FORT SMITH -- State officials and developers expect the opening of Arkansas 549 -- part of the future Interstate 49 -- to be a catalyst for development along the highway's corridor.
All along the 6-mile stretch that passes through Chaffee Crossing, developers and officials have been waiting for traffic to start flowing.
"Development usually follows pavement," said Danny Straessle, spokesman for the Highway Department.
Larry Webb of Hot Springs has been working with landowners to develop a mall next to the northern tip of the highway at Barling.
He said potential tenants -- including large anchor companies -- liked the location, but the idea was put on hold because no one wanted to commit to the project until there was traffic on the highway, he said.
Webb was one of about 150 people on hand Tuesday watching from an overpass of the future interstate as Gov. Asa Hutchinson cut the ribbon opening the highway connecting Arkansas 22 and Arkansas 59 at Barling with U.S. 71 south of Fort Smith.
Webb said Friday he expects to have mall tenants begin signing up within a month.
"I think now that it's open, you're going to see an explosion of development not just along the interstate, but adjacent to it," said Ivy Owen, director of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority.
According to the Highway Department, Arkansas 549 was designed using a 2012 traffic count of 23,900 vehicles a day, with an estimated 42,300 daily users by 2032.
The business community has been waiting for Arkansas 549 to open for a long time, Webb said.
Jason Hughey, the Highway Department's western Arkansas construction engineer, said the project to complete the 6 miles of interstate-grade highway has taken nine years to complete in six contracts.
Department director Scott Bennett said the cost was $130 million.
Owen said developers and companies have bought land on all four corners of the intersection of Massard Road and Chad Colley Boulevard, major streets at Chaffee Crossing less than a quarter-mile from Arkansas 549.
Now that the highway is open, Owen said he expects the development on those corners to begin. Planned for the intersection are mixed commercial and residential uses, a restaurant and a bank.
"I think that's the kind of land use potentials we're going to see," said Wally Bailey, director of Fort Smith's Development Services Department.
Bailey was referring to the potential for development at the intersection of Arkansas 549 with U.S. 71 at the southern end of the highway section. He said city leaders are considering beginning the process to annex 875 acres there because of the potential for development.
In a memorandum to city directors last week, Bailey wrote one of the advantages of annexation would be to extend city services -- water, sewer, police and fire protection -- to developers as they plan new projects.
In the memo, Bailey wrote most of the property owners in the area favor being annexed into the city. The city has taken no action on annexation, but he wrote the matter is ripe for action by the board.
He said opening the highway was the kind of event "that says there is inclined to be significant development in this area, and we should start making plans for that."
Barling Mayor Jerry Barling said he was excited about the benefits the highway will deliver to the town of 4,649. But the greater potential for development will come when Interstate 49 bridges the Arkansas River north of Barling and connects with I-49 at Alma.
The long gap in the interstate also must be closed between Fort Smith and Texarkana to complete the highway from Canada to New Orleans.
"We celebrate today, but we also recognize that the job is not completed," Hutchinson said Tuesday.
He told officials to continue to work with state legislators and the congressional delegation for approval of a permanent federal highway bill that could provide the money to complete I-49 in Arkansas.
NW News on 07/20/2015