FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas highway officials opened bids Wednesday afternoon for a new Wedington Drive and Interstate 49 interchange aimed at improving traffic flow during rush hours.
Manhattan Road and Bridge Company of Tulsa, Okla., was the lone bidder on the project at $37.8 million. The bid has to be reviewed and approved by the Arkansas Department of Transportation before a contract can be awarded. Construction is estimated to take 744 working days. Work typically begins within a few weeks.
"This is a long awaited and much needed improvement to one of the most congested interchanges in Northwest Arkansas," said Arkansas Highway Commissioner Philip Taldo. "ArDOT, working closely with the City of Fayetteville's planning department, is anxious to move this project forward."
Transportation Department traffic counts done last year show 37,000 cars a day on Wedington west of the interchange and 25,000 cars a day east of the interchange. About 9,200 cars a day use the northbound I-49 on ramp and 3,900 use the southbound on ramp. The southbound I-49 off ramp sees about 10,000 cars a day.
The project is about controlling left turns on Wedington during the commute times in the morning and the afternoons when a lot of drivers are trying to turn onto I-49. The Transportation Department is proposing a loop ramp in the southeast corner of the interchange and two dedicated lanes to get off Wedington and go northbound on I-49 for traffic approaching the interstate from the west.
Eastbound traffic on Wedington through the interchange will no longer have to wait for cars turning north across traffic.
The plans also show a widened overpass bridge, fewer turn signals on Wedington and a bicycle and pedestrian side path on the north side of the interchange.
Improvements for the Wedington interchange have been in the works for years, according to Tim Conklin, assistant director at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission.
"The project was originally identified in the 2006 I-540 Improvement Study and has been part of the overall transportation plan to improve the capacity and safety of I-49 and its interchanges between Fayetteville and Bentonville," Conklin said. "ArDOT and Fayetteville have also been working closely together on the interchange design to incorporate bicycle and pedestrian improvements over I-49 as part of this project."
Changes to the first draft of the plan were made for bicycles and pedestrians at a cost to the city of about $415,000.
The project includes raised curb medians on Wedington to restrict left turns. Drivers will be able to turn left, but they'll have to go to a light.
The interstate underneath the interchange has already been widened to three lanes in each direction.
Ron Wood can be reached by email at rwood@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWARDW.