro announces the closure of McConnell Road between Dunbar Street and Willow Road effective immediately. The closing is necessary as Triangle Grading and Paving works to install sanitary sewer and water laterals. A signed detour route will take motorists along McConnell to English Street, Lee Street, Lincoln/Gillespie Street and back to McConnell. Drivers are asked to follow the signed route and use caution when driving in the area.

The right lane of Northbound Business I-85 will be closed from US 64 to NC 8 beginning at approximately 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday.
Crews will be erecting a ground mounted sign.

Hickory Grove Road and Old Guilford College Road will be closed permanently beginning at approximately 9 a.m. Friday. These closures are necessary for the construction of the Greensboro Outer Loop Project.

Ruffin Road will be closed at the intersection of Bridford Parkway beginning at approximately 9 a.m. Friday and will remain closed until approximately 5 p.m. April 1, 2006. This closure is necessary for the construction of the Greensboro Outer Loop Project.

ExxonMobil profits soared 75% in the third quarter. Eric's wallet emptied at the same rate for the same period. The kicker:

In a statement, Exxon CEO Lee Raymond defended his company. "We acted responsibly in pricing at our company-operated service stations, and we also encouraged our independent retailers and distributors to do the same," he said.

Screw you, Lee.

The Los Angeles Times (sub. req.) recounts an experience not unlike a scene from the Hollywood flick "Crash," where cops this month skirted death as they rescued a motorist trapped in a burning car.

A ho-hum story, to be sure... But the list of tips at the end bear repeating. Fast Forward may do a similar story for our print edition in the coming weeks.

Experts offer these safety tips if a vehicle fire occurs:
• Pull over and put the vehicle in park.
• Turn off the ignition as soon as possible.
• Do not open the hood; more oxygen can make the fire larger and expose you to a sudden flare-up.
• Make sure everyone moves at least 100 feet away. Do not waste time getting belongings out of the vehicle.

- Los Angeles Times

And while we're reading the L.A. Times, here's another example of auto manufacturers looking to scam the little guy. Well, maybe not BMW, since their models fall outside the reach of the little guy... But how much longer until the Big Three employ similar tactics?

All the more reason to drive safely.

Give NHTSA credit for trying. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is frazzled because Halloween falls the day after we set our clocks back one hour. From the agency's Web site:

In fact, studies have shown a clear relationship between an increase in fatigue, traffic crashes and the loss of an hour of sleep.

No doubt this is true. But the feds should be more concerned with keeping the Easter Bunny safe in April, when we push our clocks FORWARD and lose sleep... not protecting the Great Pumpkin in October, after that extra hour gives me more energy.

In an unrelated note - as I searched for a photo of the Easter Bunny, this story made me spew Diet Pepsi out my nose.

Drivers should expect some changes on eastbound Interstate 40 in Greensboro this week as part of the Urban Loop construction.

Here's what you can expect:

Wednesday morning: At 9 a.m. the right lane will close between the Boulder Road bridge and Guilford College Road intersection so that barriers can be removed, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The lane should re-open in the afternoon.

Wednesday night: From 8 p.m. until 6 a.m., the right and center lanes between the N.C. 68 and Guilford College Road interchanges will be closed so crews can prepare for a permanent traffic shift.

Thursday morning: At 6 a.m. all three lanes of eastbound I-40 will be open but will be permanently shifted so that the interchange between the new highway and I-40 can be built.

Drivers should expect delays in the area, according to the DOT.