The Arkansas Highway Commission on Wednesday selected low bids worth $213 million on a dozen construction projects, with nearly half the amount devoted to a 4.5-mile section of the planned Springdale bypass in Northwest Arkansas.
Also among the projects on which bids were opened was replacement of a bridge on West Roosevelt Road near the State Fairgrounds in Little Rock.
The commission also elected a new chairman as the five-member body said farewell to another of its members.
The bypass has been a long-sought relief valve for congestion through Springdale on U.S. 412, the city's main east-west route, where 25,000 vehicles a day travel, according to the latest traffic counts available from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
"We're thrilled that a project we've talked about for decades is about to be underway," said Mike Malone, president and chief executive officer of the Northwest Arkansas Council, a nonprofit organization that helps foster economic development in the region. "It's going to make a real positive impact on the lives of residents and on business in this part of the state."
It also is, in a way, the first phase of a new access road to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill. The airport is obtaining final environmental regulatory approval for its access road that will connect to the bypass, said Scott Van Laningham, the airport's executive director. The airport has about $14 million in federal money committed to the estimated $30 million project and is working to finance the rest, he said.
The bypass "will be very helpful to us in improving ground access long term," Van Laningham said.
Malone credited voters statewide for the project coming to fruition. The project is being paid with proceeds from a temporary 10-year, half-percent state sales tax that voters approved in November 2012. The tax is expected to generate about $230 million annually over 10 years, with 70 percent going to the Highway Department. The remaining 30 percent will be split evenly between city and county street and road projects.
The roughly $1.8 billion state program, financed by a combination of bonds and cash, is projected to fund 35 widening and improvement projects on 19 corridors around the state covering 200 miles.
Two projects under what state highway officials have dubbed the Connecting Arkansas Program already are under construction: a 6-mile section of the Bella Vista bypass in Northwest Arkansas and the widening of a section of Interstate 40 between Arkansas 365 and Interstate 430, including the I-40/I-430 interchange. Both projects together cost $91 million.
Three more projects totaling 13 miles and put at a cost $56 million are expected to be awarded contracts next year under the program.
The latest project, the Springdale bypass, covers a new route for U.S. 412 between Arkansas 112 and Interstate 49 north of the city. It includes 12 bridges, including seven plate-girder bridges, interchanges at Arkansas 112 and I-49 and the re-routing and replacement of side roads along the corridor, according to state highway documents.
Eutaw Construction Co. Inc. of Aberdeen, Miss., was the apparent low bidder, submitting paperwork that said the company could do the project in about four years for $100.6 million.
Six other companies also submitted bids, ranging between $103.8 million and $116 million.
Eutaw's bid won't be final until state highway officials have had time to review it.
The James Construction Group LLC of Baton Rouge was the apparent low bidder on the project to replace the bridge on Roosevelt over the Union Pacific Railroad line, saying it could do the work for $10.6 million.
The bridge, built in 1935, is considered structurally deficient. It carries about 12,000 vehicles per day.
Meanwhile, Wednesday's commission meeting marked the last for commission chairman, John Ed Regenold of Amorel, whose 10-year appointment to the commission expires next month. He was appointed by former Gov. Mike Huckabee. Regenold's replacement will be the first commission appointment made by the incoming governor, Asa Hutchinson of Rogers.
Dick Trammel, also of Rogers, was elected to serve as commission chairman for 2015. Tom Schueck of Little Rock was elected vice chairman.
The commission also accepted the staff recommendation to select CH2M HILL of Orlando, Fla., to be the consultant providing environmental regulatory documentation and schematic design for the project to widen Interstate 30 between Interstate 40 in North Little Rock and Interstate 530 in Little Rock, one of the most heavily traveled stretches in Arkansas.
The project includes the likely replacement of the I-30 bridge over the Arkansas River. One of the Connecting Arkansas Program projects, it has an estimated price tag of $450 million.
The commission action allows state highway officials to negotiate a contract with CH2M HILL.
Metro on 12/18/2014