The Arkansas Department of Transportation is holding two meetings to collect comments on its preliminary findings from a study for a possible road to connect the Bella Vista Bypass and the Springdale Northern Bypass via the Northwest Arkansas National Airport.
The meetings will be from 4-7 p.m. at Lakeview Baptist Church, 1351 E. Lowell Drive in Lowell on June 6 and from 4-7 p.m. in the Centerton Community Room at City Hall, 290 N. Main St. in Centerton on June 7. The meetings will be identical in content.
Tim Conklin, executive director at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, said it is vital to plan now to stay ahead of the region's expected growth, estimated at a million residents by 2045.
"Arterial corridor projects take decades to complete from the time they are studied to cutting the ribbon to [opening] the project. This study is similar to the eastern, north-south Arkansas 265 corridor study and the Arkansas 112 corridor study that identified and recommended future safety and capacity improvements."
The study -- which looks at a proposed four-lane road with limited speeds rather than a controlled access highway -- 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 and 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.
A study in 2011 found a western beltway from the Bella Vista Bypass to Interstate 49 in the Greenland area will be needed some day but said there was no money identified to pay for the project.
The new study looks at the northern part of that proposed corridor.
The public may view meeting materials and provide written comments online beginning June 6. Note that the link to the meeting material will not be active until June 6. The link will be: www.ardot.gov/public meetings.
Comment form availability will begin June 6 and end at 4:30 p.m. on July 6. People can submit online comment forms to the state Transportation Department or print the form and mail it to: Environmental Division, 10324 Interstate 30, Little Rock, Ark., 72209.
People without internet access may contact Karla Sims at (501) 569-2949 or at [email protected] to ask questions about the proposed project.