That portion of the interstate will be widened soon to six lanes, the news agency reported, causing lane closures and traffic delays that could last past the end of this year.
The roadway is part of a section of I-40 that has the third-largest truck volume in the United States, after portions of the Pennsylvania and Ohio turnpikes, Lane Kidd of the Arkansas Trucking Association told The AP.
The work will occur between the intersection of I-40 and I-430, on the northwest side of the Little Rock metropolitan area, and the intersection of I-40 and I-30, just north of the center of the city.
Kidd told The AP one common detour route that companies may give drivers would be U.S. 64, which runs from I-40 in Conway, AR, to U.S. 67, a four-lane road near the town of Beebe. That 34-mile-long detour is roughly 33 miles north of Little Rock. From Beebe, truckers can go northeast on U.S. 67, or take one of several routes that runs south to eastbound I-40.
