Central Arkansas Water owns the next big construction job on Cantrell Road between Taylor Loop Road and Pleasant Ridge Road. On Sept. 10, the utility's board approved a $5,313,000 contract with Diamond Construction to move water lines out of the way of the future widening. CAW expects that work to be done by May 2027. The six-lane road project it is getting ready for is still in design, and the earliest funding year listed for it is 2028.
That timing affects how you plan around Highway 10 for the next several years. If you drive the corridor northwest of Chenal Valley, past Pinnacle Valley Road, the Kroger Marketplace and Sam Peck Road, you'll see two separate projects on two separate schedules, with the pipe work set to finish before the road job's earliest listed funding year.
Central Arkansas Water goes first
A road can't be widened over pipes that sit where the new lanes and drainage will go, so the pipes move first. According to the September board minutes Central Arkansas Water published in its October packet, the contract covers about half a mile of 36-inch water line and about a quarter mile of 8-inch and 12-inch line along Cantrell near Taylor Loop Road. The contract item in the Sept. 10 board packet gives the footage:
- About 2,345 feet of 36-inch transmission main
- About 405 feet of 12-inch distribution main
- About 1,195 feet of 8-inch distribution main
CAW staff called the job "unusually complex," pointing to heavy traffic, crowded underground utilities, drainage structures and the development already lining the road. Bids opened June 30, and Diamond Construction had the low bid.
ARDOT will reimburse 25.5% of the bid, about $1.38 million, which leaves CAW's net cost near its $4.5 million budget for the project. The utility, in other words, covers most of the cost of moving its pipes for a state highway job. The minutes describe the job as preparation for "Phase 2 highway widening and drainage improvements between Pleasant Ridge Road and Taylor Loop Road."
Any orange barrels you see between Taylor Loop and Pleasant Ridge this winter and spring will most likely belong to the pipe job, with May 2027 as CAW's target finish. That's the utility moving out of the road's way. Construction of the widening itself hasn't started.
Where the road project actually stands
ARDOT tracks the widening as Job 061382, a 2.31-mile major widening from Taylor Loop Road to Pleasant Ridge Road. On the Pulaski County project summary dated Nov. 3, 2026, its status is "Programmed," with an estimated cost of $40 million to $50 million. ARDOT's schedule of its next three bid lettings, current as of Oct. 2, does not include Job 061382. The first letting on that schedule is Jan. 20, 2027.
Further down in the planning documents, the timeline gets longer. ARDOT's July 2026 staff minutes list roadway design at 60% complete and tie the job to federal fiscal year 2028 in the state's improvement program. They also note an eight-week advertisement period once the job goes out for bids. Metroplan's draft 2027–2030 regional Transportation Improvement Program lists $2.5 million for the job in fiscal year 2030.
Older reporting set expectations earlier. In 2023, KATV reported ARDOT's estimate that construction would begin in 2026 and take two years. The 2026 records show the project still in preconstruction.
Right-of-way work is moving forward, though. On Oct. 5, the Little Rock Board of Directors took up an amended resolution on selling a piece of city-owned land to the Arkansas State Highway Commission for the Taylor Loop–Pleasant Ridge project. The amendment reflects the Commission's decision that it no longer needs a temporary construction easement, along with a corrected property description. City staff recommended adopting it, which would raise the city's compensation from $67,848 under the original March 2024 resolution to $69,566.
Here is the corridor's timeline in one place:
| Date | Milestone | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 2020 | Phase 1, Pleasant Ridge Rd. to Pleasant Valley Dr., let for bids | ARDOT county summary |
| Oct. 20, 2022 | Public hearing on the Phase 2 design | ARDOT project page |
| June 2023 | Phase 1 completed | ARDOT county summary |
| March 19, 2024 | City authorizes right-of-way sale for Phase 2 | City of Little Rock |
| Sept. 10, 2026 | CAW approves $5.3 million water main contract | CAW minutes |
| Oct. 5, 2026 | Amended right-of-way sale goes before the city board | City of Little Rock |
| May 2027 | CAW's estimated finish for the pipe work | CAW packet |
| FFY 2028 | Phase 2 funding year in ARDOT staff minutes | ARDOT minutes |
| FY 2030 | Phase 2 funding year in Metroplan's draft program | Metroplan |
The stretch east of Pleasant Ridge is a useful yardstick
The section just east of the Phase 2 limits shows how long a Cantrell widening can take once it is under contract. Phase 1, Job 061331, ran 2.12 miles from Pleasant Ridge Road to Pleasant Valley Drive. It was let in February 2020 and completed in June 2023, at a total cost of $81,049,325. When ARDOT announced the ribbon-cutting in May 2023, it named Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. as the contractor.
That comes to about three years and four months from letting to completion on a stretch slightly shorter than the 2.31 miles still to come. Phase 1 cost about $81 million, compared with the $40 million to $50 million estimate for Phase 2. Whatever the cost difference, the pattern from Phase 1 is a multiyear construction period that begins only after the bidding process ends.
This segment also carries a lot of traffic. ARDOT's staff minutes put it at 31,000 to 36,000 vehicles a day, and the job's work zone policy is rated "Significant."
What the drive looks like once Phase 2 is built
The design presented at the 2022 hearing changes how drivers turn, not only how many lanes there are. Today the road has four 11-foot lanes and a continuous center left-turn lane. ARDOT's environmental assessment replaces that with six 12-foot lanes and a raised median. For daily errands, these are the changes that matter most:
- No more turning left from the center lane. The raised median, 16 feet wide in ARDOT's project proposal, means left turns happen at signalized intersections or at one of five U-turn bays.
- New signals and turn lanes at four locations. The plan calls for intersection work at Taylor Loop Road, Pinnacle Valley Road, the Kroger Marketplace and Sam Peck Road, with Pleasant Ridge Road as the eastern end of the project.
- Sidewalks on both sides. The cross-section includes five-foot sidewalks with three-foot grass strips separating them from traffic.
If you're used to cutting left across the center lane into a shopping center driveway, that move goes away. You'll either go to the next signal or loop through a U-turn bay. The proposal reflects the 2022 design, and details can change as roadway design moves past 60%.
ARDOT's county summary also lists a separate, smaller project, "Arkansas River Trail Cantrell Rd.," Job 061814, as programmed at under $1 million. It has its own job number and isn't part of the widening contract.
Keeping track of the pipe work
Short-term lane restrictions on state highways, including Cantrell, show up on IDriveArkansas, ARDOT's live closure map. Central Arkansas Water's board packets, posted on carkw.com, are where the utility reports on its contracts, including this one. When Job 061382 shows up on ARDOT's letting schedule, the notes in its staff minutes call for an eight-week advertisement period.
If you're wondering how a multiyear Cantrell project might affect selling or buying near Taylor Loop, Pinnacle Valley or Pleasant Ridge, Will Smith is glad to walk through it with you. Let's find your next home, or see what your property is worth.
