Traffic moves along north College Avenue near the site of the new flyover bridge Wednesday evening.

Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer

City officials are inviting residents to help celebrate the opening of the new College Avenue flyover bridge in north Fayetteville.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 2 near the exit ramp of the flyover off Mall Avenue.

Parking for the event is available in the vacant restaurant lot just east of Red Robin on Van Asche Drive. Guests will be directed from the parking lot to the back-end of the flyover bridge for the ceremony.

Aerial photo of the work site in May.

Staff photo

Key speakers at the event are expected to drive across the bridge for the first time Wednesday before opening the flyover to the public.

Guests scheduled to appear at the ceremony include Senator Mark Pryor, Congressman Steve Womack, Arkansas State Highway Commissioner Dick Trammel, and several Fayetteville City Council members.

About the flyover

The new bridge 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 into the business district off Mall Avenue next to Olive Garden.

The estimated $6.3 million project was 80 percent funded by a 2006 federal earmark appropriation. The city’s portion was paid from the Transportation Bond Fund. Emery Sapp and Sons, Inc. handled construction of the bridge and roadway improvements, Jacobs Engineering, Inc. provided construction management and inspection services, and SourceGas, Inc. relocated a gas main.

The flyover 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 upcoming extension and widening of Van Asche Drive between Gregg and Garland avenues.