BENTONVILLE -- State highway officials and dignitaries gathered Wednesday to mark 6.4 miles of the Bella Vista Bypass being almost finished.
The road still doesn't go to Missouri and no one can drive on it yet, but it will be open early next week. There are only a couple miles left to reach the Missouri state line on the west end. All that remains before the section opens is some miscellaneous paving and striping.
Fast facts
• Project overview: Constructing the initial two lanes of a four-lane highway from U.S. 71B, Walton Boulevard, to Arkansas 72 South in Benton County. Construction includes an interim roundabout to connect the Bella Vista Bypass with U.S. 71B.
• Length: 6.4 miles.
• Cost: $52.7 million (contract award).
• Contractor: Kolb Grading, St. Charles, Mo.
• Construction start: April 2014.
Completion: May 2017.
Source: ATHD
Members of the Arkansas Highway Commission and Scott Bennett, director of the Highway and Transportation Department, were joined by U.S. Congressman Steve Womack, R-3rd District, at the east end of the McKisick Creek Bridge on the new portion of the bypass for the ribbon cutting.
"Once this opens, and it'll open the early part of next week, we'll have 12 miles of the Bella Vista Bypass complete," Bennett said. "Initially we're building two lanes, we have bought the right-of-way for four lanes. We have spent about $130 million to date to get us to this point. So, that 12 miles will end up connecting Highway 71 in Bentonville to County Road 34 in the western part of Benton County."
Construction on the bypass started in 2011 with the Hiwasse Bypass, Bennett said. Work began in April 2014 on the $52.7 million section of the bypass that stretches from Arkansas 72 east of Hiwasse to Walton Boulevard in Bentonville.
"We still have two and a half miles on the north end to complete. We also have an interchange on the south end," Bennett said. "The interchange, the two lane connection of the north end and the additional two lanes to make it a complete interstate is about $120 million. We have that money set aside and we're ready to go when Missouri is ready to make their connection. We're ready to complete this project as soon as we can."
Bennett said they're not building the new interchange yet because through traffic in the area is still on Walton Boulevard and they don't want that traffic to have to stop.
Bennett said the project represents a commitment to provide infrastructure improvements voters said they wanted when they passed a half-cent sales tax in 2012 for a major highway improvement program.
"You're standing on an investment, it's an investment in the future," Bennett said. "It's an investment in mobility, it's an investment in increased safety, it's an investment in the future for I-49, and it's also an investment in the economy."
Highway Commission Chairman Dick Trammel said the project started with several visionaries and will become a reality.
"I think about Mr. Sam Walton, I think about Don Tyson and I think about J.B. Hunt this morning, the leaders that helped make us the fifth fastest growing area in this country," Trammel said. "But, 25 years ago when they started the Northwest Arkansas Council, they discussed maybe we could get a bypass at Bella Vista someday. Here's my point, it started then and somebody will finish it. The founders of Northwest Arkansas would be happy today with every one of you here. You took an idea and you made it real."
Womack said the project shows what can happen when Northwest Arkansas residents decide to take the initiative to address issues themselves rather that waiting for outside assistance.
"This is about community and this is about what we do collectively to improve ourselves," Womack said. "People in Northwest Arkansas have a tendency to take responsibility for what they need. It isn't that we enjoy paying higher taxes, quite the contrary, it's a reflection that people here know the needs are immediate and we can't wait for the federal government to do something like this on their time schedule. This project is indeed about jobs, this project is about safety and this project is about quality of life."
Gregg Sweeten, mayor of Pineville, Mo., said his city is part of Northwest Arkansas even if it is just across the state line.
"We're looking forward to the future development, business opportunities, things like that and each step that brings it closer to us just helps us," Sweeten said. "We're actually in the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Area, the whole city of Pineville is, and we meet with Arkansas folks more than we meet with Missouri."
Once the new section is open, the route will be signed as Arkansas 549 as well as Future I-49. Motorists in western Benton County, southwestern Bella Vista and Gravette will be able to travel from Benton County Road 34 to I-49, a total of 12.1 miles, without a stoplight. There will be two exits, one on each side of Hiwasse.
Missouri Department of Transportation officials have said finishing their missing portion of the Bella Vista Bypass is a top priority, they just need $32.2 million to do the four-lane section between Pineville, Mo., and the state line.
Completion of the Bella Vista Bypass to interstate standards would fill the last gap on I-49 between Fort Smith and Kansas City, Mo.
NW News on 05/11/2017