LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Department of Transportation held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday where they announced the completion of the I-30 crossing project.
It's a project years in the making which first began in 2020.
Not only is the completion of the project good news for drivers in Central Arkansas, but according to ARDOT Director Lorie Tudor, it finished six months ahead of schedule.
"I know, it's never easy to drive through a construction zone for that lengthy period of time, but thank you for your patience. Now all the hard work is worth it because we have such a beautiful new highway for you to drive," Tudor described.
There were state leaders and city officials in attendance to honor and recognize everything that it took to cross the finish line together.
Arkansas State Highway Commissioner member Marie Holder explained how it was a project that took a lot of manpower. She also shared how it will connect several major interstates that people travel on daily.
"Including 30, 530, 440, 630, 40, and Interstate 57," Holder added.
The project itself has been making a difference on the local level as it connects two major cities— North Little Rock and downtown Little Rock.
North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick explained how the completion of the project is now bringing us [the community] all closer together as one big family.
Meanwhile, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. expressed that while he was against the project at first, he is happy to see how it has truly connected communities instead of dividing them.
The cost of this project was close to $540 million.
Tudor said that the completion came just in time for the holidays so that families and friends could have safer routes to travel.
"Every day that it gets done earlier is a day that our traveling public does not have to go through a construction work zone. So it's safer all the way around, and it's just so much more convenient. It just saves everybody a lot of headaches," she added.
The I-30 crossing project is considered to be the biggest project that ARDOT has ever undertaken and they're thankful to see it through.
"I think that it's a very important lifeline in this great state of Arkansas," Tudor described.
Although ARDOT has said that the project is considered to be "substantially complete" there may be a few things that still need to be finished over the few months.