LITTLE ROCK (08-23) 

Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) officials announce that Interstate 40 WESTBOUND will be temporarily reduced to one lane of travel on Tuesday, August 24^th in North Little Rock between mile markers 151 and 146 in a similar manner to the eastbound traffic shift that occurred in this area last week.  This traffic shift area will include he Burns Park, Crystal Hill and I-430 Interchanges.  Lane closures will begin after the afternoon rush hour with two lanes expected to be restored prior to the next afternoon’s peak travel time.

Beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, construction crews will begin shifting I-40 westbound traffic to new concrete lanes by merging traffic to the left left lane on the original pavement, then transitioning the single lane of traffic onto the new pavement.  Once traffic is on the new pavement, construction workers will relocate temporary concrete barrier walls, reconfigure exit and entrance ramps and install new striping and pavement markings.  Interstate entrance and exit ramps at Burns Park and Crystal Hill Road will also be intermittently closed during this lane shifting process.  Both lanes and all ramps will be opened on the new pavement by 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, but off-peak lane closures will continue throughout the week until all barrier walls and pavement markings are in place. 

In order to transition traffic across the old pavement to new concrete lanes, some temporary ramp relocations are needed in order to build the permanent ramps.  WESTBOUND exit and entrance ramps for the Burns Park, Crystal Hill and I-430 Interchanges will move to new locations and signage will be in place to inform motorists of these temporary locations.  I-40 WESTBOUND on and off-ramp reconfigurations will include the the placement of a stop sign for the I-40 entrance ramp at Crystal Hill Road and relocation of the I-430 exit ramp to a more western location.  Although signage will be in place to forewarn motorists of relocated exit ramps, motorists exiting I-40 to I-430 southbound should be prepared for a new ramp location and use extreme caution while learning how to safely exit at the modified I-430 ramp.

The closures and traffic shift are necessary in order to progress to the next phase of construction as part of the $57.2 million rehabilitation and widening of the Interstate in this area.  The contractors, Weaver-Bailey Construction and Jenson Construction, have been removing the median area of the original Interstate and building two new concrete lanes.  During this time, motorists between Burns Park and I-430 have been traveling on temporary lanes to the outside of the roadway.  All work will be done as weather permits with possible rainfall forcing the transition schedule to begin at a later date as needed to meet the weather-related installation requirements of the pavement marking materials. 

Motorists are reminded to stay alert, avoid distractions and follow all signs and speed limits in the work zone with doubled fines occurring for all moving violations.  For additional information, motorists may contact the AHTD Public Affairs office Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. via phone at (501) 569-2227 or email at info@arkansashighways.com.  Lane closure details will also be posted on the “Today’s Lane Closures” page and real-time traffic details such as live video and traffic flow can be found in the “Central Arkansas Traffic Report” at www.ArkansasInterstates.com.

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