Off topic postings

[DanRNC]

I've missed so many good live shows at Cat's Cradle in the past couple summers:

Tortoise, Cave-In, And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, the Killers, it's insane.

Saw Tortoise last year-amazing show as always. Cave-In has a new album coming out but the tour doesn't stop in NC. May I suggest The Life and Times-I saw them Sunday night at Local 506 and they were incredible.

Life and Times

[urbanvb]

Traffic and postings seem to be on the upswing in this forum and that is a beautiful thing!

[NCMike1981]

shush you'll jinx it...

[urbanvb]

shush you'll jinx it...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[DanRNC]

There should maybe be a Triangle music subforum as it seems there may be interested parties. Any who I will use this opportunity to plug a new music club in downtown Chapel Hill called the Wetlands Dance Hall. Mike Triplett who is in a great band called Fing Fang Foom runs it (he used to book shows at the late great Go! Room 4 in Carrboro). He developed meningitis and almost died but now he is back and going strong. Check it out.

Wetlands Click "productions" for shows.

[Subway Scoundrel]

I also went to Coldplay. Great show !! DMccall. Thanks for the set list. I do wish they had played Spys and Amsterdam.....but no real complaints.......

[dmccall]

I also went to Coldplay. Great show !! DMccall. Thanks for the set list. I do wish they had played Spys and Amsterdam.....but no real complaints.......

Did you see the (high school student??) guy in the N&O's column yesterday (page 2D??) that basically said the concert was fantastic and so culturally diverse. I agree with the FIRST part!

I actually thought the crowd was laughably homogenous (but not as homogenous as the Jack Johnson concert two nights earlier. I at least I saw 25 women that night who could be made up to blow Paris Hilton off the map)

[ZachariahDaMan]

That's awesome that you guys saw Coldplay! I have started listening to them recently and some of their songs I like are Speed of Sound, Amdsterdam, Yellow and the Scientist.

[orulz]

I've been noticing more and more activity in the Triangle forum. A month ago, nobody posted after 5pm or on the weekends (the parallel to Downtown Raleigh is interesting!) but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

Glad to see things are going strong here

[willrusso]

Just a quick random question. How many of you folks in the Triangle forum are Gay or Bi?

[urbanvb]

I've been noticing more and more activity in the Triangle forum. A month ago, nobody posted after 5pm or on the weekends (the parallel to Downtown Raleigh is interesting!) but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

Glad to see things are going strong here

I was noticing the same thing. Today at one point there were 12 folks in the forum, 4-5 visitors at the time. It is great seeing new interest in this Raleigh forum. It can getting addicting as well esp as folks keep posting non-stop like this afternoon as postings were flying around about the prospective hotel in Crabtree.

[JunktionFET]

Well everyone, early this morning it seems that RDU airport has experienced its first official freeze of the 2005-2006 winter season! Cheers!

EDIT--I found this little map, it looks like we're actually on schedule

[urbanvb]

Does anyone know if the state has a plan to expand I540 to cover the south-western part of the region? Thanks.

[Damien]

Just a quick random question. How many of you folks in the Triangle forum are Gay or Bi?

Gay here. On that subject, I bet the guys at Legends will get their underpants in a bunch when the condo building on the lot with Dawson is officially announced. I know they were upset about Dawson when it began because they would be losing their precious parking lot. Personally, I think it is a good place for a new condo building. It will finally get rid of that hideous Bradshaw Realty place and add to the density of the skyline from the viewpoint of the Boylan Ave. bridge. Legends is also expanding their complex. They added a video lounge called View a while back, and now they are developing the old warehouse on the backside of their building into a gay sports bar. Insert laughter here. Somehow I don't think that will last long. They should move the main dance floor to that area of the building instead.

[willrusso]

Does anyone know if the state has a plan to expand I540 to cover the south-western part of the region? Thanks.

Yeah they do. I-540 will eventually be a whole second loop around Raleigh. It looks like the top half of the project will be finished in 2007. However, I don't know the time-frame for the lower half.

[JunktionFET]

I don't think the southern part is on the latest budget, but it may be built at some point in the future. It is supposed to cut through a neighborhood my friend lives in, and there are actually some marks painted on the street that indicate the proposed alignment. However no clearing has been done of course, but the NCDOT does already own at least a few of the homes that are in the path.

Part of the western section (I-40 near airport to NC55) is under construction. The part from there to US64 in Apex has been delayed due to funding. The eastern section (Capital Blvd to US64 in Knightdale and beyond) also appears to be under construction.

I suspect that I-540 will be about half completed in the next several years, but will remain that way for some time before the full loop is completed.

[orulz]

I don't think the southern part is on the latest budget, but it may be built at some point in the future. It is supposed to cut through a neighborhood my friend lives in, and there are actually some marks painted on the street that indicate the proposed alignment. However no clearing has been done of course, but the NCDOT does already own at least a few of the homes that are in the path.

Part of the western section (I-40 near airport to NC55) is under construction. The part from there to US64 in Apex has been delayed due to funding. The eastern section (Capital Blvd to US64 in Knightdale and beyond) also appears to be under construction.

I suspect that I-540 will be about half completed in the next several years, but will remain that way for some time before the full loop is completed.

