Gribblenation

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Joe and I took a brief six hour trip into Southside Virginia. The Route: US 64, I-95, NC/VA 46, US 1, VA 40, US 301, NC 48, I-95, US 64. Photo set on flickr - right here . You know it's going to be a good trip when the first photo of the day is of an increasingly rare Interstate 95 North Carolina shield. Funny thing is, this was the only photo I took in North Carolina on this trip. About an hour later, we found ourselves in Lawrenceville, Virginia and decided to take a walk around. Lawrenceville is the Brunswick County Seat, and the courthouse - named after Albertis S. Harrison, Jr. - is rather impressive. Like many small rural towns, there were more abandoned storefronts than open.  An old Star Value Grocery Store only sees use as a Haunted House in the fall, with the exception of the two newspaper boxes in front of the store. The open grocery store in town is something you don't see every day, Red & White. We stay...

Editors Note: I apologize for going off-topic here, I intend to do a personal "world through my eyes" type blog but haven't yet.  So I'm posting it here! With Rod Brind'Amour's jersey retirement tomorrow night - I found this note I wrote during the 2009 Playoffs on how in 30 days in the Spring of 2001 I became a Hurricanes fan.  Rod Brind'Amour may have scored some of the most important goals in team history and one of those goals in an important late regular season game the night before my 24th birthday started it all. March 23, 2001 – April 22, 2001. 30 days. That’s all it took. It began with a drive up from Charlotte for a Friday Night game against the Pens – the reason I bought the seven game stretch drive plan in the first place – and ended on a Sunday afternoon playoff game against New Jersey. Those 30 days were when and how I switched my allegiances from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Carolina Hurricanes. It wasn’t easy. ...

After years of delays, funding shortfalls, and contractor disputes, Charlotte commuters have received more good news when it comes to Interstate 485.  The much needed widening of six miles of highway in the Pineville/Ballantyne area in Southern Mecklenburg County will begin in June 2012 vs. the planned start date of October 2013.  The widening will increase I-485 from four to six lanes from Interstate 77 (Exit 67) east to Johnston Road (Exit 61). The project has an estimated cost o $77 million.  It will add a new travel lane in each direction - these lanes will be built within the median.  In addition, improvements to the Johnston Road interchange will be part of the project.  A flyover ramp will be constructed connecting Northbound traffic to the "Inner" Westbound lanes of Interstate 485.  The project should be completed by the fall of 2015. Story Links: Relief in sight for drivers on I-485 near Pineville ---WSOC-TV

North Carolina's plan to widen Interstate 95 to six lanes may result in closing interchanges, and of course tolls.  The toll idea isn't really new - though a recent news story on WRAL-TV in Raleigh would lead you to believe that. But one of the newest developments to the plan is that the widening may result in the removal of some interchanges specifically those in Harnett and Johnston Counties.  According to the WRAL story, Exit 72 (Pope Road) is one of the interchanges that may be removed. If you are familiar with Interstate 95 in North Carolina, you know that the 38 or so miles of I-95 in Harnett and Johnston Counties is home to maybe the most obsolete and crowded stretches of the Interstate.  19 exits and a rest area are along the stretch of four lane interstate.  Resulting in an average of an interchange every 1.9 miles.  Throw in low overpasses, narrow medians, bridges without shoulders, interchange ramps that double as a rural road/surface street, and...

On Thursday, February 3rd, I had the day off and decided to take a drive east of Raleigh to do some roadgeeking.  I picked up a number of crossroads, walked around a few Eastern NC smalltowns, and gained plenty of new mileage. As always, you can view the entire set on flickr . The route was.  US 64, BUS US 64, NC 97, NC 122, NC 125, NC 11, US 70, US 258, NC 222, US 264, US 64. Of course if you're driving on NC 97 in Wake County, you have to go through Lizard Lick. I had to divert off of NC 97 in Zebulon to get gas - and I came across this signal where NC 96 meets US 64/264. This is a three lens signal with flashing yellow.  Most of the flashing yellow signals in North Carolina have four lens, with the bottom lens being a green arrow.  Not seeing this before, I asked NCDOT what the deal was.  Well, in select instances the state uses this type of signal.  The signal is also allowed per the MUTCD Section 4D.18, para. 3 which allows such when the...