A project now underway to widen Albert Pike Road (Highway 270) to five lanes will require closing Haven Hill Lane for several days beginning Wednesday, the Arkansas Department of Transportation said this week.
Also, on Friday, ArDOT and the Arkansas Highway Commission urged a unified effort between citizens and workers to increase work zone safety following two ArDOT employee deaths in work zones in a matter of weeks.
Weather permitting, crews will temporarily close access to Haven Hill Lane at its connection with Albert Pike on Wednesday and continue through Friday.
"This will enable crews to install a box culvert as they continue to widen Highway 270," a news release said.
Traffic will be controlled with message boards, signage, and construction barrels. Detour routes for Haven Hill Lane and its connecting neighborhood will be signed to use Disney Street.
(An ArDOT map accompanying this article shows the work area.)
The project is part of ArDOT's Connecting Arkansas Program and includes widening 1.5 miles of Albert Pike to five lanes and bike lanes, extending generally from Fleetwood Drive to Highway 227. The project also includes improvements to the interchange with Highway 227.
More information on the $22.6 million project is available at http://www.ConnectingArkansasProgram.com.
The public is asked to be cautious when traveling in the work zone and watch for slower traffic speeds, the department said, and in a separate statewide news release urged extra caution around work zones following the recent deaths of two employees.
ArDOT is "conducting a thorough review of the incidents to make sure crews are following all the proper safety protocols in work zones," the release said, and is also asking citizens to help by practicing safe driving through work zones.
"We are urging Arkansans to do their part: slow down in work zones, stay off the phone, and pay attention," ArDOT Director Lorie Tudor said in the release. "It's going to take all of us working together to reverse this concerning trend."
Last fall, ArDOT began development of a statewide work zone safety campaign, and on Feb. 2, ArDOT and industry stakeholders, together with Arkansas State Police and Arkansas Highway Police, will roll out the campaign that includes a "statewide increased enforcement of reckless and distracted driving laws in work zones."
"On behalf of the Arkansas Highway Commission, we are deeply saddened and concerned by the alarming rise in work zone crashes, injuries and deaths in Arkansas -- especially the two most recent deaths in the past month," Robert Moore, commission chair, said in the release. "Our hearts go out to the families whose loved ones went to work one day and never made it home."