The eastern section is only under construction from US 64 Business to the US 64 Bypass in knightdale. South of there, an alignment has not even been decided, and a construction date has not been set. The western section from I-40 to NC55 is under construction right now, and the continuation through US64, US1, back to NC55 between Holly Springs and Fuquay Varina is programmed in the TIP for construction to start in 2012.

"Glad" to see that the DOT is continuing to lay out the infrastructure for the next 20 years worth of sprawl in the triangle.

[JunktionFET]

The eastern section is only under construction from US 64 Business to the US 64 Bypass in knightdale. South of there, an alignment has not even been decided, and a construction date has not been set. The western section from I-40 to NC55 is under construction right now, and the continuation through US64, US1, back to NC55 between Holly Springs and Fuquay Varina is programmed in the TIP for construction to start in 2012.

"Glad" to see that the DOT is continuing to lay out the infrastructure for the next 20 years worth of sprawl in the triangle.

Wow, didn't know that about the eastern section. I figured the southeastern part was in the same uncertain shape as the southern part, but I would think they would jump on the piece connecting Capital to Business 64. I'm not complaining though

It looks like some interesting stuff is going to be happening at I-540 and Davis Dr. If you look east on Davis, the grading is sort of hard to read, and there is an overpass for something also being installed. I'd like to see a diagram of how that part is going to look.

[orulz]

Well, the part of 540 from US1 to US64 Business is already under construction - but that's considered the Northern Wake freeway. The Eastern Wake freeway is south of US64 Business.

RE Davis Drive @ I-540, what's happening is that they're building all the structures for the NC147 (Triangle Parkway) high speed interchange, but not building the actual road itself yet. Instead, the ramps will curve around and connect to Davis Drive across from Kit Creek Road, right where Cisco is located. This configuration will amount to a temporary interchange at Davis Drive to I-540. I'm fairly certain that there will be no direct interchange from Davis to I-540 once Triangle Parkway is built, but Triangle Parkway will have an interchange with Davis about a mile or so north of there.

Speaking of Triangle Parkway, I can't possibly imagine how it will succeed as a toll road, given its limited scope (3 miles!) and the vast array of alternatives that exist: NC55, Davis, I-540, NC54. The rush-hour congestion on these highways will be a thing of the past once the widening projects are done, so there will be almost no reason for anyone to use it. Who's going to pay a couple of bucks to skip two stoplights and save 90 seconds? riiight. If you don't have an EZ-pass, it could even take LONGER to use the toll road.

[urbanesq]

The rush-hour congestion on these highways will be a thing of the past once the widening projects are done

don't count on it. expanded capacity on any infrastructure always leads to additional users, which leads to more congestion, which leads to the addition of more capacity, which leads to more users, which leads to........

[orulz]

don't count on it. expanded capacity on any infrastructure always leads to additional users, which leads to more congestion, which leads to the addition of more capacity, which leads to more users, which leads to........

Of course, but the cycle usually takes more than a decade to complete, even in cases of explosive growth like western Wake. Triangle Parkway would be cast as a white elephant until demand caught up with supply. Until then, toll revenues might not even cover operating expenses and maintenence, much less pay off the $100 million or so it will cost to build.

[JunktionFET]

I would think that Triangle Parkway would prove to be more successful if it went a bit farther, and perhaps dumped into Cary Pkwy or something. Granted that would cost a crapload more, but it would be more functional. The part of Cary Pkwy I'm picturing isn't particularly convenient to I-40, and NC54 during rush hour is often stop-and-go.

[willrusso]

Gay here. On that subject, I bet the guys at Legends will get their underpants in a bunch when the condo building on the lot with Dawson is officially announced. I know they were upset about Dawson when it began because they would be losing their precious parking lot. Personally, I think it is a good place for a new condo building. It will finally get rid of that hideous Bradshaw Realty place and add to the density of the skyline from the viewpoint of the Boylan Ave. bridge. Legends is also expanding their complex. They added a video lounge called View a while back, and now they are developing the old warehouse on the backside of their building into a gay sports bar. Insert laughter here. Somehow I don't think that will last long. They should move the main dance floor to that area of the building instead.

... LOL. I actually utilize that parking lot myself. That buff guy that hands out the parking tickets sometimes is HOT. I guess everyone will have no choice but to park on the street once that project goes up.

[orulz]

I would think that Triangle Parkway would prove to be more successful if it went a bit farther, and perhaps dumped into Cary Pkwy or something. Granted that would cost a crapload more, but it would be more functional. The part of Cary Pkwy I'm picturing isn't particularly convenient to I-40, and NC54 during rush hour is often stop-and-go.

I think Triangle Parkway is supposed to turn into Town Hall Drive once it goes south of I-540. Town Hall Drive is a four-lane, 35mph thoroughfare in Morrisville. Town Hall Drive will turn into Crabtree Crossing Parkway, a 35mph 2-lane minor thoroughfare, once it crosses Morrisville-Carpenter road. Crabtree Crossing ends at Cary Parkway. So, in a sense, Triangle Parkway does extend into Cary Parkway - it's just designed to disperse traffic before there as crosses roads like McCrimmon Parkway, Morrisville-Carpenter Road, and Morrisville Parkway.

There is no freeway/tollway on any maps beyond McCrimmon, so that makes me think that it will never be built.

[wfdude]

Just a quick random question. How many of you folks in the Triangle forum are Gay or Bi?

I'm a Homo. Good to see that there are quite a few of us in the NC forums.