Little Rock awarded $2 million planning grant for 30 Crossing deck park

The U.S. Department of Transportation, as part of the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, has awarded a $2 million planning grant to the city of Little Rock to begin the planning work for a proposed deck park over I-30 between 6th and 9th Streets. The announcement was made Monday (Feb. 20) at the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.

The city of Little Rock, along with the Arkansas Department of Transportation and the Coalition of Little Rock Neighborhoods, served as co-applicants on the grant proposal submitted in October 2022. Fifty for the Future, a nonprofit of central Arkansas business leaders and Garver Engineers also assisted in crafting the grant application.

The Reconnecting Communities grants are specifically for projects that reconnect portions of a community that have been separated by the original construction of the interstate system.

In the artist rendering at the top of this story, a deck park illustration is offered as to what a deck park looks like and the area affected by this proposal. Amenities on the rendering, such as the playground and soccer field, are there simply to show scale, not to suggest that these particular amenities have been predetermined to be a part of the final design, officials said.

Project leaders said the planning process will be an open and inclusive one and will include public input. Details will be forthcoming once a schedule is established, officials said.