The Department of Transportation announced construction will begin this summer in West Monroe to widen a 3.2 mile stretch of Arkansas Road between LA 143 and Caldwell Road. DOTD Spokesperson Marshall Hill says the road will be turned into four lanes and a center turn lane will be added to help alleviate traffic.
Marshall Hill says “this is an area of West Monroe that’s built up over recent years, especially with the three schools.”
Hill says four round-a-bouts will also be added at major intersections. He says the project should take three years to complete.
Construction will began very soon as Hill says they’ve been able to “let a previous project to clear about a mile of the roadway and relocate the utilities, so the contractors will immediately be able to begin actual work on the roadway.”
Hill says the project will cost $32.9 million dollars. He says they are excited construction will begin soon because this project has been delayed since 1981.
“We often hear stories from people at our meetings that say 'when I first moved here, they told me that this project was about to be built and that was twenty years ago.' It’s been in the works a long time and just luckily we’re about to see it come into fruition.”