Traffic on North Hervey Street will soon move to the west side of the road as the street expansion construction moves along, according to Arkansas Department of Highways and Transportation Resident Engineer Rochele Blue.
“We had almost 18 inches of rain in about three weeks.That has held us up quite a bit; of course, it has been dry lately so we are making better progress now,” Blue said. “We have installed all the drainage structures on the left, or west side. Next week the contractor’s are supposed to be coming in to lay the asphalt over the concrete that is there now.”
She said they are currently notching and widening, meaning they have cut out what is next to the existing travel lanes and built up the foundation.
“When the asphalt crews come in and pave, then all traffic will be moved to the other side. The section we are building now is what they will be driving on. All south bound traffic will be up against the curb when we switch over,” Blue said. “It should be a complete five lanes, by the end of April, 2010.
“Typically, estimated completion goes to substantial completion on the project, which means all the pay items on the project have been done,” Blue said.
Blue said the widening project is taking it from a three lane to a five lane, with the turn lane included.
“Other than accessibility and the rain, any problems we have encountered were standard,” Blue said.
When the project began originally on Hervey Street, the project was divided into two projects, north and south of Interstate 30, according to Blue.
Bridge construction at the I-30 intersection is expected to be completed by the end of 2009. For work south of the interstate, it is hoped to be completed by the spring or summer of 2010.
