SALINE COUNTY, Ark — After years of closures and construction, the long-awaited final phase of the I-30 widening project in Saline County has finally begun.
The latest closure along Interstate 30 started on Monday night.
"You could look at it either [like] 'Oh my gosh we have another lengthy closure on the I-30 widening project for five weeks' or you could look at it as this is really the last major thing that we will do for this project," said Dave Parker with the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
It's a project that has been in the works since May of 2019. In the time since then, there have been some delays and contractor issues that have put the timeline of the project back.
Now, I-30 will soon have six full lanes of traffic.
For the final phase, exit 111 will be closed for 5 weeks to finish construction.
In the meantime, drivers looking to take the exit to Hot Springs will take a detour by taking exit 114 and then getting on the service road. That road will then take you to Highway 70.
Parker explained how this final phase will get the construction to 90% completion. The last 10% will come from the final touches that crews have to do before it's finished.
The project has cost $202 million and ARDOT expects the work to be finished by the end of the year.
ARDOT has also been working on another project in Saline County. They are expanding Highway 5, which they hope will reduce traffic standstills in the area.