LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) – If you drive along Cantrell Road near I-430 during rush hour, chances are you have sat in a long line of traffic.
Danny Straessle with the Arkansas Department of Transportation said more construction along the interchange of I-430 and Cantrell road is in the talks.
"Cantrell is the busiest non-interstate that we have in the state averaging about 54,000 cars through this area," Straessle said. "It's only expected to grow to about 76,000 in about twenty years so lots and lots of growth in that area."
More growth means creating better engineering on the road.
"We had selected was is called a single-point urban interchange," Straessle said. "It will take the Cantrell road traffic up and over the interchange with Rodney Parham."
Straessle also said the department is looking in to a Texas turnaround so drivers can get from one side of the highway to another.
"This will allow the traffic traveling southbound on I-430 that wants to go east on Cantrell, to go east on Cantrell without having to wait for a traffic light," Straessle said. “Basically it’s just a U-turn, it was employed in Texas.”
Little Rock already has its own Texas Turnaround here at the Big Rock interchange and Straessle said it is proven to relieve congestion.
“There's no traffic light and it continues the functionality of the new interchange,” he said.
The new changes are not set in stone yet, but drivers should be on the lookout for changes in the very near future.
“We will continue to look at refining the design. Is it likely to stay? Probably, but could it stay? Yes it could," he said.
The department will hold a meeting for the public to give input into the interchange sometime next summer. The new changes could begin late 2019 or early 2020.