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Little Rock to close part of Riverfront Drive as flooding threatens area


An office complex in Riverdale, where a section of Riverfront Drive will be closed due to the threat of flooding (Photo: KATV){ }
An office complex in Riverdale, where a section of Riverfront Drive will be closed due to the threat of flooding (Photo: KATV)
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Little Rock is closing part of Riverfront Drive as the Arkansas River continues to rise, the city announced Wednesday.

A roughly 1-mile stretch of the roadway between Cottondale Drive and Rebsamen Park Road will be closed starting Friday at 9 a.m., the city said in a news release. Riverfront Drive cuts through the Riverdale Levee, which forms a 2.86-mile ring around an area of office complexes, government buildings and apartment complexes valued at about $225 million, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Clay and sandbags will be positioned on the roadway to complete the ring, said Jay Whisker, a project manager at McLelland Consulting Engineers. The area will still be accessible from the west through Cedar Hill Road and Riverdale Road.

Whisker said the road closure is part of an operational plan to protect properties in the area from floodwater. He said Wednesday that walls known as stoplogs had already been installed in the area to help control the water level.

Heavy rainfall in Oklahoma has brought historic levels of flooding downstream from the river in Arkansas. The Arkansas River had risen 23.1 feet in Little Rock on Tuesday night, slightly above the flood stage of 23 feet. It's expected to crest at 5 feet above the flood stage on Monday.

Whisker said it's unclear how long that stretch of Riverfront Drive will be closed. He said engineers will decide when to remove sandbags and stoplogs once the water starts receding.

The Riverdale Levee was built in 1948 by local landowners and was found to be in minimally acceptable condition in 2015, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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