News-Record.com

From the city's transportation department:

... The City of Greensboro announces the closure of travel lanes at the intersection of West Market Street and Greene Street. The temporary lane changes are required in order to install storm sewers associated with the Greene Street Improvement Project. The closures will begin at 6 a.m. Monday, October 31 and will remain in place for approximately three weeks. During this time West Market Street and Greene Street will be reduced to two lanes throughout the intersection. In addition:

Motorists are advised to use caution, slow down when approaching the work area and expect traffic delays.

Soon you'll be able to drive AND surf the Internet. Thanks, Ford! Yet another distraction for already lousy drivers.

From the North Carolina Department of Transporation:

Thornwood Drive will be closed at its intersection with Guilford College Road beginning Thursday, November 3, 2005 at approximately 9:00 a.m. and is scheduled to reopen on Monday, November 14, 2005 at approximately 4:00 p.m.

Motorists should use caution and expect delays when approaching this area. Note: Weather conditions may impact time of closure.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation will be restricting Rankin Mill Road to one lane on the bridge over North Buffalo Creek Tuesday. Edit:It's been changed to Wednesday.

It should be closed from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. so construction crews can prepare to shift traffic onto the new bridge.

New technologies are showing promise for detecting explosives in airports. Think Richard Reid (shoe bomber) and, in a sense, the London bombers.

Let the finger-pointing begin.

State transportation officials say a California highway contrator is responsible for a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 40 in need of repair in Durham County. Remember, this is the same stretch that was re-opened last year following a lengthy expansion project.

Granite Construction Co. blames poor communication on the part of the Department of Transportation for bad concrete poured along the highway near the N.C. 55 interchange.

Someone's going to be out millions of dollars once this is over with. Why do I think it'll be the taxpayers...

Well... this is certainly one way to gurantee the Urban Loop will never be completed. I'm sure George Tatum is thrilled that GOP congressmen -- from North Carolina, mind you -- are holding his agency hostage.

It's about time.

PART is looking for a downtown transportation terminal in Winston-Salem that would serve inter-city travel. (Read: Buses and Trains).

There's a 1926 one that looks like it would do fine. The only problem, it's privately owned and houses Davis Garage. The owner has entertained the idea of selling it to the city in the past, but at the moment doesn't seem so inclined, PART Executive Director Brent McKinney told the PART board Wednesday morning.

That's were two ugly words come into play: eminent domain.

We here in the Triad drive 20 million miles a day.

If you assume an average consumption of 20 miles a gallon, that equals 1 million gallons of gasoline used every day in the Triad.

That means we need 55,000 barrels of crude oil refined, daily.

And we're expected to hit 37 million miles a day of driving in 2025.

Those numbers are courtesy of former Winston-Salem planning director Jim Yarbrough who made a presentation to the PART Board of Directors Wednesday on World Oil Consumption. The gist of the overall report was that consumption is going up rapidly, but we're not sure when demand is going to outstrip production. Oh yeah, and using public transit helps cut demand.

Gasoline price gouging? Who? Us?

I have a few suggestions where these guys can stick their 75% profits.

... for a few extra days. Well, four to be exact.

N.C. DOT closed it on Nov. 3 as part of its Guilford College Road widening project. It was supposed to reopen Monday, but now the DOT is saying it will be closed until Friday, Nov. 18.

From the Greensboro Department of Transportation:

The City of Greensboro Department of Transportation (GDOT) announces the immediate closing of vehicle lanes on Wendover Avenue westbound between Norwalk Street and I-40. Two of the right lanes will be blocked off for utility work by Ansco & Associates. The closings will remain in place between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily, with the roadway returning to normal operation on Thursday, November 17 at 4p.m. Motorists are advised to use caution and slow down when approaching the work area.

From the Greensboro Department of Transportation:

The City of Greensboro Department of Transportation (GDOT) announces the temporary closing of February One Place between Greene Street and Elm Street. Bell South is pulling fiber optic cable from a manhole located near Elm Street on February One Place. The closings will remain in place between the hours of 9am and 4pm beginning Wednesday, (November) 16 until Thursday, (November) 17. The parking deck on February One Place will maintain access during this closure. Motorists are advised to use caution, follow posted detour routes and slow down when approaching the work area.

Talk about a lousy time to have your flight canceled. Here's my question: do these folks still get their frequent flyer miles?

The right lane of I-40 Westbound at Stratford Road and the on ramp from Stratford Road to I-40 West will be closed beginning at approximately 9 a.m. Thursday until approximately 3 p.m.
Crews will be repairing a washout that has occurred on the shoulder of I-40 West.

Continental chose the wrong guy to bump last year from a Christmas flight out of New Jersey. When the airline told Thatcher A. Stone - an aviation lawyer, no less - to take a hike and that they were keeping his luggage on the plane, well, you can probably guess what happened next.

But you know what impresses me about Stone? He didn't sue for an obscene amount of money, nor did he try milking the airline on behalf of his daughter, who was traveling with him and surely "suffered" much of the same inconvenience.

The fun fact of the week arrives at the end of the Associated Press story: In her 13-page decision, (the judge) cited a 2004 law review article and analysis stating that since 1990, an average of 900,000 domestic passengers a year are bumped. The U.S. Department of Transportation says 96% of those passengers accept the airlines' compensation offers, leaving about 36,000 bumped passengers who may be entitled to sue.

Almost nothing aggravates this airline traveler more than people who try to jam their suitcase into an overhead compartment no bigger than my paycheck. I can now take comfort knowing airlines have noticed the same thing - and they're starting to crack the whip.

Hat tip to Al Tompkins over at "Al's Morning Meeting," a good read for anyone looking for a daily digest of interesting stories around the country.

The UNC Highway Safety Research Center and the community of Hendersonville are partnering to develop "safer and more inviting walking environments for older adults." Their hope is to create a model program for duplication elsewhere in the state.

Hey, I'm all for pedestrian safety, but I'm not following their logic. How is it more unsafe for older pedestrians than it is for younger whippersnappers like me? Is it because I can jump out of a crosswalk faster than a 90-year-old with a cane?

Older pedestrians involved in a crash are much more likely than younger pedestrians to suffer serious or fatal injury, due in part to the increased fragility that often comes with age. In fact, pedestrians ages 75 and older have a higher per population fatality rate than any other age group, according to a 2004 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Um, no kidding.

This woman gives new meaning to that '80s catch phrase "Baby on Board." If I were the cop, I'd have laughed and let her off. (Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan)

... it's probably a good idea not to pull over a real cop.

I've never understood what motivates people to do that, but it seems to happen a few times a year in just about every state. A kid I went to high school with did the exact same thing a few years back.

The kicker is at the end of the story. Not only was the guy using emergency lights without being a cop, he'd had a few drinks before hitting the road. I think it's fair to say that he's not too bright.

I posted this in the North High Point blog but forgot to mention it over here. Sorry about that.

NCDOT is ready to raise the speed limit on U.S. 311 Bypass. It's only going to go up to 60 mph, but it's still an improvement.

The road was only designed for 60 mph travel, so the DOT won't go any higher.