FORT SMITH, Ark. — After months of construction, the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT), says work on the I-540 bridge is wrapping up this week.
Next on the agenda is improvements to another Fort Smith bridge.
Public information officer Dave Parker says the work on I-540 is set to wrap up Wednesday morning, and immediately after, they’ll start working on the Garrison Avenue Highway 64 bridge.
“One [bridge] will open up and people will be happy to have it back,” Parker said. “And then at the same time, they'll have to deal with closures on the Garrison Avenue Bridge, but for the same basic reasons.”
Parker says both of these bridges are safe and structurally sound; these are just routine road repairs.
“The bridge is in good shape. It's just the deck portion, what you drive on, that needs some work,” Parker said.
He adds that it’s important to keep both of these bridges in good shape.
“I believe it's around 40,000 average daily traffic on the Interstate 540,” Parker said. “On Highway 64, it’s about 27,000 vehicles a day. So both very important, both very well-traveled.”
Josh Buchfink, spokesperson for the city of Fort Smith - says he and others already notice the improvements on I-540.
“It’s a lot smoother, definitely a lot safer, so we're excited about that,” Buchfink said. “And we're excited for the improvements that are going to be done on the Garrison bridge as well.”
The work on the Garrison Avenue Bridge is expected to take about six months.
Parker says drivers can expect slowdowns as one lane on either side of the bridge will be closed, but the pedestrian walkway should remain open for most of the project.
“I say all the time, ‘nobody likes road construction until it's over.’ That's my line. You're gonna hear that a lot from me,” Parker said. “But that's the truth … but hey, that just means new roads are coming. Better roads are coming, and hopefully safer roads are coming.”
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