Today the Triangle has crossed the $4 barrier.
Based on purchases reported by thousands of stations across the country, AAA says the local average price of regular has reached a record high of $4.007.
That’s a bit better than the nationwide average, $4.078.
Can you avoid paying $4? Sure, but maybe not for much longer.

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Senate leaders agree, in their proposed budget released today, with House plans to provide turnpike "gap" money that would allow construction to start this fall on the planned 18-mile Triangle Expressway.
The Senate goes farther than the House in future years to provide gap funds for three other toll projects.
The N.C. Turnpike Authority asked for the appropriations to cover expected gaps between toll collections and the cost of building and operating the turnpikes.
The Senate budget agrees with the House proposal to give the Turnpike Authority $25 million a year starting in fiscal year 2008-09 as seed money for the Triangle Expressway toll project.
Both chambers agreed to add $24 million a year starting in FY 2009-2010 for the Monroe Connector / Bypass project in Union County. The Senate goes further by adding $15 million a year to help start the Mid-Currituck Bridge in Currituck County — for a combined $64 million a year.
The turnpike money would come available as the legislature phases out a yearly transfer of $172 million from the Highway Trust Fund to the General Fund, where it has been spent in past years for non-transportation needs.
The turnpike funding requires statutory changes separate from the biennial budget. Looking farther into the future, the Senate proposes another change in the turnpike law to add $35 million a year, starting in 2010-11, for the Garden Parkway in Gaston and Mecklenburg counties.

On Tuesday afternoon, the News & Observer blogs will be moving to a new system and a new server. This change will make getting to our blogs quicker and easier. Most of the blogs will change their appearance, while blogs like Taking Stock and Under the Dome will remain the same.

This change requires nothing from the reader. There will be a link to the older posts, and you won't need to change your bookmarks. If you have trouble finding your favorite blog or you have a comment, please email feedback@newsobserver.com.

— Rachel Carter

This week, as the price of Triangle gas hovers just one-tenth of a penny below $4 a gallon, it might be nice to find a friendly, convenient carpool. A few folks who could take turns driving to work each day, save a little money, share the stress of traffic, get to know each other.
And if you've tried carpooling recently, how's it going for you? I'd like to hear from you for a News & Observer story.
More people seem to be testing the carpool waters these days.

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In the paper today with this story on relaxed safety limits for long trucks, wide boats and some big farm trucks and machines, we didn't have room for some of the many changes in this far-reaching legislation.
Without debate, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved SB 1695 Thursday.
Next week, it goes to the Senate floor.
Here are some details:

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The NCSU Institute for Transportation Research and Education, working with state troopers and DOT engineers, took a long and scary look this spring at the hazards posed by 53-foot-long trucks on curvy mountain roads.
ITRE also gathered updated numbers on crashes involving boat trailers.
The website for ITRE's Commercial Vehicles and Safety Program includes reports on long trucks and wide boats.
The ITRE info illuminates the legislature's debate ("Panel OKs longer trucks") on SB 1695 to relax safety restrictions on long trucks and wide boats.

State Sen. David Hoyle ribbed state Sen. Clark Jenkins at today’s meeting of the Senate Finance Committee, waving a cartoon by the News & Observer’s Dwane Powell that lampooned legislation close to Jenkins’ heart.
But Jenkins got the last laugh.

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I hear from some folks who are amazed at how many drivers they still see with foot to the floor, driving well over the speed limit and burning a lot more of that precious $3.988 gas than they would if they slowed down.
Other commuters sense a change out there: People seem to be driving more sensibly these days.
What does it look like from behind your steering wheel?

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Channel 5 reports that inbound I-40 was a bit trafficacious this morning for Triangle commuters who have the bad luck to live in Johnston County and points east.
So?
Slow traffic is newsy because today's bottleneck was in the vicinity of the new US 70 Clayton Bypass, which opened for business yesterday.
The question:
Was this just another dreary I-40 day -- better than some mornings, worse than others -- or did the new bypass make it worse?
My tentative answer (click Comment to supply yours):
There probably wasn't enough traffic on the new bypass to make a difference on I-40 this morning. But once U.S. 70 commuters start making the switch in droves, other I-40 commuters are expected to suffer.

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It's the triple-dashed line shown here on the state highway map.
The 10.7-mile, four-lane Clayton Bypass will loop beachgoers and Triangle commuters south around Clayton, avoiding a 12.5-mile stretch of U.S. 70 lined with stoplights that quickly gets clogged as it crawls through town.
The Clayton Bypass opens at 10 a.m. Monday with a ribbon-cutting at its interchange on I-40, 3.5 miles southeast of the old U.S. 70 exit.

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Actually it was NCDOT's idea to stop producing a new state highway map every year, as it has done since 1916.
DOT hopes to save money by making the State Transportation Map a biennial production instead.
But I didn't know that -- sorry, I was on vacation when Lyndo Tippett said so at a meeting a couple of months ago -- until I spotted a provision in the House budget today.
The House tells DOT to stop printing a highway map and a coastal boating guide every year, and switch to every other year instead.
(Note to House budget writers:

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When the state Board of Transportation updates its roadbuilding plans for the next seven years today, the new schedule will include improvements to reduce daily backups on three stretches of Interstate 40 as it passes through the Triangle.
The 2009-2015 State Transportation Improvement Program was issued in draft form last winter. The final version will include schedules for:

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Rob Schofield of NC Policy Watch and I will join host Frank Stasio at noon today to talk about Triangle transportation issues on WUNC radio's State of Things show.
A P.S. added at 8pm:
In my original post I invited folks to call in, so Rob and I wouldn't have to talk so much. But I discovered later at WUNC that they weren't taking calls for this one. Sorry.
Frank, Rob and I talked for around 12 minutes about state and local efforts to improve transit service.
You can listen to the discussion or download an mp3 recording here.

Suddenly the price of, like, two gallons is more than a movie ticket.
If you have to come up with $60 just to fill the tank, what happens to the fun of just driving around?
If you're a young driver, I'd like to hear how you're coping. Please e-mail me or leave me a message at 829-4527.

By all means, as today's Road Worrier headline says, "Walkers, bicyclists should be friends" on Raleigh's greenways.
But some bike riders say the Road Worrier (i.e., yours truly, this blogger, Bruce, I) got only half the story.
Greenway glasnost is a two-way street. There are some DANGEROUSLY rude pedestrians on the greenways, too.
Elaine Matson, 60, bikes on the greenways almost every day and deals with "plenty of stupid walkers out there:"

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