I-30 off-ramp in North Little Rock set to close next week

Broadway exit to be shut until end of ’22

A car passes through the intersection of Broadway and North Locust Street on the east side of Interstate 30 as soil compactors work in this Nov. 6, 2020, file photo. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)
A car passes through the intersection of Broadway and North Locust Street on the east side of Interstate 30 as soil compactors work in this Nov. 6, 2020, file photo. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)

The Arkansas Department of Transportation will close a busy downtown North Little Rock exit ramp from Interstate 30 to accommodate a new phase of work in the nearly $1 billion 30 Crossing project.

The I-30 eastbound exit to Broadway will be closed until the end of 2022 starting Wednesday night.

About 9,100 vehicles use the off-ramp daily, according to department data.

Drivers wanting to access Broadway will use a newly constructed ramp leading to Bishop Lindsey Drive and a Texas turnaround, which will allow traffic to make U-turns between the frontage roads without going through traffic lights to return to Broadway.

Closing the off-ramp will allow the contractor, Kiewit-Massman Constructors, to "build the bridges at Washington [Avenue] and Broadway, widen the interstate, and also rebuild the exit ramp," said Dave Parker, agency spokesman.

Work to replace the I-30 bridge over the Arkansas River, the primary piece in the first phase of the 30 Crossing project, began late last year.

"We do anticipate that KMC will begin hanging the structural steel on the main river bridge in the next couple of months," Parker said in an email. "Once the new [eastbound] river bridge is completed, traffic will shift over onto it so demolition of the existing bridge can take place."

Closing the Broadway exit ramp comes on top of a dozen or more lane closings, ramp closings and other traffic adjustments that drivers will face daily in the corridor, although most are at night, particularly lane closings on the freeway.

The Arkansas Department of Transportation proposes spending $417 million in federal and state transportation money on the 30 Crossing project over the next four years, according to planning documents for Central Arkansas.

None of the money identified in the documents will come from the statewide 0.5% sales tax that voters approved in Amendment 91 to the state constitution in 2012.

The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Oct. 29 that the department couldn't spend Amendment 91 funds on roads that have more than four lanes, which include the section of I-30 encompassing 30 Crossing.

While the total cost of the 30 Crossing project approaches $1 billion, the department has identified only enough money to pay for the $638 million that it said the first phase would cost.

The 30 Crossing project will widen a 6.7-mile corridor through downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock to 10 lanes between Interstate 530 in Little Rock and Interstate 40 in North Little Rock. In addition to replacing the bridge, the project includes work on a section of I-40 in North Little Rock.

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