Eastbound traffic on Interstates 40 and 55 in West Memphis will be reduced to one lane each between the highways' two merging points starting at 6 p.m. today in an effort to improve the traffic flow that has been disrupted by the closure of the I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River, state officials announced Tuesday.
The middle lane on the three-lane stretch of road will be closed in order to keep traffic on both highways separate, and the ramp onto I-40 toward Memphis will continue to be closed, as it has been since May 11, according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
Traffic will transition into two adjacent lanes east of Ingram Boulevard, according to the department.
The agency also announced that the exit ramps at Seventh Street and Ingram Boulevard will be closed to I-40 traffic, and the I-40/I-55 on-ramp at Ingram Boulevard will be closed.
The state Transportation Department hopes the changes will alleviate some of the congestion while the I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River into Tennessee is closed for the coming weeks for major repairs. All traffic has been rerouted to the I-55 bridge, the only other crossing between West Memphis and Memphis, since an inspection last month found a crack in a steel support beam on the Hernando de Soto Bridge.
"The plan is to reduce merging points, which is anticipated to reduce conflicts and improve traffic flow," the agency said in a Tuesday news release.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation is responsible for repairing the I-40 bridge and expects to receive the necessary parts later this month, officials announced last week. The bridge is not expected to reopen sooner than August.
The two transportation departments worked with the Federal Highway Administration and the city of West Memphis to develop the traffic flow adjustments, according to the news release.
[MAP: Traffic flow changes in West Memphis » arkansasonline.com/69map/]
Meanwhile, rainy weather is delaying the Tennessee department's efforts to turn the I-55 southbound ramp on E.H. Crump Boulevard in Memphis into an additional lane, agency spokeswoman Nichole Lawrence said.
More than 41,000 vehicles crossed the I-40 bridge in Memphis every day before it closed, and about 29% were trucks, according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation's latest available data from 2019. Before the I-40 bridge closed, the I-55 bridge handled an estimated 46,000 vehicles a day, 35% of which were trucks.
The additional volume of vehicles on the I-55 bridge has caused extreme traffic congestion and delays since the I-40 bridge closed. It took as long as an hour to cross the bridge at its busiest times in May, and the reported decreases in travel times over the past few weeks have likely been a result of drivers choosing alternate routes, not a decline in overall commerce or travel between Arkansas and Tennessee, Arkansas Trucking Association President Shannon Newton said.
Delays and rerouting come at a cost, and the association has estimated a daily cost of $2.4 million to the trucking industry since May 11, Newton said.
"Initially [with] the abrupt nature of the bridge being closed, there was no way to anticipate that cost or make arrangements with couriers, shippers and suppliers to allow for that lost time," she said. "But as we move forward, operating under the assumption that the bridge is going to be closed for the foreseeable future, the additional costs of shipping are being passed on to shippers."
Businesses in Arkansas, especially in West Memphis, are trying to adapt to the interruption of interstate commerce by seeking employees and supplies in-state, West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon said.
The city's Chamber of Commerce and economic development department have been trying to identify who can work from home in order to further alleviate I-55 traffic, McClendon said.
"We're asking all the employers to be innovative and understand what we've been going through," he said. "It's a heartache, but it's just a matter of time before we get that bridge open."
Debate about constructing a third bridge over the Mississippi River had largely died down in recent years until last month's closure of the I-40 bridge. The topic arose Thursday in a news conference with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the bridge and met with local and state officials.
McClendon said Tuesday that a third bridge would definitely make it easier to travel through West Memphis, which he called "America's crossroads."
"We want to relieve some of the traffic, but we don't want to take business away from West Memphis," he said.