Three concepts for new Broadway Bridge released

LITTLE ROCK — UPDATE:

Three concepts for the new Broadway Bridge were released Tuesday by the state highway department in advance of a public meeting where the preliminary plans will be displayed.

Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola and North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Hays gathered with other local leaders to review the designs Tuesday morning at the Arkansas Transit Association, 620 W. Broadway in North Little Rock. The public can view and comment on the work there beginning at 4 p.m.

Two of the spans are plate girder bridges - like the nearby Main Street Bridge - without an arch but with pylons and lights on the structure. The third, with a large arch supporting part of it, is similar to the existing Broadway Bridge, which is scheduled to be torn down and replaced beginning in 2013.

All three bridges have pedestrian and bicycle pathways as well as at least one scenic overlook for viewing the river. None has a trolley track in the design, though one could be added later on one of the traffic lanes, said John Ruddell, lead bridge consultant with Garver Engineers.

The plans each call for five lanes - three southbound and two northbound. The project would maintain the bridge exit to La Harpe Blvd. but eliminate the entry ramp, which designers said has a very low traffic volume.

In place of that entry, the new bridge would have a ramped connection to the River Trail bicycle and pedestrian path below it.

In addition to estimated construction costs exceeding $50 million for the three concepts released Tuesday, Ruddell said motorists would pay about $40 million over the two-year construction period. That figure reflects lost wages, vehicle operating costs and other factors during the work.

Mayor Patrick Hays objected at that figure, suggesting officials should look strongly at delaying work on the Broadway Bridge but instead building a span at Chester Street. Broadway could then be replaced years later after the Chester Street bridge is complete.

"Those are some significant dollars," Hays said. "And that assumes a reasonable construction schedule. It's going to be a zoo around here for 2 years."

Randy Ort, a spokesman for the highway department, said Hay's suggestion may not be feasible because the money for the Broadway Bridge project includes federal bridge replacement funds for a state highway that can't be shifted to the Chester Street work.

After the meeting, Hays said the costs associated with taking out the Broadway Bridge appeared too much.

"I'm pretty well convinced that we need to look to a new bridge that can be built while the Broadway Bridge's future is maybe extended some and still used by the motoring public," he said. "My feeling is let's find a way to build new bridge and keep the Broadway bridge in service until we figure out how we want to do something that is this community is going to be proud of for 100 years."

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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EARLIER:

Plans for the new Broadway Bridge, including conceptual drawings of the span, will be released Tuesday in advance of an afternoon meeting on the project, officials said.

Randy Ort, a spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, said the plans should be available at some point Tuesday morning.

They will later be on display at a public meeting from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday in the training room of the Arkansas Transit Association building at 620 W. Broadway in North Little Rock. A meeting for public officials on the bridge is scheduled earlier Tuesday.

The highway department said conceptual drawings, various project estimates and aerial photos of the project would be available at the meeting.

Metroplan earlier held a contest to design the new bridge, but the two first-place winners in that competition were only forwarded to the state for possible consideration in its work.

The bridge project is scheduled to be let to contract in 2013.