PINE BLUFF — Arresting the decline of the city and the rest of southeast Arkansas will take more than building Interstate 69, but its construction represents a "fresh start" for the area, Pine Bluff Mayor Carl Redus Jr. saidMonday.
Redus was among the dignitaries who spoke at a morning event to kick off the construction of the northern end of the Interstate 69 Connector. The connector, also known as the Interstate 530 Extension, will tie the city of almost 54,000residents with the future I-69, which eventually will be built about 40 miles south of the Jefferson County seat.
When built, "I-69 and the I-69 Connector will give Pine Bluff and other southeast Arkansas cities unprecedented accessto global markets," Redus told about 150 civic boosters gathered at Ohio Street and I-530, the site of the $25.1 million interchange, for which a contract was awarded in July. "But we need to be more prepared to make the most of this opportunity."
The construction of the interchange is the latest project to take shape on the connector. It eventually will go from Pine Bluff to U.S. 278 at Wilmar, where I-69 will pass on its way to becoming a 2,700-mile highway between Canada and Mexico.
A 4.5-mile stretch of the connector opened in 2006 between U.S. 278 and Arkansas 35 near Wilmar. That project cost $11.1 million. Work also has begun on a 6.8-mile section between Arkansas 212 and the Arkansas 11-U.S. 425 Connector in Lincoln County.
That project is worth $14.8 million.
"This is the latest and most expensive [project so far]," said Madison Murphy, a member of the Arkansas Highway Commission from El Dorado.
The estimated price tag for the connector now is $614 million, nearly twice the original estimate. The cost reflects construction of a four-lane highway, but state officials are building only two lanes until traffic justifies widening the highway.
"Funding clearly is a major-league challenge," Murphy said.
Still, the connector has seen more than its share of congressional attention over the years. It started with a $100 million earmark in 1998 as well as an additional $40 million six years later. In 2006, Congress set aside $72 million more for the project.
Many credit U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., and his predecessor, Rep. Jay Dickey, R-Ark., as well a grass-roots lobbying effort that included throwing fundraisers for a former influential chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska.
Scott McGeorge, whose family runs McGeorge Contracting, has been one of the connector's chief proponents. He and other family members have contributed thousands to Young. But McGeorge, who attended Monday's event, said credit should be spread more widely.
"All of southeast Arkansas is on board," McGeorge said, pointing to attendance at the event. "I think you see that from the crowd today."
If more needs to be done, the area will do it, said Rob Cheatwood, chairman of the Greater Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce. "We're here; we're ready to work ... to do anything we can to make this project areality."
Ross noted that the process to build modern highways is a long one now. The announcement of I-69 in Indianapolis came five years before Ross was born, he said. "Very little has been completed south ofIndianapolis 51 years later."
But Ross said the construction of the interstate and connector was worth the wait. "Good infrastructure is the key to attracting business and industry to our state," he said.
Work has been slow on I-69 in Arkansas. The state has money available to design a bypass at Monticello and money to begin the first phase of construction, about $40 million altogether. The money was appropriated by Congress specifically for the bypass.
The Great River Bridge, where the interstate will cross the Mississippi River near Arkansas City, has been designed, but the $1 billion project hasn't been funded, state highway officials said.
"We've gotten I-69 to the point where all we need is money," said Dan Flowers, director of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
Flowers and Ross said the recent recognition of I-69 as a U.S. Department of Transportation Corridor of the Future will help. The interstate was one of six interstates named as a Corridor of the Future and the only one that isn't built. About 90 highways were considered for the designation, Ross said.
"It means some money now but, more importantly, I-69 will be at the top of the list in the future," he said.
Redus said the region can't expect a new interstate to single-handedly solve the region's problems.
He argued that with the construction of I-530 and other major routes, some people became complacent, though the impact of those routs was absorbed years ago. The region still is losing population and has an unemployment rate higher than the state average of 5.7 percent.
"Rather than waiting on the economic benefits of I-69 and the I-69 Connector," Redus said, "we need to prepare for the day they are fully operational."
Arkansas, Pages 7, 9 on 10/30/2007