Construction starts soon on last leg of Bella Vista Bypass

Two I-49 projects to start Tuesday

NWA Democrat-Gazette/SPENCER TIREY Construction work is being done on a portion of the Bella Vista Bypass between Miller Church Road and Walton Boulevard. State and local officials will break ground Tuesday morning on two projects with a total cost of just more than $100 million to fill in missing links in the Bella Vista Bypass, also known as the Missouri/Arkansas Interstate 49 connector, Interstate 549 and future I-49.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/SPENCER TIREY Construction work is being done on a portion of the Bella Vista Bypass between Miller Church Road and Walton Boulevard. State and local officials will break ground Tuesday morning on two projects with a total cost of just more than $100 million to fill in missing links in the Bella Vista Bypass, also known as the Missouri/Arkansas Interstate 49 connector, Interstate 549 and future I-49.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Motorists in Northwest Arkansas should be driving on a completed Interstate 49 around Bella Vista in about a year.

State and local officials will break ground Tuesday morning on two projects with a total cost of just more than $100 million to fill in missing links in the Bella Vista Bypass, also known as the Missouri/Arkansas Interstate 49 connector, Interstate 549 and future I-49.

Digging to the future

What: Groundbreaking for the remaining two projects to complete the Bella Vista Bypass in Arkansas

Who: Members of the Arkansas Highway Commission, ARDOT officials and local area officials

When: 11 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 15

Where: I-549 and Benton County 34

Source: Arkansas Department of Transportation

The two projects are the last 2.5 miles from Hiwasse in Benton County to the state line and an interchange that will replace the roundabout at I-49 and U.S. 71 in Bentonville, where the highway heads west.

Arkansas opened a two-lane section of the bypass between Bentonville and Hiwasse in May 2017. Work on the other two lanes should be done by late 2020.

Mayor Peter Christie said Bella Vista residents have complained about the roundabout since it was built. Christie said recent traffic counts at the Missouri border are about 20,000 a day and about 44,000 at the southern end of U.S. 71 in Bella Vista, where the roundabout for the bypass is located.

The low bidder on the two projects was Emery Sapp & Sons of Columbia, Mo., according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation. The company said it will cost about $102.1 million to complete both projects. The company said it could build the 2.5-mile stretch of road for about $35.5 million. The new interchange will cost about $66.6 million.

Construction should begin by November.

Missouri highway officials said earlier this year that they want to have their portion of the bypass finished by the middle of 2022.

The Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission approved in March the finances and timeline for completion of 4.8 miles of I-49 from Pineville to the state line. The estimated cost is $47.9 million.

Jeff Hawkins, executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, said Missouri officials have said they won't take bids on their portion of the highway until March. The idea is to get the projects coordinated on both sides of the state line so they can finish about the same time.

A $25 million federal grant was awarded to Regional Planning in December 2018. The commission gave the money to Missouri to build the 4.8-mile section that is within its jurisdiction. Regional Planning is expected to amend several planning documents this month to allow Missouri to spend the federal money.

The project has been discussed for 25 or 30 years and is considered a priority by Northwest Arkansas and federal transportation officials.

Money for the missing section has been holding up completion of the 278-mile section of interstate between Fort Smith and Kansas City, Mo.

Bella Vista is the only stretch where traffic must leave I-49 to continue traveling north or south. The connector will allow drivers to bypass Bella Vista and its multiple traffic signals, reducing travel times and improving safety, planners have said.

The grant is coming from a federal Department of Transportation program allocated for nationally and regionally significant projects.

The $25 million grant leverages $86.6 million from Arkansas voter-approved money, along with Missouri Department of Transportation money to complete the project.

Metro on 10/14/2019

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