LITTLE ROCK — The new U.S. 82 bridge over the Mississippi River near Lake Village will be dedicated Monday though the span isn’t expected to open before the end of the month.
The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. atop the $336 million cable-stayed structure, which features two towers rising more than 400 feet above the river. It has taken nearly nine years to complete and is upriver from the 70-year-old bridge it replaces.
Elected officials from all over southeast Arkansas are expected to attend the ceremony, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department said.
Access will be available from either side of the bridge, which was a joint project of the Arkansas and Mississippi highway departments. Both states split the cost of the bridge. Mississippi highway officials oversaw its construction, while Arkansas highway officials will be responsible for maintaining it.
The bridge will open by the end of July or the first of August, Josephine Cameron, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Transportation, said Wednesday.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 07/23/2010