NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A busy overpass in North Little Rock has recently gotten some much needed attention.
Lately, city leaders have pushed for federal funding with hopes that they can avoid an infrastructure nightmare.
If you were to look underneath the Main Street Viaduct, the condition that it is in, becomes very apparent.
There are quite a few spots where wiring is exposed and concrete has even fallen onto the train tracks below.
Mayor Terry Hartwick and NLR's chief engineer Chris Wilbourn both said despite its outward appearance, the infrastructure is safe for people to travel everyday.
However, the viaduct cannot be repaired and the structure will need to be replaced.
For people in North Little Rock, the Main Street Viaduct has been a vital route.
"17,000 cars a day going and coming," Hartwick said.
The years haven't exactly been kind to the bridge, and Mayor Hartwick has been among those that have pushed for its replacement.
"I started looking and I started bringing our congressional district down and taking them underneath the bridge," Hartwick stated.
He said that the city has applied for the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant.
The grant could provide a unique opportunity for the DOT to invest in road, rail, transit and port projects that would promise to achieve various national objectives.
Hartwick mentioned that in all, the construction would cost between $30 million to $35 million, and the federal grant would cover about $25 million.
Mayor Hartwick said the city is prepared to pay the remaining amount.
A report by the Federal Highway Administration completed in 2021 listed the bridge as being in "poor" condition.
Wilbourn said he's studied and worked on a replacement bridge for more than five years.
"We've done some preliminary layout work of the bridge," Wilbourn mentioned.
The next step, he added, would be to do design and environmental work.
"The bridge is a historical bridge, so there's a process that you go through on replacement of the historical bridges," Wilbourn said.
One the city's biggest hurdles is the Union Pacific railyard which runs right underneath the viaduct.
"The viaduct bridge crosses all their main lines," Wilbourn said.
North Little Rock is a major hub for the company, so consideration of an "accelerated bridge construction project" is taken into account.
Crews would build the foundation of the new bridge first and add the main portion of the bridge toward the end of the project.
Wilbourn hopes that can be done rather quickly while disruption to the Union Pacific rail traffic is kept as small as possible..
Mayor Hartwick said he is happy that leaders have decided to take action.
"Our city engineers have to make sure things are safe. So we're there every month, watching it [to] make sure it doesn't get any worse," Hartwick said.
Hartwick and Wilbourn mentioned the demolition and construction process of the new Main Street Viaduct won't begin until after the I-30 project that is currently underway, has been completed.