The new Broadway Bridge is expected to open next week, reconnecting a major route between Little Rock and North Little Rock weeks ahead of schedule, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department announced Wednesday.
If the bridge does indeed reopen as announced, it will be a welcome event for the thousands of commuters, like Scott Parton, who travel daily between the two cities' downtowns.
Parton, 50, works in the Stephens Building at 111 Center St. in Little Rock and lives in North Little Rock. Since the old Broadway Bridge closed to traffic on Sept. 28, Parton has dealt twice a day with the traffic backups resulting from one less downtown option for crossing the Arkansas River.
"It wasn't the end of the world," Parton said Wednesday. "But I will be very happy to see it open again. I can't wait to go back to my old route."
[BROADWAY BRIDGE: Videos + traffic map, cameras, previous coverage, photos here]
The ahead-of-schedule reopening also will be good news for the contractor on the $98.6 million project. Massman Construction Inc. of Kansas City, Mo., is in line for about $2 million in cash incentives if the span reopens next week, nearly a month early.
Under the terms of Massman's contract with the Highway Department, the old bridge had to be closed to traffic and removed, and the new one built and reopened within a 180-day period that ends March 29.
The contract included a clause to dock Massman $80,000 for every full day it went past that 180 days, and incentives of $80,000 for every day it opened ahead of schedule. It had no cap on the docked amount but a 50-day cap on payments for finishing early.
The $80,000 is what the department calculated as the daily road-user costs for the project. Road-user costs are the estimated financial impact the project will have on motorists.
The figure is based on a formula that takes into consideration traffic volume, delays and other factors.
The maximum incentive payment the Highway Department has paid for a project was $1,750,000 to Redstone Construction Group Inc. of Little Rock for finishing work early on a section of Interstate 530 from Interstate 30 to Bingham Road in Little Rock in September 2015. The company completed its work 40 days ahead of schedule. The project had an incentive cap of five days at $350,000 a day, according to department officials.
Parton was surprised to hear that the contractor will get $2 million for opening the crossing a month early, but he said, "I would've been all for fining them if they were late."
Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola said the incentive/disincentive clause appeared to be "a motivator" to get the work done as quickly as possible.
"I'm excited about it," he said after the news about the bridge opening early was announced at a monthly meeting of the Metroplan board of directors. The offices for Metroplan, the long-range transportation planning agency for central Arkansas, are at East Markham Street and Broadway, at the foot of the south approaches to the bridge.
"I predicted it would open up early, and it is certainly going to open up a month early," Stodola said. "I was working this past weekend late in the evening, and they were out there working in the dark. They must be pouring concrete today."
The weather has been a factor in the project's quick turnaround. Arkansas has had a mild winter with unseasonably high temperatures this month. The immediate forecast calls for more of the same, with some chances of rain.
Danny Straessle, a spokesman for the Highway Department, called Massman's decision to work through the winter a "roll of the dice."
"We could've had ice storms" that would have delayed the work, he said.
Stodola agreed.
"I'd rather be lucky than good sometimes," the mayor said. "They were lucky they had some great weather all through this. It's been pretty amazing."
Uncertainty surrounds construction projects, however, especially ones as complex as the Broadway Bridge. Straessle left open the possibility that the bridge will not open next week. It could be the next weekend or even early in the following week.
"Anything can happen," he said.
And just because the bridge reopens to traffic won't mean work on the span is finished, the department said.
Vehicles will be able to cross the river north and south, but more work is needed to complete the southbound off-ramp that will carry traffic to westbound LaHarpe Boulevard, also called Arkansas 10.
It's also expected to take several weeks for Massman workers to complete ramps on both sides of the river to connect the 16-foot shared-use path with the Arkansas River Trail for pedestrians and cyclists.
Announcements on those aspects of the project will be made as the work progresses, the department said.
Also, after the bridge reopens to traffic, motorists can expect occasional lane closures on the span as the contractor wraps up miscellaneous parts of the project. The lane closures will occur on weekends and at non-peak morning and afternoon commute times, the department said.
Even though the department doesn't know for certain when the bridge will be opened to traffic, it has scheduled a "ceremonial first crossing media event" for 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Stodola, North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith and Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde will be joined by members of the Arkansas Highway Commission and Scott Bennett, the department director, in a procession of vehicles crossing the bridge.
A formal ribbon-cutting and commissioning of the bridge will be held at 4 p.m. on April 6 in the west parking lot across from Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. The public is invited to participate. More information will be forthcoming as plans are finalized, the department said.
Metro on 02/23/2017