I-Team: NCDOT to fix confusing Durham traffic pattern

DURHAM, North Carolina (WTVD) -- As if the amount of traffic isn't bad enough, some drivers commuting to Research Triangle Park have been maneuvering through a confusing traffic pattern.

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"I can easily see how someone new to the area is just not sure where they are," Dave Schultz, owner of nearby Cheerz Deli, told ABC11. "It's just really confusing."

The troubled spot sits in the 1600 block of TW Alexander Drive on the immediate east end of the intersection with Miami Boulevard. The road, recently widened to accommodate a new development, has a clear stripe to mark one lane but none to mark the other two.

Instead, Schultz explained, it looks like TW Alexander merges into two wide lanes as soon as drivers pass through the traffic signals.

"The worry is people getting into accidents," Schultz told ABC11.

According to the Durham County Sheriff's Office, the area is considered a "shared jurisdiction" between the City of Durham, Durham County and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

After an ABC11 I-Team request, the NC DOT immediately sent an inspector to check the area and confirmed the intersection needs new striping.

In an email to ABC11, spokesman Steve Abbott explained, "DOT staff will be out there sometime next week with a striping contractor to assess what is needed, and will also be talking to the private developer to come up with a plan for getting striping back in place along there. It will likely be the longer-lasting thermoplastic striping because of the location of the intersection and because it is a busy road."

While weather, temperature and precipitation vary, the typical life for road marks is roughly two to five years. With 1,600 miles of road in Durham County (more than 5,000 in Wake County), Abbott said that the DOT relies on drivers to share concerns about faded markings, damaged signs and other hazards on the roadways.

For more information and to report a concern to DOT, click here.