ArDOT crews urging caution on roadway near construction

LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ark. (KAIT) - Roadwork will occur on Highway 63 in Lawrence, Greene, and Craighead County.

The Arkansas Department of Transportation announced the roadwork was beginning Sept. 12 on Highway 63.

ArDOT District 10 Engineer Brad Smithee said crews are hard at work.

Workers will be moving in and around lanes of traffic, so now is the time to be aware.

“What we’re doing today, what you’ll see around, is very common. Traffic Control, we ask all drivers to be careful,” said Smithee. “It’s a construction zone, slow down and put your phone down, please. That’s the most important thing. Pay attention to what is going on.”

Smithee said it’s not that the road is unusable or harmful, but it’s required to keep infrastructure in tip-top shape.

“There’s the term maintenance. A lot of folks would look at this as maintenance, but it’s really not,” said Smithee. “It’s reconstructing this roadway. It’s putting new life into this roadway.”

He said he understands roadwork can be frustrating but is necessary for everyone’s safety.

“Work will be going on over the next few weeks. then we will be doing some striping, some other road work, and some things that go with all this,” said Smithee. “Right now we have the completion date of late this year. It will be done by the end of this year.”

Smithee said that when near roadwork in the future, keep your hands on the wheel, not your phone.

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