An $87.3 million project to widen a section of Interstate 630 in Little Rock will go forward after an Arkansas Department of Transportation review of the winning bid by Manhattan Road & Bridge Co. found no discrepancies.
"Everything looked good," Danny Straessle, the agency spokesman, said Monday. "We're ready to get the project started."
The I-630 project was one of 75 projects on which the department opened bids worth $174 million last Wednesday. All the low bids are reviewed for accuracy before they are officially awarded.
Manhattan submitted the lowest of three bids on the I-630 project.
The project will widen a 2.5-mile section of the highway between Baptist Health Medical Center and South University Avenue from six lanes to eight, as well as replace the South Hughes Street overpass and bridges over South Rodney Parham Road and Rock Creek and install sound barriers for neighborhoods on the north side of the project.
The section now carries more than 100,000 vehicles daily, a number that is expected to climb to nearly 140,000 daily in 20 years, according to the department.
Manhattan, which has offices in Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas, is expected to begin work in late May or early June and take about 20 months, or some time in early 2020.
"We still have a few details to work on, but we could not be happier to have been selected to partner with the Arkansas Department of Transportation for this important project," said Mark Windle, Arkansas operations vice president for Manhattan.
Manhattan, which is based in Tulsa, is no stranger to Arkansas. It was a partner in the project to remake the Interstate 630/Interstate 430 interchange. The series of three separate projects on the interchange cost $124 million and was completed in 2015.
The I-630 widening project is, in essence, an extension of the interchange project. It will make the interchange work better by facilitating traffic flow through the interchange, according to Straessle.
The contractor also is working on an interchange project on U.S. 67/167 in Cabot, bridge projects on U.S. 412 in Siloam Springs and a bridge replacement project on Interstate 40 in east Arkansas. Manhattan established a permanent presence in Arkansas when it acquired another contractor, Southern Pavers of Pine Bluff, in 2008.
"Arkansas is our home and we have more than 100 employees here," Windle said. "We look forward to getting to work on making travel easier for the more than 100,000 motorists that use I-630 every day."
He said Manhattan is particularly mindful of the aspect of the project that will require closing the South Hughes Street overpass, which will cut off north-south access for neighborhoods between West Markham and West 12th streets. Under the terms of the contract, Manhattan will have to complete the project in 96 days.
"Time is of the essence in such projects," Windle said. "Our commitment is to limit the inconvenience for Arkansans while not compromising safety and quality."
Three lanes in each direction will remain open during construction during the week with caveats that are certain to increase commute times. The work will be accompanied by some shifting of traffic lanes, lane closings at nights and on weekends and reduced speeds throughout the work zone.
The I-630 project is part of the state's $1.8 billion Connecting Arkansas Program, which targets for improvements a series of regionally significant projects on 19 corridors around the state.
Voters approved a 0.5 percent increase in the statewide sales tax in 2012 to help pay for the program. The tax increase expires in 2023.
Other significant projects in the program include widening Interstate 49 to six lanes between Fayetteville and Bentonville, and widening to four lanes U.S. 167 between Interstate 530 and El Dorado, U.S. 412 between Paragould and Walnut Ridge and U.S. 64 between Marion and Wynne.
Metro on 04/10/2018