Interstate 30 construction in the Little Rock area is set to reach significant milestones in coming weeks including work on a flyover ramp and the opening of a new bridge spanning the Arkansas River.

The developments are part of the $1 billion 30 Crossing project, which involves reconstructing and widening parts of the thoroughfare to improve access in and out of downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock.

In mid-August, crews will hang steel girders for a ramp at the I-30/I-40 interchange in North Little Rock. State officials opted to close a section of Interstate 40 on the weekend of Aug. 19 rather than shut down the roadway for multiple nights.

"It's, for a lack of better terms, a greater amount of pain in a less amount of time and the public seems to prefer that," said Dave Parker, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Transportation. "Instead of stretching it out over seven, eight nights, let's just get in there for 48 hours and shut down the interstate."

When the ramp girders are hung, I-40 eastbound thru traffic will be temporarily routed around Little Rock and North Little Rock. Vehicles will be detoured off I-40 at the I-40/I-430 interchange at Exit 147 and sent south on I-430 to the I-430/I-30 interchange where they will take Exit 129A onto I-30 east. Detoured drivers will continue on I-30 east and merge onto I-440 east at Exit 138A. The detour will steer traffic back onto I-40 at the I-440/40 interchange at I-440's Exit 11.

Westbound traffic on I-40 passing through the cities isn't expected to face a detour.

Considering that the eastbound detour will route traffic around North Little Rock, Mayor Terry Hartwick said the closure is likely to be the toughest one yet for drivers leaving and entering the city. But considering the broad scope of the 30 Crossing project and the relatively minor shutdowns it has caused, Hartwick said the department was managing the work well.

"All the stuff they've done, it's amazing they can do what they can do with so little closure," he said during an interview Thursday. "It's a little inconvenience to make things better in the long run."

North Little Rock city officials have received few complaints to date regarding the project, according to Hartwick.

"There was a lot of notification for many years in advance on how long it's going to take," he said. "People knew it was going to be an inconvenience but just accepted that it's progress."

Work on the flyover ramp at the I-30/I-40 exchange will continue after crews finish placing the girders. State officials expect to have the ramp completed in late summer of next year, according to Mark Trickey, alternative delivery project engineer with the Arkansas Department of Transportation.

South of the interchange, a new I-30 eastbound bridge across the Arkansas River is scheduled to open next month. State officials plan to shift traffic onto the bridge in three phases, Trickey said.

During the initial phase in early September, eastbound traffic leaving downtown Little Rock will have access to the bridge from the northbound frontage road at Fourth Street. Across the river, drivers will be able to exit the bridge onto North Little Rock's Broadway Street.

After providing access to the new bridge from the northbound frontage road at Fourth Street, state officials plan to close the temporary Ninth street on-ramp onto I-30 in Little Rock. This will allow crews to build more of the main eastbound lanes on I-30.

"That first phase will be in service for approximately a week to 10 days while we do some asphalt paving at other locations," Trickey said.

During the second phase of the opening, crews will shift I-30 eastbound traffic onto the new bridge. By the end of September state officials expect to shift westbound traffic onto the bridge, completing the final phase of the transfer.

State officials plan to host a news conference Aug. 17 to cover the details of the opening.

Construction crews will then begin demolishing the old I-30 bridge around Oct. 1, according to Trickey. Rather than using explosives to destroy the bridge – as the state did with limited success when demolishing the Broadway Bridge in 2016 – crews will disassemble the old I-30 bridge.

"It's going to be somewhere around 10 months on taking all that structure down," Trickey said. "That'll put it over into spring, late spring of 2023."

Once the demolition is complete, construction will begin on a new bridge that will ultimately carry I-30 westbound traffic across the river. The new westbound bridge will span the river in the same location as the old I-30 bridge.

When complete, the east and westbound bridges will each have three through lanes with two collector-distributor lanes and an auxiliary lane. The structures will also include an improved opening for barges passing underneath.

Since the start of 2022, state officials have marked multiple milestones in the first phase of the 30 Crossing project. This stage of construction, expected to cost $540 million, began in 2020.

In March, the Arkansas Highway Commission signed a change order adding $55 million to the first phase. The order extended the project's time frame to July 2025 and allowed for the construction of a ramp to give downtown traffic access to westbound Interstate 630 via a southbound Interstate 30 frontage road.

In April, state officials closed the Sixth Street overpass in downtown Little Rock and reopened a newly built Ninth Street overpass. State officials expect to complete work on the new Sixth Street overpass in early 2023.

Of the project's total $1 billion price tag, $635 million is currently under contract. At the peak of construction, roughly 165 people were on payroll for the project, according to Trickey.

Information on the project and an interactive map displaying long-term and permanent travel impacts are available at 30Crossing.com.

Print Headline: I-30 project to bridge milestones

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