Overpass to open at I-430/I-630

Westbound traffic to span Shackleford; other closures set

The new overpass designed to carry traffic over South Shackleford Road in the Interstate 430/Interstate 630 interchange in west Little Rock will be fully operational this weekend, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department said.

photo

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

An illustration showing more changes at I-430/I-630.

But putting down new markings near the overpass as well as other work, including resurfacing South Shackleford Road between West Markham Street and Kanis Road, likely will clog traffic in and around the interchange for part of the weekend and into next week.

"Hopefully, all of this will be done before Mother's Day weekend," Danny Straessle, a department spokesman, said Friday.

The work is part of a six-year, $125 million project to ease congestion through the interchange for the 200,000 vehicles that use it daily and for the 300,000 vehicles that planners estimate will be using it in 20 years.

Work on the westbound side of the overpass is scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. today, when the inside lane of I-630 will be closed between Shackleford and John Barrow Road. The lane is scheduled to remain closed until 6 p.m. and then be closed again for the same hours on Sunday.

"They are trying to do everything they can to have [the overpass] open on Saturday," Straessle said. "But they are leaving Sunday to do any additional work."

The contractor has been opening sections of the redesigned interchange as work has progressed. The eastbound lanes on the Shackleford overpass opened in February. A flyover ramp taking motorists from I-430 north onto I-630 east as well as a ramp dedicated to motorists going from I-430 north to Baptist Health Medical Center opened earlier the same month.

Motorists will encounter another series of lane closures around the interchange beginning Monday.

The most significant lane closures -- all four lanes of Shackleford between Markham and Kanis in alternating sections -- will take place overnight through Friday to allow crews to resurface that section of Shackleford, which belongs to the state but isn't identified as a state highway.

The lane closings on Shackleford will begin at 9 p.m. each day and reopen at 5 a.m., weather permitting, the department said.

The northbound, inside lane on a section of I-430 from Markham north to the pedestrian overpass will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily through Friday to allow workers to extend a barrier wall to protect the center support of the pedestrian overpass and an overhead sign structure north of that, Straessle said.

The inside, eastbound lane on Financial Centre Parkway and I-630 from Hardin and Hermitage roads to the Shackleford overpass will be closed during the same hours through Friday to allow the installation of a concrete cap and cover for another wall, according to the department.

All work on the project is scheduled to be completed this summer.

The project dates to January 2009 when Weaver-Bailey Contractors of El Paso in White County began the first phase with a $17.3 million contract that included construction of an additional lane for motorists traveling from I-630 west to I-430 north and relocating the route motorists use to go from I-430 south to Financial Centre Parkway west.

It also added new traffic signals and made intersection improvements at Shackleford and Hermitage roads and at Financial Centre and Hermitage.

An $18 million project that began in July 2009 mainly involved modifications for future improvements, with the most significant aspect being removal and reconstruction of the I-430 bridge over I-630.

Planning for the entire project began in 2005 -- 30 years after I-430 opened and 18 years after the interchange opened -- when Bridgefarmer and Associates of Dallas was hired to study the interchange and make recommendations.

The final design includes several flyover ramps between the two interstates -- to replace the existing loops -- and the ramp over Shackleford.

Metro on 05/02/2015

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