LITTLE ROCK (10-21) The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD), in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), has completed an Environmental Assessment (EA) for highway 65/82 improvements between the Lake Village Tourist Information Center and the Mississippi River Bridge in Chicot County .

     The EA evaluated alternatives for improving different sections of existing Highways 65 and 82, including improvements to the existing highway and six new location alternatives, and presented them at a Public Hearing on March 6, 2008.  After consideration of information contained in the EA and the comments received at the Public Hearing, the AHTD has identified Alternative 1, widening on the existing highway alignment, as the Selected Alternative (see map). Alternative 1 will consist of four 12-foot travel lanes with an 11-foot painted median and eight foot shoulders.

     This alignment meets the primary purpose and need of the project by improving safety and the flow of traffic through the area. The alternative will successfully carry the corridor’s projected traffic volumes, and should thereby satisfy the needs of the area for the next twenty years.  Alternative 1 is the shortest and least expensive of the alternatives and had the highest number of supporting comments from the public.

     The section of the project which has already been designed, between the Tourist Information Center and Fairview , will proceed to construction.  For the section between Fairview and the Mississippi River Bridge , the next step in project development will be to complete surveys and preliminary design. Once the preliminary design is completed and right of way limits are established, a Design Public Hearing will be held in the area.                                                                     

    After comments from this Design Public Hearing have been addressed, the AHTD will request approval from the Federal Highway Administration in order to proceed with implementation of the proposed improvements between Fairview and the Mississippi River Bridge .

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