Section of 412 Northern Bypass set to open

SPRINGDALE — The first section of the U.S. 412 Northern Bypass is set to open later this month, according to state highway officials.

The Arkansas Department of Transportation has set an April 18 ribbon cutting for the 4-mile section between Interstate 49 and Arkansas 112. The ceremony will be at 11 a.m. on the new road just west of Interstate 49.

The bypass is intended to relieve congestion through Springdale on U.S. 412 (West Sunset Avenue), South Thompson Street and West Robinson Avenue. It is the city’s main east-west route.

The bypass will curve back south and connect to U.S. 412 on the west side of Springdale near Tontitown. It may eventually serve as a jumping off spot for an access road to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.

The project includes a divided highway, 12 bridges and new interchanges at Arkansas 112, just north of Marchant Road and Carrie Smith Road, and I-49 between Springdale’s Wagon Wheel Road and West Monroe Avenue in Lowell.

The eastern half of the bypass eventually will connect to U.S. 412 near Sonora, east of Springdale, but money hasn’t been appropriated for that part of the project.

Work on the project started in April 2015. The project was the most expensive job in Highway Department history when it was let at just more than $100 million. Money from the 10-year, half-percent state sales tax approved by voters in November 2012 is paying for the road.

The section wasn’t expected to open until the middle of next year. Eutaw Construction of Aberdeen, Miss., is building the road.

Ron Wood can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWARDW.

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