ROGERS -- Drivers will have to put up with a year of construction and then master a different kind of interchange at Interstate 49 and U.S. 71B between Rogers and Bentonville.
The single point, urban interchange will feature one traffic light controlling all traffic coming on and off the interstate and on 71B, which is Walton Boulevard in Bentonville and Walnut Street in Rogers. The interchange will be the first of its kind in Arkansas.
Projects
The Interstate 49 corridor has 17 projects, including interchange improvements and widening, either completed, in progress or planned along the 26 miles between Fayetteville and Bentonville. All the work is expected to be completed or underway in the next four years. Arkansas voters, in a special election in 2011, approved the issuance of $575 million in Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle bonds to repair the interstate system in the state. The program included funding for 10 projects worth about $158 million on I-49 in Benton and Washington counties.
Source: Arkansas Department of Transportation
The project is expected to be completed in August 2020, according to Arkansas Department of Transportation officials. The low bidder was Fayetteville-based APAC-Arkansas at $26.89 million.
The work has been on the list at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission for over a decade, according to Tim Conklin, a senior planner.
"Interstate 49 is the transportation spine of the Northwest Arkansas region. The I-49/U.S. 71B project was identified in the 2006 Interstate 540 (I-49) Improvement Study for long term improvements," Conklin said. "The conversion of the interchange to a single point, urban interchange was identified as the most promising long-term improvement" to handle current and future congestion.
The current interchange has two sets of lights, one on each side. It's not really efficient, engineers have said.
An earlier design to reconstruct the interchange envisioned a double-diamond design, but Rogers and Bentonville officials didn't really like it, so state engineers came back with the single point design.
Mitchell Archer, state District 9 construction engineer, said the process of moving utilities is wrapping up in preparation for construction to begin. Archer said the job wasn't started earlier because transportation officials wanted to finish widening the interstate first.
The widening is to make I-49 six lanes in each direction from Exit 62 at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Fayetteville to Exit 88 in Bentonville at Central Avenue, Arkansas 72.
There are 45-foot spans at each end of the two 95-foot bridges, basically two, 185-foot bridges, with two sets of piers underneath, Archer said. The bridges must be removed to allow for construction of one larger, taller single bridge.
"What we're gonna have is one 237-foot single span bridge," he said.
Danny Straessle, information officer at the Transportation Department, said two lanes of I-49 in each direction will be open throughout the project.
A single point, urban interchange was designed for the Bella Vista Bypass and eventually will replace the roundabout in north Bentonville. That project is expected to be put out for bid later this year, officials said. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Fayetteville will probably get one in the next four years. The fourth will be for the Arkansas 10 and Rodney Parham Road interchange in west Little Rock.
This type of interchange has become common in other areas of the U.S.
Straessle said transportation officials understand the frustration Northwest Arkansas motorists experience with the ongoing work zones, but know they also enjoy having the extra lanes. He urged continued patience.
NW News on 05/26/2019