Spa City route opens in October

U.S. 70 connector will speed traffic to Hot Springs Village

HOT SPRINGS — The Arkansas Department of Transportation said it expects to open the 5.8-mile extension of the King Expressway in October.

“In fact, we are in the planning stages of a ribbon cutting for late October,” the department said of the two-lane route connecting the U.S. 70 east interchange to the junction of Arkansas 5 and Arkansas 7. “This work is weather dependent, and this can impact the schedule.”

An October opening would put completion 14 months behind the August 2022 date the department projected when McGeorge Contracting began threading the route through the rugged back country east of Hot Springs in late 2019.

The Transportation Department projected a May 2023 opening last spring after revealing its bridge division sent incorrect information to the manufacturer of mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls for the bridge over Mill Creek Road. The mistake wasn’t discovered until the walls had been built and proved too short and steep for a proper slope.

“Due to the small angle of the MSE walls, a safe slope along the edge of the roadway was not obtained,” according to the $1.17 million change order the state Highway Commission authorized. “Therefore, it was determined that additional MSE walls must be constructed in order to flatten the slopes at the bridge ends.”

The bridge has since been fixed.

“Work at the Mill Creek Road bridge has been completed,” the Transportation Department said. “The old bridge has been removed, and the portion of the bypass affected by the old bridge has been paved.”

Issues with bridges over Covenant Trail and Quarry Mountain Road revealed this spring pushed the May opening into the fall. The Transportation Department said base material under the bridge ends failed to properly compact, causing them to settle and the bridge decks to slide on their bearing plates. The movement closed the bridges’ expansion joints.

Drilling compaction grout under the ends, at a cost of $389,298, was the costliest of the more than a dozen items in the $1.07 million change order the department requested.

“The work at Quarry Mountain and Covenant Trail is underway,” the department said. “The compaction grouting work for each bridge end approach is finished at both sites. Repairs to the actual bridge ends are nearing completion at Quarry Mountain, with work at the Covenant Trail site set to begin next week and expected to be complete around Sept 1.

“Asphalt paving and guardrail installation will ensue at both sites upon completion of the bridge work, with final striping, rumble strips and other remaining miscellaneous items following shortly thereafter.”

The Transportation Department has said the more than $85 million extension will cut travel time in half from Hot Springs to Hot Springs Village.

“ArDOT and our contractor, McGeorge, are continuing to work together to expedite the work and looking forward to opening this beautiful and important [extension] as soon as possible,” the department said.