Area I-40 work adds to traffic issues

Commuters in Crawford County have started seeing more orange cones and it does not look like it will change anytime soon.

According to Bill Fine, resident engineer with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, the newest project to slow traffic is the installation of a cable barrier on Interstate 40 from the state line to between Alma and Dyer (exits 13 and 20).

"They are also working on some guardrail sections that will be installed around bridge piers, the overpass bridges," he said.

The contract for the work totals a little more than $4.2 million, Fine said, including materials, installation and labor. Fine said he did not know the source of the funding, whether it was from highway bonds approved by voters last year or from another source.

Even though the project is taking place at the same time as the Interstate 540 reconstruction in Van Buren and Fort Smith, most commuters should not experience long delays, according to Fine.

"Part of the contract specified all of the work in Crawford County was to be done between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.," he said. "I believe it has something to do with the 540 interchanges and the fact that there's so much work going on along 540 South right there."

The best way to avoid traffic backups was to do the work at night and in the early morning, Fine said.

Crews have completed about one mile of concrete work for the cable barriers near the state line in Dora, one of the I-540 detour routes.

He said the work would continue through October, eventually extending beyond the Alma and Dyer areas, all the way to Johnson County.

The point of installing the cable barriers, Fine said, is to prevent crossover accidents.

"Some of the information that I have seen indicates that it can stop vehicles a little bit faster than what the speed limit is (70 miles per hour along I-40 in Crawford County)," he said. "There will be a lot of different designs obviously intended to withstand existing traffic, but as fast as they can go, I do not know that one."

In addition to the I-540 reconstruction and the cable barriers, a resurfacing project is also taking place between Alma and Dyer, where the cable barrier project will stop, creating three traffic obstructing construction projects on Crawford County interstates, Fine said.

To protect workers and drivers, he urges drivers to take extra precautions when driving along construction zones.

"Slow down and anticipate these closures and just use some caution and please pay attention to the signs," Fine said.