Agency redefines I-30 corridor alternative as 6-plus lanes

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department no longer has a 10-lane alternative as part of its $630 million project to widen the Interstate 30 corridor through downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock.

Instead, the department now has what is called the "6-lane with collector/distributor lanes" alternative.

It features "three through lanes in each direction with two additional lanes serving as decision lanes that [become] Collector/Distributor lanes across the River Bridge in the downtown area," the department said.

In other words, with six through lanes and four collector/distributor lanes, it's the 10-lane alternative with a new name.

The department said it renamed the 10-lane alternative "to better clarify the scope of the alternative and reduce misconception." Some opponents of the I-30 project say they suspect there is more to it than that.

The new name surfaced as the agency formally announced it will hold another public meeting April 26 in North Little Rock to present and discuss proposed plans to widen I-30 between Interstate 530 in Little Rock and Interstate 40 in North Little Rock. The project also includes replacing the I-30 bridge over the Arkansas River and improvements on I-40 from John F. Kennedy Boulevard to U.S. 67/167 in North Little Rock.

The meeting, the department said, will provide updates to the project since the last public meeting was held in October. The updates include:

• The continued refinement of both the 8-lane General Purpose and 6-lane with Collector/Distributor Lanes alternatives.

• Traffic modeling of both alternatives.

• Interchange options for access to downtown Little Rock.

• The initiation of the environmental evaluation process for both corridor alternatives.

The meeting will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Silver City Room of the Wyndham Riverfront hotel at 2 Riverfront Place in downtown North Little Rock.

Renaming the 10-lane alternative came after months of struggling to explain the concept, he said.

"There were some folks who thought it was 12 lanes," believing the four collector/distributor lanes were in addition to 10 through lanes, said Highway Department spokesman Danny Straessle. "It was all over the board. We realized we needed a simpler way to present it."

Opponents of the widening project expressed skepticism at the intent of the new name and suggested it was a way for the department to avoid seeking an exemption from the central Arkansas region-wide policy limiting area freeways to no more than six lanes until the region's major arterial roads are improved to increase options for getting around the region.

"Apparently this is to not only sound less intrusive, but also to meet Metroplan's long range six-lane limit on Interstates," said one person on the Facebook page "Improve 30 Crossing," which has more than 1,300 members.

The policy has long been a part of the Metroplan's long-range transportation plan, the latest of which is called Imagine Central Arkansas. Metroplan is the region's long-range transportation planning agency.

The department has dubbed the overall corridor project 30 Crossing. Opponents want to see the bridge replaced, but they oppose widening the corridor and, instead, at least some would prefer to see it transformed into a boulevard or built in such a way that it could be a boulevard at some future point.

The department does consider the "6-lane with collector/distributor lane" alternative as conforming to the Metroplan policy, but it still plans to ask for an exemption from the policy.

"We believe it is within the parameters of the Imagine Central Arkansas plan," Straessle said. "However, out of respect for that plan, we are still going to seek the exemption, anyway."

Straessle noted that the eight-lane alternative, which contains all through lanes, does require an exemption from the policy.

Whether to grant the exemption is up to the Metroplan board of directors. The board is composed of the region's mayors and county judges. The board has granted an exception to the policy on a section of Interstate 630 east from the Interstate 630/Interstate 430 interchange to South University Avenue.

The April 26 meeting will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Silver City Room of the Wyndham Riverfront hotel at 2 Riverfront Place in downtown North Little Rock.

The meeting will open with a presentation at 5:15 p.m. to be followed by an "open house" in which the public is invited to view maps and exhibits, ask questions and offer comments about the project.

StudioMAIN, a non-profit organization that says it wants to "encourage innovative design for everyday life," also will be part of the presentation, Straesle said. StudioMAIN has focused on development of the area around the Arkansas 10 interchange should the interchange be shifted south as has been suggested.

"It should be a really good meeting," Straessle said.

Metro on 04/18/2016

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