EXETER — Until the pavement has a chance to dry for a few days, the state cannot clear up the confusion caused by conflicting sets of road stripes on Route 2.

A striping project that began Sept. 14 is nearly finished, but has been delayed by rain. Old stripes have been partially removed but are still visible. In some places a driver following the old lines could crash head-on into a vehicle using one of the new left turn lanes.

Robert Rocchio, managing engineer of traffic engineering at the state Department of Transportation, said that in 2004, traffic on Route 2 averaged 11,400 vehicles a day. In 2008, the average was 13,300, a 16 percent jump. Across the state, traffic growth has averaged a 1.2 percent increase a year, Rocchio said.

Growth along Route 2 accounts for some of the increase, Rocchio said. Oak Harbor Village has filled three buildings and is starting its fourth, Carousel Industries moved its headquarters into the Carbon Technology building, Liberty Hill Professional Office Park opened its first building, and Deer Brook, a development of woman-centric houses, has sold some of its first units.

But some of the increase, Rocchio said, is because the state has routed traffic to the University of Rhode Island via Route 2 and east on 138 rather than Route 1 and west on 138.

Rocchio last week discussed the restriping project and how the state was addressing the safety issues.

He said a safety study requested in 2005 by state Sen. Kevin A. Breene resulted in two sets of turn lanes being added at Exeter Road/Main Street near South Road, and at Mail Road/Liberty Road near Exeter Fire Station 2.

After meeting with town and fire officials in April of 2007, state DOT officials decided to add three more sets of turn lanes, at the Post Office near Exeter Road, at Oak Harbor Village and at Yawgoo Valley Road.

Rocchio and traffic engineer Steve Pristawa said that restriping usually begins with the road being measured and the measurements given to a consultant who designs where to put the lines –– figuring in the length of taper for turn lanes and the width of each travel lane. On Route 2, care was taken to keep the “bicycle-tolerant shoulders,” a minimum 4-foot-wide bicycle lane on each side.

Once a plan is in place, striping contractors are called in. Usually they divide the work into three parts –– grinding, hand striping and long-line striping, –– and all work is done at night, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Grinding off the old lines is tricky. If the grinder gouges too deep, Rocchio said, water can pool and freeze in the long narrow depressions and become potholes. If the grinding is too shallow, the old lines will still be visible. Rocchio said that a Sept. 29 inspection found that grinding had not obliterated the old lines on Route 2, so more grinding will have to be done.

Hand striping is usually done about a week after grinding. Crews paint short lines that cannot be done by the long-line trucks, such as the short yellow lines painted diagonally inside the taper that pushes traffic aside for a turning lane. The paint contains glass beads in several sizes that make it reflective, Rocchio said.

The third step is done by trucks that can roll white or yellow paint at 20 miles per hour. On Route 2, only the white lines were applied before one storm after another kept the pavement wet. Most of the center yellow lines have yet to be applied.

Rocchio said drivers should use caution. “We are going to try correcting them as soon as possible,” he said last Tuesday, but the weather continues to delay the work.

The state has no plans to put up special caution signs while the work is in progress. “Sometimes oversigning is worse than no signing,” he said. “The important ones get lost.”

Rocchio said that the state plans to install a traffic light in 2010 where Exeter Road and Main Street meet Route 2. Pedestrians from Job Corps on Main Street will be able to push a button to get to the bus stop on the Exeter Road side.

“The best advice I can give to anyone,” Rocchio said, “is really pay attention to the roadway signing and the pavement markings.

“Don’t be distracted,” he said. “Pay attention to the roads and keep two hands on the wheel.”

Heidi Cote, a Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said drivers shouldn’t be texting or talking on cell phones.

“We can engineer a roadway with all the best safety features,” she said, “but we’re relying on the motoring public to exert good driver behavior.”

dnaylor@projo.com