Highway workers are ahead of schedule on a major road project stretching from the Interstate Interchange in Van Buren to Rogers Avenue in Fort Smith, according to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
The project will smooth the asphalt surface along the stretch and improve curves, allowing for more efficient travel, said Chad Adams, a representative for the highway department.
The work on the $79 million project will likely be finished in the next three or four weeks. It began in January 2013.
“It looks like they’re going to make it under their estimated completion date,” Adams said. “It’s sort of like building a house. We are down to the final stages, and everybody’s getting anxious and ready for it to be finished, including us.”
The changes will be a welcomed sight for Brian Beauchamp, who drives on the interstate and lives next to the construction.
“It’s pretty loud,” he said. “It’s nice to be alleviated of all that construction. It’s been tough.”
Beauchamp is also looking forward to the new travel conditions on the improved roadway.
“To know that you are not going to be bumper to bumper is going to be a really good feeling,” he said.