Correction: The Broadway Bridge, which crosses the Arkansas River between Little Rock and North Little Rock, carries about 24,000 vehicles per day, according to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. This article included an incorrect number.
The project to replace the Broadway Bridge remains on track to be awarded a contract in less than five months, but actual construction and the closing of the existing bridge to the 45,000 vehicles it averages daily remains, bysome estimates, as long as a year away, officials said.
State highway officials still say that traffic crossing the Arkansas River between the Little Rock and North Little Rock downtownareas will be rerouted for at least 18 months or as long as two years, once the contractor begins dismantling the existing bridge.
The contract will contain incentives to complete the project in as little time as possible, which is an increasingly standard provision in road construction contracts. In other words, officials said they hope the span could goup quicker, but by how much, if at all, won’t be known until Feb. 26 when the Arkansas Highway Commission is scheduled to open the bids on the project.
“Nobody really knows,” said Bill Henry, traffic engineer for the city of LittleRock. “If you can do it faster than other people, you will probably get the contract.”
The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department is working on the final design of a replacement for the bridge, which is 90 years old and, according to the agency, too costly to maintain.
The department estimated it would cost $58 million to build what it deems is a safe, efficient and functional bridge. Pulaski County committed another $20 million to incorporate two basket-handle arches into the design instead of just one. That money would be paid throughout several years.
Besides the design, the department also is finalizing the acquisition of the additional rights of way it needs for the new bridge, which will builton the same spot as the existing bridge but will be slightly bigger and include additional features, such as ramp connections to the Arkansas River Trail, which intersects with the bridge on both sides of the river.
The department already has acquired some right of way from the state of Arkansas, specifically the riverbedwhere the bridge will cross. Ark. Code Annotated 22-6-201 has a section stating that “all submerged lands following the navigable waterwaysof this state shall remain the state domain.”
The department worked with the Arkansas land commission’s office to acquire that right of way, said Perry Johnston, the right of way division head for the Highway Department.
On Tuesday, the Little Rock Board of Directors will consider a resolution permitting the city to grant some rights of way to the department. It mainly involves parking spaces in two areas on the south side of the bridge.
On the North Little Rock side, the agency is still negotiating with the city and the Arkansas Travelers baseball club, which runs Dickey Stephens Park for a strip of land on both sides of the bridge that will take out some parking. The department plans to reimburse the city and the team for improvements to rearrange the lot to minimize the loss of parking spaces, Johnston said.
Some small areas of private property around the intersection of the bridge and Broadway in North Little Rock also will require improvements paid for by the department, Johnston said.
In all, the department is acquiring the right of way on parts of 24 parcels on both sides of the river. Eighteen of the parcels are publicly owned, six are privately owned. The total right of way the department is actually acquiring amounts to less than an acre.
“It’s a very minor acquisition for a tremendous project,” Johnston said.
The department also continues to work with a nearly a dozen utilities which have lines, mains or cables that will have to be removed before construction and, depending on the utility, relocated somewhere else or, once the new bridge is built, reattached.
Just awarding the contract will take as long as threemonths, which is typical for most agency contracts. The department will begin advertising the contract specifications in mid-January, or about six weeks before the Arkansas Highway Commission is scheduled to open the bids for the project.
That will give potential bidders an opportunity to study the specifications and make their cost estimates to build the new bridge.
Once the low bid is opened, department officials will take several days to review it for accuracy before it is accepted, said Randy Ort, a department spokesman. Once it is accepted, the department will notify the winning contractor.
From that point, the contractor will have 10 days to provide proof of liability insurance, a performance bond that will ensure the project is completed and its disadvantaged business enterprise commitments.
“Once all that is submitted, we execute the contract,” Ort said. “Everything then is official.”
A work order is issued 15 days after the contract is executed. No time will be counted against the contractor for the first 10 days after the work order is issued, he said. By the time all that happens, if everything goes as planned, it will be close to mid-April.
At that time, not much on the groundwork likely will be taking place. It will take some time for the contractor to stage its equipment and personnel, order the material and other preparation work.The contractor likely will do as much work as possible short of removing the bridge in order to help minimize the time the bridge is out, Ort said. That will consume some more time before motorists will feel the full impact of the project.
“We could be a year away,” Ort said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 09/30/2013