An exit ramp from the Broadway Bridge to LaHarpe Boulevard opened to traffic Monday morning, and another major component of the $98.4 million project is slated to open before the end of the month.
The pedestrian walkway is expected to open by the end of June, which would be in time for spectators to watch the July 4 fireworks from the new span.
The end of June opening would include the North Little Rock side pedestrian ramp and the path on the bridge itself, Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department spokesman Danny Straessle said.
The pedestrian ramp on the Little Rock side of the bridge will not open for “quite some time,” Straessle said.
Walkers will still be able to enter the bridge from three other locations this summer, Straessle said: Access points will be near Dickey-Stephens Park, near the Robinson Center and the North Little Rock ramp.
Pedestrians will not be able to enter or exit the Little Rock ramp until a truss bridge is installed and Riverfront Park is restored after construction; these finishing touches are expected to be completed by early fall, Straessle said.
The finished off-ramp which opened Monday carries southbound vehicle traffic to LaHarpe Boulevard. It had been closed until Riverfest ended, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
The city of Little Rock asked that the ramp stay closed due to road closures downtown.
Straessle said the new exit ramp would provide “a very, very popular connection” for drivers.
“I’m sure that the commuters who use that are glad to have that back,” Straessle said.
Straessle said other work still to be done on the span includes painting and hooking up the power on the bridge’s south side.
Lights on the north side of the bridge, which are serviced by the North Little Rock Electric Department, can be turned on, Straessle said, but electrical work on the south side of the bridge, which is wired by Entergy, still needs to be completed.