LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Some drivers have expressed confusion about changes to a stretch of Napa Valley Drive in west Little Rock.
During the past week, crews removed lanes, surprising some people.
Next time you drive in Napa Valley, you'll notice the section between Saint Charles Boulevard and Mara Lynn Road is now three lanes wide instead of four, and you might start to see more cyclists in its newly established bike lanes.
"I was just a little bit confused," Brittany Wolfe said. "I could definitely see how some folks could have had some trouble with it."
Brittany Wolfe's business, Painting with a Twist, is right in front of the Napa Valley Drive and Mara Lynn Road intersection, where she and others have had to make some adjustments because of lane changes.
"Heard some honking [and] I've noticed the traffic being backed up," Wolfe said. "Normally, I turn into this opening for the parking lot, but I don't even bother anymore because the traffic is so backed up. I just turn in a little bit sooner."
From Bowman Curve to St. Charles Boulevard, instead of four lanes, there are now two bike lanes on each side and a middle turning lane.
"It would have been nice to know it was gonna happen," Wolfe said.
Little Rock Public Works Director Jon Honeywell said there was no public announcement about the changes to Napa Valley Drive and that all this happened because they needed to resurface the road.
"Whenever we do work on streets, be it new construction, resurfacing a street, we go back and based on the complete street ordinance," Honeywell said. "We need to go back and reference our master street plans and master bike plans to see if facilities are identified through those particular corridors."
After looking into that policy, Honeywell said they needed to add on-street bike lanes.
It's part of a much bigger plan for the city to add more connectivity for cyclists.
"We take every precaution that we can to make sure that when we do these projects, that is going to be successful," Honeywell said. "It's not going to have a negative impact on the traveling public, maybe slightly inconvenient when it's first transition just because people aren't used to it."
Wolfe said the changes will be an adjustment for everyone.
"It's just going to be a little growing pains probably for everybody," Wolfe said.
The other section of Napa Valley Drive that hasn't been repaved could potentially move to three lanes in the future, but Honeywell said that it will take more planning so it doesn't impact traffic flow by Pulaski Academy.