I-430 bridge shoulder use for rush hour in works

A map showing the Interstate 430 capacity improvements.
A map showing the Interstate 430 capacity improvements.

The Arkansas Department of Transportation plans to make improvements to a portion of Interstate 430 that will allow the shoulder on the bridge over the Arkansas River to be used as an additional lane during peak travel hours.

Using a shoulder as a part-time travel lane, which experts refer to as a "dynamic shoulder lane," will be a cost-effective way to mitigate congestion, department director Scott Bennett said Wednesday morning at an Arkansas Highway Commission meeting.

"It's a good idea that won't require complete widening of the river bridge," Bennett said.

The commission discussed the plans for about two minutes before unanimously approving a minute order to proceed with the improvements as funds become available.

It will be the first project of its kind in Arkansas, but Bennett said the technique has been used in several places around the United States. A timeline has not been established for when work will begin.

The estimated cost is $15 million, Bennett said, noting that it would take more than $100 million to reconstruct and widen the bridge. The project would entail rebuilding part of the shoulder on either side of the bridge and repainting the lanes on the bridge itself.

The department's traffic management center will use cameras, changeable message boards and overhead lane control signs to control use of the part-time travel lane. A green check would indicate when the lane is in use; a red X would indicate its closure.

The agency believes the change can reduce delays and improve traffic reliability while responding in real time to forecasted or observed traffic conditions, as well as accidents.

Bennett said the proposed I-430 bridge project is part of the agency's analysis and involvement in working on congestion problems that start on Arkansas 100, also known as Maumelle Boulevard.

"When you really start to look at those issues, one of the first issues is people being able to enter I-430 coming southbound. And then the next one is people being able to get through the Highway 10 interchange," where many improvements are scheduled, he said.

Work will likely begin before the end of the year on a long-planned $69 million project to improve a section of Arkansas 10 in west Little Rock that crosses I-430 between Pleasant Valley and Pleasant Ridge roads, the Arkansas Department of Transportation said in September.

That section of Arkansas 10 is the busiest noninterstate thoroughfare in the state, with up to 54,000 vehicles traveling on it each day.

photo

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette file photo

In this 2018 file photo Arkansas Department of Transportation employees perform a routine safety inspection of the interstate 430 bridge over the Arkansas River.

Metro on 10/24/2019

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