I-49 lane closures to be rescheduled

Lane closures planned for this weekend on Interstate 49 are being rescheduled because of expected heavy traffic from visitors attending craft fairs in the region, according to the state highway department.

A contractor has been widening 2.6 miles between Wagon Wheel Road, Exit 76, in Springdale and Arkansas 264, Exit 78, in Lowell. Pavement work is complete on the northbound side but the inside lane will remain closed until work on the median barrier wall is finished.

“The northbound improvements last weekend went very well and were finished ahead of schedule,” said Scott Bennett, Director of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. We knew football fans would travel to Northwest Arkansas for the Arkansas-Alabama game this past weekend and we wanted to have all lanes open to handle the increase in traffic, Bennett said in the news release. "So we scheduled the work for the 17th –19th. However, the War Eagle Craft Fair is that weekend. The festival brings in large crowds from a multistate area and we didn’t want to affect the flow of traffic for that, so the work won’t take place that weekend, either."

With homecoming at the University of Arkansas the following weekend, Oct. 24, and the increased potential for cooler and wetter weather, options are becoming limited, according to the news release.

“Because the contractor will be laying asphalt, we have to consider the upcoming cold weather and the fact that November is a rainy month. Our window of opportunity is growing short because asphalt can’t be laid in temperatures below 40 degrees,” according to Bennett. “While we want to be a good neighbor and be mindful of the impact special events have on traffic, we also don’t want this project to extend into next year.”

Bennett said the department is evaluating options for completing the work.

“Allowing the contractor to concentrate all their resources into a single extended period of time, like we did for a weekend on the northbound lanes, is the most cost-effective way to complete the work,” according to Bennett. “But, that may not work for us now. We will announce a new schedule to finish the work soon.”

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