NEW STRETCH of U.S. 70 set to open Friday.

The newly widened 18-mile section of U.S. 70 between Benton and Hot Springs is on track to open this week after rain thwarted plans to open it ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.

The $78.6 million project, which was started 15 months ago and was completed almost three months ahead of schedule, widened the highway to five lanes from what was largely a two-lane road that had gained notoriety for a number of fatal traffic crashes.

Greg Spann, pastor of the Cross Bar C Cowboy Church, called the finished product “outstanding” even though

on Wednesday evening orange traffic barrels remained outside his church off U.S. 70 just a little west of the Interstate 30/U.S. 70 interchange.

“This road needed improvement,” he said. “It was very dangerous. The project has increased the travel-ability of the road.”

In addition to widening the highway, the work straightened curves, flattened hills, reconstructed four bridges and installed a traffic light at Arkansas 128, which began operation Wednesday.

In all, 1 million cubic yards of dirt were moved, 347,000 tons of asphalt laid, 11,000 tons of concrete poured and 1.1 million tons of structural steel erected, according to Department of Transportation figures.

Workers were putting the finishing touches on the highway this week, said Danny Straessle, a department spokesman.

The work included profiling the route, which involves checking the roughness and other highway quality measures and, if necessary, fixing anything crews find, he said.

“Definitely by [Friday] it will

be open,” Straessle said.

The end of the project might prove a mixed blessing for some businesses such as the Ten Mile Grocery and Deli in Lonsdale.

The construction likely cost the store some business, but it was offset by a steady stream of construction workers, according to employees Madison Eslinger and Harley Winfrey.

“Business might go down,” Eslinger said.

Spann said he worried that attendance at his church would fall off during construction. But attendance remained between 80 and 100 weekly, he said.

He said he and his congregants remaining positive throughout construction helped. They invited the contractors, McGeorge Contracting of Little Rock, and its subcontractors to use the church as a meeting place. The church held a barbecue for workers.

The project will make it easier and safer to get in and out of the church parking lot, Spann said.

“We like it,” he said. Spann will join state and local dignitaries for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the end of the project at 11 a.m. Friday at the U.S. 70 rest area at 4808 E. Grand Ave. in Hot Springs.

Presumably, the orange barrels will be gone.