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Westbound I-40 closed, eastbound lanes still open


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Updated: 5/05/2011 9:59 am Published: 5/05/2011 8:13 am
HAZEN, Ark. (AP) - Eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 remain open while 23 miles of westbound lanes from Brinkley to Hazen are closed because of flooding from the rain-swollen White River.

Arkansas State Highway Transportation Department spokesman Glenn Bolick said Thursday morning that westbound drivers are being diverted off I-40 at Brinkley for a 120 mile detour to get to Little Rock. Brinkley is about 70 miles east of Little Rock.

Bolick said flooding appears imminent on the eastbound side and those lanes may also be shut down. He said it's not clear how deep the water is and that the biggest concern is that portions of the road may have been washed away.

He said he hopes westbound lanes can reopen Friday or Saturday - but they may remain closed until Monday.

 

©2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of FOX16 - Breaking News and Weather to Plan Your Day for Little Rock and Central Arkansas

Majique - 5/5/2011 2:53 PM
0 Votes
Splitting the eastbound lane sounds like a logical solution, initially. However, splitting a directional highway has length (distance)limitations, emergency pulloff requirements, exits, etc. While lanes can be split in construction areas where exits and pulloffs are available, the water penetrating across the westbound lane and well into the median eliminates westbound exit and pulloff opportunities. A disabled vehicle in the westbound split would completely close that lane of traffic, creating even more kaos.

JyG35 - 5/5/2011 1:51 PM
0 Votes
Razorback, my husband - who is STUCK IN THE 120 MILE DETOUR RIGHT NOW - said the exact same thing!!! Why not just run one lane of the EASTbound lanes for WEST bound traffic?? seems silly. Maybe because the closing of the Eastbound lanes in iminent and then it would be even more of a mess, who knows. He said people are out of their cars, milling around... It's gonna be a long trip into LR! :-(

Razorback - 5/5/2011 11:37 AM
1 Vote
Why not just treat the north side of the open section of highway as the westbound lane and the southern side as the eastbound and split the two with cones? It makes no sense to force drivers to make such a long detour when there is a usable road right there.
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