GRAVETTE -- The Arkansas Department of Transportation has added a third public input session this week on a proposed western north-south western connector road.
The session will be 4-7 p.m. today at the Gravette High School Commons Room, 325 S. Lion Drive.
Sessions Tuesday in Lowell and Wednesday in Centerton were announced earlier. The Lowell session will be 4-7 p.m. Tuesday at Lakeview Baptist Church, 1351 E. Lowell Ave. The session Wednesday in Centerton will be 4-7 p.m. at the Centerton Community Room, 290 N. Main St.
For those unable to attend, the material will be available and comments can be left on the Highway Department's website beginning this evening and continuing until July 6. Here's a link: https://ardot-public-notice-western-n-s-connector-study-ardot.hub.arcgis.com/ .
The study looks at a proposed four-lane road with limited speeds rather than a controlled access highway.
The study started in the summer of 2019 to determine if a highway is needed, to identify feasible alternative routes and to develop cost estimates. The department came up with two alternatives that were presented for public comment in August 2021.
One passes near the Northwest Arkansas National Airport. The second takes off from the proposed future airport access road and runs west of the airport, then north, connecting with the Bella Vista Bypass at Hiwasse or east of town.
Those two routes would provide greater benefit to the transportation system by providing connectivity and access, travel time savings, system redundancy and have the least impact on communities and the environment, according to the department.
The study looked at an oval-shaped area west of Bentonville and Arkansas 112 and east of Springtown, Decatur and Gravette. It stretches from the Bella Vista Bypass on the north to U.S. 412 on the south. The airport sits roughly in the middle.
The 2040 Northwest Arkansas Metropolitan Transportation Plan proposes north-south corridor improvements within the study area west of Interstate 49.
Census data and estimates for small cities in or near the study area show large population increases since 2010.