More work set for Bella Vista Bypass (I-49)

August 2010 promises of more work on the Bella Vista Bypass — a segment of a future Interstate 49 — became reality Wednesday (Feb. 23) when the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department opened 10 bids for a 3-mile segment of the bypass.

AHTD Dan Flowers and Federal Highway Administration official Sandra Otto in August signed an agreement in that pushed $10 million in federal funds toward the bypass. Also, Flowers said the state would spend another $43 million to ensure construction could begin.

The apparent low bidder in Wednesday’s bid opening was APAC Central in Fayetteville, which bid the project $19.854 million. The bid covers dirt work and driving surface and will connect segments of Arkansas 72 in the Hiwasse area of Northwest Arkansas. The first phase of the work is a two-lane road built to interstate standards.

Mat Pitsch, director of the Regional Intermodal Transportation Authority (RITA) in Crawford and Sebastian counties, said the work is a “strategic link” in completing I-49. Pitsch, who was invited to the bid opening by Arkansas Highway Commissioner Dick Trammel and Northwest Arkansas Council Executive Director Mike Malone, said the bypass is so important that the first resolution of support approved by the RITA board was for the bypass.

“You’d like to lay down $3.4 billion to get the whole thing (I-49) built, but every segment we put down gets us one step closer,” Pitsch said.

The Bella Vista Bypass will connect Arkansas and Missouri with an interstate highway that will eventually be part of I-49. The proposed bypass is about 20 miles, extending from U.S. 71 just south of Bella Vista to U.S. 71 near Pineville, Mo. Arkansas’ portion is approximately 15 miles in length, while the Missouri section will be about 5 miles. (See map below.)

Arkansas has already spent about $20 million on engineering, utility relocation and other preparatory work on the bypass. It is estimated that Arkansas’ share of the project could be as much as $250 million.

The I-49 route stretches from Texarkana, up through Dequeen, Mena and Waldron, into Fort Smith and on through Northwest Arkansas. All that stands in the way of this interstate reality is several small segments at the Arkansas-Louisiana and Arkansas Missouri borders, an Arkansas River bridge east of Barling that could cost up to $350 million, and a large 185-mile segment between Texarkana and Fort Smith that posts a price tag between $3 billion and $3.5 billion.

“That’s what we’ve got to do next,” Pitsch said, referring to the funding and construction of the bridge. “That’s a big elephant to bite. To me, it’s easier to make the case for that when you have interstates on both sides of the river.”

There will soon be interstate on both sides.

Work is progressing on the segment of I-49 through Chaffee Crossing, with the northern terminus at Arkansas 22 in Barling and the southern portion planned to Howard Hill Road. Ivy Owen, executive director of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, is lobbying state officials to fund the short segment of I-49 from Howard Hill Road to U.S. 71 north of Greenwood.

Costs of the I-49 work underway and planned through Chaffee Crossing are in the estimated range of $67 million to $100 million.