398 highway miles to get cable median barriers

By ArkansasOnline

Posted: October 10, 2012 at 12:36 p.m.

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Cable median barriers will be installed across almost 400 more highway miles, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department announced Wednesday.

Starting in early 2013 and over the next three years, the department will install the new barriers across 398 miles of Arkansas highways at an estimated cost of $74 million in federal safety funds, the department said in a news release.

The department will take bids for the first 92 miles of barriers Nov. 28, it said.

The barriers are designed to reduce the possibility of vehicles crossing a median into oncoming traffic, the department said, and require little restorative maintenance after they’ve been struck by a vehicle.

A safety analysis conducted by the department showed a significant reduction of these particular accidents on Interstates 40 and 55. According to the release, the stretch of I-40 between Brinkley and Biscoe had 10 fatal crashes in the 36 months before the cable barrier installation. After the installation, the department said, the number dropped to zero.

Multiple nationwide studies report similar results, the release states.

Cable median barriers exist on 37 miles of Arkansas highways, and an additional 68 miles are under construction, the department said.

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