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What Commuters Can Expect When the Broadway Bridge Closes Wednesday

5 min read

Drivers coming in and out of Little Rock and North Little Rock will be confronted with shifting traffic patterns, lane changes and signal adjustments while the Broadway Bridge is closed for the next six months.

Those changes begin Wednesday, when officials hold a closing ceremony for the bridge beginning at 10:45 a.m. 

The bridge-closing is part of the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department’s $98.4 million plan to replace the aging structure. Massman Construction Co. of Kansas City, Missouri, is leading the project, aiming to reopen the heavily trafficked route in six months or less.

The cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock, along with Rock Region Metro, have spent years planning for the closing. Here’s a guide to the changes commuters can expect on both sides of the Arkansas River, along with details of Wednesday’s closing ceremony.

North Little Rock

The Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department has named the Main Street Bridge the recommended alternate route for travelers who have relied on the Broadway Bridge. North Little Rock spokesman Nathan Hamilton said half of the 25,000 cars that took the Broadway Bridge daily are expected to cross the Main Street Bridge.

Hamilton said drivers heading north on the Main Street Bridge to Pike Avenue in North Little Rock will be able to turn right or left immediately and loop around to Riverfront Drive, a four-lane divided road that will lead them directly to Pike. Turning right onto Washington, Locust and Riverfront — in that order — is one option; the other is to turn left onto Washington, cross Maple Street and take the side road next to the Wyndham Riverfront hotel to get to Riverfront.

Hamilton said drivers can also take Interstates 30, 430 or 440. He said people should consider going around instead of taking a direct route because a longer drive distance can avoid traffic and equate to a shorter drive time.

To help commuters, North Little Rock has launched a “Broadway Bridge Survival Guide,” which is available here.

Hamilton said the city spent three years preparing for the bridge closure and at least $50,000 on equipment, software and man-hours for a new real-time traffic management system. The video system allows city staff to watch cars at traffic lights and make decisions on changing the lights in real time. The traffic cameras’ footage is also available to the public.

“It gives us the ability to adapt on the fly,” Hamilton said.

While the city hasn’t had to hire additional staff, Hamilton said it will pull some police officers from their regular patrols to help with traffic when the bridge closes.

“We have some alternative routes, but, as we say on the website, there’s no magic solution here,” he said. “Some of the quote-unquote alternative routes already experience congestion at rush hour.”

Hamilton said the city expects that the first week or so will be hectic, but that commuters will settle into a routine after that. He said drivers should give themselves plenty of time to get to work, consider carpooling, ask their employers about instituting staggered start times and consider taking the bus.

Little Rock

Little Rock has also prepared for the bridge closure.

Spokeswoman Jennifer Godwin said the city has adjusted the north and south traffic signals on Scott Street, which traffic from the Main Street Bridge traffic empties into, from 70-second rotations to 90-second rotations during rush hour in the mornings and evenings.

Meanwhile, the city’s public works department has converted to a two-way road the one-way portion of Scott Street between Capitol Avenue and Sixth Street. A left-turn arrow signal has been added for drivers turning from Third Street onto Scott. Drivers traveling in either direction will not be allowed to take left turns onto East Markham at Scott.

The center lane of Fourth Street will be marked left turn only. Staff had contemplated making it a straight-and-turn lane and plans to monitor and adjust if that option would be more beneficial for detour traffic, she said.

Godwin said Little Rock will consult with North Little Rock about traffic signal timing so that lights in both cities sync properly to keep traffic moving. She said Little Rock also has the ability to adjust the lights as needed.

Public Transit

Rock Region Metro is suggesting that new riders download its how-to sheet to “beat the Broadway Bridge blues.”

Becca Green, Rock Region’s spokeswoman, said the metro’s bus routes have already moved from the Broadway Bridge to the Main Street Bridge, but lack of funding nixed the system’s 2014 plan to add express routes, which have fewer stops.

Per the cities’ request, the streetcar won’t run its normal routes at peak hours during construction. But, during those hours, the streetcar will shuttle people across the Main Street Bridge between stops at the Little Rock Regional Chamber and the Verizon Arena Plaza. A fare will not be charged for the short trip. The system has not negotiated any deal regarding parking. Green said parking is left up to riders, but she expects that the people using it the most will be residents of North Little Rock’s Argenta neighborhood. 

Drivers can also take any of the 26 bus routes that will be running on their regular schedules. 

“It’s never been a better time to try transit,” Green said.

There are two express routes and five local fixed routes. The express routes are: 

  • 26, a Maumelle-Oak Grove bus.
  • 36, the Jacksonville-Sherwood bus.

The fixed routes are: 

  • 4 from North Little Rock neighborhood Levy/Amboy.
  • 7 from Shorter College.
  • 10 from McCain Mall.
  • 13 from Pulaski Technical College.
  • 18 from McAlmont, another North Little Rock neighborhood.

The buses have free Wi-Fi, so riders can check their emails or get other work done on their commute, Green said.

Wednesday

The closing ceremony for the Broadway Bridge will take place at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Two demolition detonations will take place in mid-October, according to Highway Department Spokesman Danny Straessle. One of the detonations will rid the old bridge of its arch, and the other will take care of the rest of the bridge — the parts that couldn’t be jackhammered out. 

The new arches will also be floated in on barges by November, he said.

For the closing ceremony, the bridge will close to regular traffic at 10 a.m. There will be vehicle access starting at 10:15 a.m. from the North Little Rock side and foot traffic access from both sides. 

Public parking is available in a lot to the west. Vehicles will be parked single file southbound and will be able to leave by exiting southbound into Little Rock when the event concludes at 11:30 a.m.

Arkansas Highway Commissioners, Highway Department Director Scott Bennett, Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde, elected officials from both cities, area business leaders, the Arkansas Army National Guard, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion are expected to attend.

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