Missouri nearly finished with its 180 miles of I-49

December unveiling set;Arkansas’ part awaited

Missouri is almost finished with a 180-mile section of Interstate 49, the 900-mile highway that also will traverse Arkansas and Louisiana.

On Dec. 12, the Missouri Department of Transportation will officially unveil its I-49 corridor after three years of construction that cost $63.3 million, said Sean Matlock, the project manager.

Currently known as U.S. 71, the highway already was four lanes wide but not up to interstate standards. The work included 11 interchange projects, four overpasses and three outer road projects, said Matlock.

But the Missouri work doesn’t compare in scope with what must be done in Arkansas and Louisiana tocomplete Interstate 49. The cost will be about $5 billion to build an interstate through the swamps of southern Louisiana and $3 billion to construct I-49 through the rugged Ouachita Mountains of western Arkansas.

When that work will be completed isn’t known, although Louisiana is shooting for 2023, said Susan Stafford, a spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

“Funding dictates pace,” said Randy Ort, a spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.

Ort said Arkansas expects to have $4 billion for highway construction statewide over the next decade, and the state can’t spend three-fourths of that for I-49.

Ort said some of the I-49 corridor is completed in Arkansas, including Interstate 540 from Alma to Bella Vista. The biggest part that must be completed is from Texarkana to Fort Smith.

When completed, Interstate 49 will stretch from New Orleans to Kansas City.

The project was created by two congressional acts. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Act of 1991 called for I-49 from Kansas City to Lafayette, La. And 1998’s Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century extended the route from Lafayette to New Orleans, said Matlock.

In Louisiana, Interstate 49 from Lafayette to Shreveport was completed in 1996.

Work is scheduled to be completed by 2016 on a 36-mile, $361 million section from Shreveport to the Arkansas border, said Stafford. Then Louisiana will turn its attention to the 160-mile segment between Lafayette and New Orleans that is currently U.S. 90. That part is expected to cost $5 billion because much of it is over water, Stafford said.

Gard Wayt of Shreveport, executive director of the I-49 International Coalition, said I-49 will connect with Interstate 29 in Kansas City, forming a 1,700-mile interstate corridor from New Orleans to Winnipeg, Canada.

“We will then have an uninterrupted Interstate trade corridor that goes right through the middle of America,” he said. “There will be a huge influx of trade moved through the heart of America.”

The coalition lobbies lawmakers and looks for funding sources for Interstate 49. Wayt said the group has been meeting with county judges and quorum courts in southwest Arkansas about forming a regional mobility authority to seek funding for the project. He said the group will meet with people in Sebastian County this week. It’s already met with officials in Crawford, Scott, Polk, Sevier, Little River, Miller and Howard counties.

Matlock said Missouri cities along the I-49 designation expect the I-49 designation to bring economic benefits. Since spring, Missouri’s transportation department has put up some 3,000 signs along the route, but they’re facing away from traffic, said Matlock. That will change after Dec. 12.

“Our communities along the corridor are excited about it,” he said. “Businesses look for interstate routes when relocating. We think it’s a very big thing.”

A 5-mile section of Interstate 49 has yet to be completed in Missouri.

That part, from Pinevilleto the Arkansas border, will be part of the Bella Vista bypass. Matlock said Missouri is waiting for Arkansas to secure funding and begin building its 14-mile section of the bypass. When that happens, Missouri will spend $40 million to complete its part of the bypass, he said.

“Our highway commission is committed,” said Matlock. “When Arkansas is done, we’ll meet them at the state line.”

Tuesday in Arkansas, voters will consider ballot Issue 1, which is a proposed 0.5 percent sales and use tax for highways, streets and bridges.If the issue passes, about $100 million in tax revenue would be used to build a two-lane Bella Vista bypass, said Ort. Later, additional funding would have to be secured to make the bypass four lanes wide and interstate quality.

Matlock said he doesn’t know if Missouri would begin construction of its segment of the bypass if Arkansas builds only a two-lane bypass to the Missouri border.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 11/01/2012

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