I-30 project in Little Rock, Ark., gets legal win for funds

The Arkansas Supreme Court has delivered good news for backers of the I-30 expansion through downtown Little Rock, Ark.

The state’s high court, by a 6-1 vote on March 16, ruled that a highway sales tax can indeed be used to fund the project known as the 30 Crossing project, according to a report from The Associated Press.

The ruling reversed a lower court’s ruling from just over a year ago. The lower court had ruled the Arkansas Constitution prohibits using the money on highways like I-30 when they have more than four lanes.

Voters in 2020 approved making permanent a highway sales tax that had been scheduled to sunset. Unlike the previous sales tax (approved by voters in 2012), the new measure did not include language restricting it to funding four-lane highways. That was why justices in 2020 prohibited that tax from being used for the I-30 project.

“No language in the intent section of Amendment 101, or in the remainder of the amendment, indicates that the funds collected may only be utilized on four-lane-highway improvements,” the Arkansas Supreme Court said in its ruling.

The state Supreme Court ruled last week there’s no such constitutional prohibition on the way the highway agency plans to use the money, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. The case now goes back to the lower court for reconsideration based on the high court’s interpretation of the law, according to the Democrat-Gazette.

The half-cent sales tax takes effect in July, and the state had committed to use $350 million in revenue from it for the I-30 project.

The 30 Crossing project is one of the largest highway construction programs ever undertaken by the Arkansas Department of Transportation. Work began in fall 2020. The interstate bridge over the Arkansas River is being reconstructed and lanes are being added to the highway through Little Rock and North Little Rock, Ark.

Construction is expected to be complete by July 2025. LL

More Arkansas news is available.