ArDOT to take comments on transforming Highway 412 into interstate

The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT) will host a meeting and receive feedback on a study about converting a segment of U.S. Highway 412 into an interstate. The segment runs between Interstate 35 in north-central Oklahoma and Interstate 49 in Northwest Arkansas.

The $1.2 trillion infrastructure law, or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, designated Highway 412, between I-35 and I-49, as a high-priority corridor and future interstate.

ArDOT is partnering with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to complete an engineering study of the highway. The study is expected to identify needed improvements and prioritize them to prepare the highway to become an interstate.

ArDOT will host a meeting on the U.S. 412 Planning and Environmental Linkages Study from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday (June 8) at Simmons Great Hall at John Brown University at 2000 W. University St. in Siloam Springs. Comments on the study will be accepted between Wednesday (June 7) and 4:30 p.m. June 28. Link here for study information and an online comment form that will be available starting June 7.

In May 2021, U.S. legislators in Arkansas and Oklahoma announced a bill to designate Highway 412 as a future interstate. The route would connect three interstate freight corridors: Interstate 44, I-35 and I-49. It would serve two inland ports: The Tulsa Ports of Catoosa and Inola and Oakley’s Port 33 on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System. It’d also improve access to Tulsa International Airport and Northwest Arkansas National Airport in Highfill.