The $631.7 million 30 Crossing project is back on track after two key votes Wednesday by the board for the federally designated metropolitan planning organization for central Arkansas.
One vote by the Metroplan board of directors amended the region’s transportation program with a new description of the project to remake the 6.7-mile corridor through downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock, including replacing the Interstate 30 bridge over the Arkansas River.
The other vote formally includes 30 Crossing on “‘An Agreed Upon List of Projects’ for which no additional action is needed … in order to proceed to construction.”
The votes also remove a hold by the Arkansas Department of Transportation had on $242 million worth of road construction projects in central Arkansas. The agency held up the projects because it said its interpretation of federal regulations requires the language in the region’s transportation program to be identical to the language in the Imagine Central Arkansas — the region’s long-range transportation plan — before federal transportation dollars can be spent in the region.
Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.