A crew works Monday on the exit ramp of the flyover bridge which will connect northbound College Avenue traffic to either the Fulbright Expressway or the business park near Olive Garden.
Photo by Todd Gill, Flyer staff
Prep work for the next phase of construction on the College Avenue flyover bridge in north Fayetteville will close the outer, westbound lane of the Fulbright Expressway for two nights this week.
Drivers entering the Fulbright Expressway from southbound College Avenue will shift to the left lane for approximately 2,000 feet on Tuesday and Wednesday beginning at 8 p.m. The area will be re-opened to two travel lanes before rush hour on the following mornings.
Another traffic shift was put in place last month to allow for construction of a retaining wall and bridge ramp on College Avenue just north of Millsap Road. That shift is expected to remain in place for about 45 more days.
The $7.5 million project is scheduled for completion in May 2014.
College Avenue flyover bridge
The College Avenue flyover bridge is one of three projects in the Fayetteville Expressway Economic Development Corridor plan, which also includes a completed roundabout at Futrall Drive and Northhills Boulevard, and an extension and widening of Van Asche Drive between Gregg and Garland avenues.
The flyover will provide an alternative for northbound College Avenue drivers who normally make a U-turn at Joyce Boulevard to access the Fulbright Expressway. Once complete, drivers may instead take a left lane bridge just north of Millsap Road that extends over southbound College Avenue traffic to head west on the Fulbright Expressway or exit onto Mall Avenue between Olive Garden and Logan’s Roadhouse.
The estimated $7.5 million flyover project is 80 percent funded by a 2006 federal earmark appropriation. The city’s portion will be paid from the Transportation Bond Fund. Emery Sapp and Sons, Inc. is handling construction of the bridge and roadway improvements, Jacobs Engineering, Inc. is providing construction management and inspection services, and SourceGas, Inc. relocated a gas main.
