Arkansas will participate with Oklahoma to study what would be needed to bring the portion of U.S. 412 between Interstate 35 in Noble County, Okla., and Interstate 49 in Springdale up to interstate standards. That doesn't mean a new interstate designation is imminent for the region, officials said.
The Arkansas Highway Commission approved Wednesday a proposal for the Arkansas Department of Transportation to partner in the study.
The study is needed to evaluate the existing roads, identify necessary improvements and prioritize those improvements, according to the plan.
Tim Conklin, assistant director at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, said planners are excited about the partnership.
"Multi-state infrastructure projects of this scale require coordination and partnering to implement, similar to how the I-49 Missouri-Arkansas Connector was funded and completed by both ARDOT and MODOT," Conklin said.
Most of the 170 miles of the highway in Oklahoma is already built to interstate standards with four-lane divided highway and controlled access. Of the 20 miles in Arkansas, the only portion built to interstate standards is the completed section of the U.S. 412 Springdale Northern Bypass, designated Arkansas 612, between I-49 and Arkansas 112. Work on the segment between Arkansas 112 and U.S. 412 in Tontitown is expected to begin soon.
A bypass is being considered around Siloam Springs as part of the 412 study. The current alignment runs through the city. In Oklahoma, the route likely would follow the current U.S. 412 route through the Tulsa metro area.
The interstate project is not part of the long-term transportation plans for either state, and Arkansas already has plenty of projects either ready to go or planned, according to Arkansas Highway Commissioner Philip Taldo.
"The actual concept itself, I think it's a great concept," Taldo said. "I think it's good for both Oklahoma and Arkansas, but we're just heavy on good projects right now."
He said implementing the concept could take a while.
"The only way we can really identify the scope or cost is, it has to be studied," Taldo said. "We were really clear to them that they're at the back of the line as far as funding for Arkansas projects because we've got 20 years' worth of projects already queued up, not the least of which is I-49. It's going to have to take its place behind these projects that have been waiting for a long time."
The Arkansas Department of Transportation is planning to break ground this fall on a project to extend I-49 in Arkansas another 13 miles south across the River Valley, building a section of interstate from Arkansas 22 near Barling in Sebastian County to the interchange of Interstate 40 and I-49 at Alma in Crawford County.
The new section of I-49 will be 13.6 miles long and cost an estimated $787 million. It requires a new bridge over the Arkansas River expected to cost $300 million to $400 million. The work is expected to be done in several phases.
The ultimate goal is filling in the current gap by connecting Fort Smith and Texarkana with an interstate. That would complete the I-49 corridor from the Mississippi River in Louisiana to Canada.
Taldo said the quarter-cent sales tax dedicated to highways that voters approved in November 2020 is allowing the state to plan projects a lot further out.
"At least we've got our dedicated income stream that's not going to go away in two years or three or five or 10 years," he said. "We can be planning ahead now where, before Issue 1 was passed, we were somewhat limited with how far we could go out."
Tim Gatz, executive director of the highway department in Oklahoma, reached out to Lorie Tudor, his counterpart in Arkansas in late January requesting a partnership on the study.
"The partnership will allow resources and insight from both of our agencies to produce a study that will help guide the appropriate investments along U.S. 412 in preparation for an interstate designation," according to Gatz' letter.
Gatz noted details of the agreement will be ironed out between the departments.
Oklahoma hopes to begin work on the study in August, according to T.J. Gerlach, a department spokesman.
Phase one of the study should ultimately determine the design needs for the route, access control throughout the corridor and all proposed improvements required for interstate designation.
Phase two would determine what alignment changes would be required.
The idea of making the route part of the interstate system surfaced last year when the Indian Nations Council of Governments in Tulsa passed a resolution seeking support for the change from Oklahoma and Arkansas transportation and elected officials.
Congress in November included the high-priority, future interstate designation in its infrastructure bill.
U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.; John Boozman, R-Ark.; and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced the proposed designation. The future interstate designation authorizes the U.S. Department of Transportation to add segments of the corridor to the interstate system when certain criteria are met.
Regional Planning passed a resolution in May supporting the designation. The commission is the designated metropolitan planning organization for the Northwest Arkansas urban area.
Connecting Northwest Arkansas and north central Oklahoma with an interstate highway will encourage economic development along the corridor and expand opportunities for employment in the region, according to officials in both states. Others say it would improve supply chain connectivity and make travel safer.
U.S. 412 directly serves the major inland ports of the Tulsa Port of Catoosa and Oakley's Port 33 on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System. It also provides, or will provide, access to Tulsa International and Northwest Arkansas National airports.
U.S. 412 intersects with I-35 about 80 miles west of Tulsa. Interstate 35 runs from Laredo, Texas, north through San Antonio, Dallas, Oklahoma City and Wichita, Kan., to I-70 in Salina, Kan. It continues north all the way to Duluth, Minn.
Traffic passes Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, along Sunset Avenue near the highway?s exchange with Interstate 49 in Springdale. A 189-mile portion of U.S. 412 in Arkansas and Oklahoma has been officially designated a future Interstate on the National Highway System. Visit nwaonline.com/220130Daily/ for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)