Clayton bypass traffic shift begins Sunday

They also reduced the ramp from the bypass to one lane. TV crews were all lined up on the left side of the ramp doing live shots when I went by at about 6:30.

 

idjits

 

Have i mentioned lately how much i am loving not having to commute any more, between this thread and the Driving Rant thread, i am feeling pretty blessed right now

 

:boxing: :jester:

 

Just lost my job commuting to RTP daily. I guess some good does come out of bad things...LOL! I used to cuss up a blue streak coming home on a Friday afternoon, I just KNEW traffic would start piling up long before I hit the I-40 E cut off towards Benson!

I always knew there was a 5 minute window before I hit the 40W- 70 bypass, if I hit it 5 minutes late I'd be 30 minutes late to work. To everyone commuting this way... you have my deepest sympathies!

 

after reading something like this, I'm thankful just to have traffic problems.:cry:

MEXICO CITY — Suspected drug traffickers dumped 35 bodies at rush hour beneath a busy overpass in the heart of a major Gulf coast city as gunmen pointed weapons at frightened drivers. Mexican authorities said Wednesday they are examining surveillance video for clues to who committed the crime.
http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/world/story/10161499/

 

:shock::shock:

 

This is disturbing!! People are nasty!! :cry:

 

I am sorry to hear you lost your job. Many prayers you find something soon!!
I drive to downtown Raleigh everyday and I take Cornwallis/White Oak to 70 because I don't want to deal with the 40 traffic at 7:15am. On Wed as I was on 42 crossing over 40, I saw traffic backed up almost to 42! It was insane!

 

I drive this route every day, groan. I went to work late on Wednesday to avoid the newness of the lane changes. Yesterday, I think most people chose a different route.

My opinion:

Good Ideas: reducing the lanes coming off of 70 to one lane, and reducing 40 to two lanes.

Bad Ideas: having the traffic shift to the right, and then back to the left.
No one seems to know what to do, and are changing lanes in that area. I can foresee wrecks because of it, and with only two lanes, a wreck will be a worse problem than before. I think they should close the lane on the right side of the road between the exit and entrance ramps for 70. Keep the traffic moving in a straight line. Is someone at the DOT listening? You have created another problem!

 

I agree. I see folks doing that too. I think they see the barrels as you come over the hill and they think they're gonna have to change lanes, then they realize they're in the slow lane, so they're moving back in forth! Maybe by then end of 6 wks they'll have us all 'trained', :lol:

 

I don't understand why drivers DON'T use the new right hand lane. it's not just an exit lane and the people merging onto 40 from 70 bypass have the 4 th lane to use. merging traffic should flow like a zipper, every other car comes in.

 

i don't think people around here understand proper merging or how you're supposed to get up to speed w/ the traffic flow on an interstate. I hate it when I get on at 312 and the person in front of me is just taking their sweet time....eating their breakfast, talking on their phone, going about 60 or slower :banghead: I usually try to get around them asap, but sometimes there's too much traffic in the left lane to pass them - yes, I am one of those courteous drivers who doesn't jump into the fast lane if I can't safely do it. :mrgreen:

 

Before the N v. S and E v. W battle begins, it's not just around here it's everywhere.

 

Thanks for the prayers, truly! There is so very little out there right now...

 

I don't travel this route during rush hour, but wanted to bump the thread to see what that section of 40 is like now. Is it still backing up in the same area, or is it flowing a little better?

DOT (or their contractor) screwed up Benson Rd (NC 50) at Timber Drive in the same manner, with the reroute of New Rand Rd. Now, when you're coming southbound on 50, a new lane appears on the left after you cross the new intersection with New Rand Rd. After a crazy sharp shift to the right, the right lane (which used to be a right-turn-only lane at Timber) goes past Timber but ends at the day care on the right. So of course, everything backs up because all the through-traffic STARTED in the right lane.

And then when you add the jerks to the right lane, that purposely try to get around as many cars as possible, the left lane gets very backed up during rush hour.

If that didn't make sense, let me summarize: "DOT screwed up this one, too".

 

I don't know about 50 / Timber Drive - I hope this will get better for you when they finish the Timber Drive connector- but against all odds 70 bypass W to 40W actually seem to be better than before the test began.

There's a backup from the bypass that didn't happen before but the transition onto 40W is smoother. 40W is overloaded anyway, so it's not a question of "bad" and "good" as much as it is a distinction between "sucks" and "sucks slightly less".

I hit it between six thirty and seven thirty depending on when I roll my sorry carcass out of bed.

 

It was backed up to HWY42 at a crawl at 715 this am. No better, if you ask me.
But I didn't see as many people switching lanes today, I guess they have it figured out.

 

This didn't have anything to do with the new traffic patterns though, there were two accidents on that stretch from 42 down toward the beltline that caused the traffic headache this a.m.

 

That post was from yesterday. Today my 25 minute commute when driving the speed limit took 75 minutes. What a mess!