Construction on another State Transportation Infrastructure Project has begun on Southwest Drive at the corner of Highland.
When finished, ARDOT’s work will add lanes in every direction of a widened intersection. The State has spent the past two years securing right of way and moving infrastructure to accommodate this work.
“For a while, this is going to slow traffic from different directions at various times along that stretch,” Mayor Harold Copenhaver said. “But in the end, it will improve traffic much like the widening at Caraway and Highland has done.”
For the next couple of weeks, workers will remove the curb on the southeast corner of the intersection that will eventually become a dedicated right-turn lane from Southwest Drive onto Highland.
Eventually, lanes will be added in both directions on Main Street/Southwest Drive, improving traffic flow onto and off of Highland.
The work is part of the $90 million, 2016 STIP grant awarded to Jonesboro and Northeast Arkansas and includes the Caraway-Highland interchange and the railroad overpasses on Highland and Nettleton streets, among others.