FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Drivers are facing more and more traffic issues as construction continues at I-49 and Wedington in Fayetteville.
Changes to the onramp and new traffic patterns have confused drivers. Drivers heading east on Wedington Drive no longer cross traffic for the northbound I-49 onramp — instead, drivers use a cloverleaf ramp.
According to the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT), drivers need to be in the righthand lane as they travel over the bridge and exit toward I-49 North.
"There have been a few crashes near that construction area. Sometimes that happens, unfortunately when work warrants new traffic patterns. The issue has been motorists running red lights or making u-turns as they pass the construction," ARDOT Spokesperson Dave Parker said.
The City of Fayetteville and ARDOT have been discussing these changes for years, with the first discussion of the need for change back in 2014 with the bid for construction being unveiled in 2020. Work officially started on the project in 2021.
"I'm all for progress, especially when traffic gets heavy and it's obvious you need to do something about it," driver Janet Lynch said. "It's always been a dangerous intersection. And this has made it worse."
Lynch lives off Wedington and says that the right lane now gets congested because of the cloverleaf ramp. She says at certain times of the day, "getting out from a side street is almost impossible."
"A lot of times in the morning, what should be like a five-minute drive will probably take like 15 to 20 minutes. And there's not a lot of back roads to go around to get to the places you want to go," University of Arkansas student Jackson Larson said.
"I was driving right next to somebody and they didn't see it until the last second. They had to cut in front of me. So yeah, it can be it can be dangerous and a little sketchy," U of A student Caleb Bates said.
While Fayetteville police say they haven't seen a rise in traffic accidents, they did confirm that they saw a rise in traffic infractions.
"As it can get kind of confusing to some drivers, we've had an increase in enforcement in the area, because we've had some unsafe driving being reported to us with people doing U-turns in places that it's not safe to do. And so, we've stepped up enforcement, just to keep that area safe," Sgt. Stephen Mauk said.
ARDOT has message boards and signage to alert drivers but Fayetteville Police ask that drivers slow down for safety. ARDOT said the project is expected to last through late this fall.
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