I-40/55 Service Road Closure in West Memphis, AR

[ixnay]

I couldn't find a general Arkansas roads thread and this really has nothing to do with the DeSoto Bridge closure, so I gave this its own thread.

It's a little after 0800 CDT on 06.07.2021, and the south service road alongside I-40 from exit 275, through the 40-55 multiplex, ending at the junction with US 70 near the latter road's merge point with I-55, all in West Memphis, is closed, quite apart from the DeSoto Bridge closure.  Why?

ixnay

[sprjus4]

I couldn't find a general Arkansas roads thread and this really has nothing to do with the DeSoto Bridge closure, so I gave this its own thread.

It's a little after 0800 CDT on 06.07.2021, and the south service road alongside I-40 from exit 275, through the 40-55 multiplex, ending at the junction with US 70 near the latter road's merge point with I-55, all in West Memphis, is closed, quite apart from the DeSoto Bridge closure.  Why?

ixnay

... probably to deter traffic from exiting and avoiding backups - ultimately causing another one where the two merge back together... caused by the DeSoto Bridge closure.

[bwana39]

I would expect to keep the backed up traffic from trying to take the service road to miss the I-55 confluence. IE make all the through traffic remain on the I-40 / I-55 main lanes.

I couldn't find a general Arkansas roads thread and this really has nothing to do with the DeSoto Bridge closure, so I gave this its own thread.

It's a little after 0800 CDT on 06.07.2021, and the south service road alongside I-40 from exit 275, through the 40-55 multiplex, ending at the junction with US 70 near the latter road's merge point with I-55, all in West Memphis, is closed, quite apart from the DeSoto Bridge closure.  Why?

ixnay

[vdeane]

I couldn't find a general Arkansas roads thread and this really has nothing to do with the DeSoto Bridge closure, so I gave this its own thread.

It's a little after 0800 CDT on 06.07.2021, and the south service road alongside I-40 from exit 275, through the 40-55 multiplex, ending at the junction with US 70 near the latter road's merge point with I-55, all in West Memphis, is closed, quite apart from the DeSoto Bridge closure.  Why?

ixnay

... probably to deter traffic from exiting and avoiding backups - ultimately causing another one where the two merge back together... caused by the DeSoto Bridge closure.

Which is exactly what Google was advising people do for a while, so I'm sure it was an issue.  I do wonder how people are supposed to access the businesses there, though - especially as Google actually shows practically every arterial road in West Memphis as closed when zoomed in!  It's like they shut down the whole town or something.

[Evan_Th]

I couldn't find a general Arkansas roads thread and this really has nothing to do with the DeSoto Bridge closure, so I gave this its own thread.

It's a little after 0800 CDT on 06.07.2021, and the south service road alongside I-40 from exit 275, through the 40-55 multiplex, ending at the junction with US 70 near the latter road's merge point with I-55, all in West Memphis, is closed, quite apart from the DeSoto Bridge closure.  Why?

ixnay

... probably to deter traffic from exiting and avoiding backups - ultimately causing another one where the two merge back together... caused by the DeSoto Bridge closure.

Which is exactly what Google was advising people do for a while, so I'm sure it was an issue.  I do wonder how people are supposed to access the businesses there, though - especially as Google actually shows practically every arterial road in West Memphis as closed when zoomed in!  It's like they shut down the whole town or something.

I'd guess they aren't actually closed; they're just reported to Google as closed to stop Google's algorithm from routing people down them.

[webny99]

The backup does (at least at the time of this post) seem to be much better now than it has been. I suspect the on-ramps from the service road were an underrated cause of the backup in the first place. Of course, traffic can still use US 70, which is what Google suggests now, in fact.

I'd be very interested to know what it's like on the ground there. Maybe they're using temporary "local traffic only" signs like what is sometimes done to give residents/businesses access during a construction-related closure. Or maybe Evan_Th is correct and there's no closures/restrictions at all.

[ixnay]

I couldn't find a general Arkansas roads thread and this really has nothing to do with the DeSoto Bridge closure, so I gave this its own thread.

It's a little after 0800 CDT on 06.07.2021, and the south service road alongside I-40 from exit 275, through the 40-55 multiplex, ending at the junction with US 70 near the latter road's merge point with I-55, all in West Memphis, is closed, quite apart from the DeSoto Bridge closure.  Why?

ixnay

... probably to deter traffic from exiting and avoiding backups - ultimately causing another one where the two merge back together... caused by the DeSoto Bridge closure.

Which is exactly what Google was advising people do for a while, so I'm sure it was an issue.  I do wonder how people are supposed to access the businesses there, though - especially as Google actually shows practically every arterial road in West Memphis as closed when zoomed in!  It's like they shut down the whole town or something.

Including AR 191, end to end (from AR 77 to US 70).

ixnay