Pulaski County justices of the peace aired their concerns to Arkansas Department of Highway and Transportation representatives Tuesday night over the $600 million Interstate 30 expansion projects dubbed "30 Crossing."
Justices of the peace were largely concerned about the impact the project would have on downtown Little Rock and traffic flows during the construction process, largely reflecting the concerns of groups that have already come out against the project as currently proposed.
Department Director Scott Bennett and Jerry Holder of Garver Engineers, which is working with the department on the project, presented the department's plans for I-30 and noted that they were still discussing changes to the plan that would keep the River Rail trolleys from being affected and address concerns about routing LaHarpe Boulevard traffic to Second Street.
The 6.7-mile corridor has the most traffic accidents of all interstate corridors in the state, Holder said, adding that more crashes are predicted as congestion worsens in the coming years.
The department is considering a proposal to increase the six-lane interstate to eight general purpose lanes and another proposal to increase the number of lanes to 10, with two lanes for local traffic going both ways. Bennett said that maintaining the current number of lanes -- six -- during the construction process expected to begin in 2018 would be more likely with the 10-lane expansion plan.
Justice of the Peace Tyler Denton, D-Little Rock, said he was concerned about increasing traffic flow on Second Street and away from the route people already take from I-30 to LaHarpe Boulevard through the President Clinton Avenue intersection.
"I'm just not convinced that that is the greatest idea in the world, if I'm being honest," he said, noting development along Second Street.
Bennett said the LaHarpe Boulevard intersection with President Clinton Avenue was pedestrian heavy, leading people to want to divert traffic away.
Bennett and Holder said a decision going forward would be a balancing act of contrasting desires from residents.
"There's some entities that like the Second Street [proposal]," he said. "If I'm being honest with you, there's more that don't."
Bennett said part of the problem with routing traffic from the interstate into the city was that the department is more limited by standards now in terms of the number of interchanges it can have within certain distances.
Justice of the Peace Donna Massey, D-Little Rock, said she thought the $600 million price tag was too high for her to support it.
Bennett said he had heard that issue raised before.
"There are a lot of places across the state that are itching to get their hands on this money," he said.
Metro on 11/11/2015