Transportation depts. seek comments on interstate study for Highway 412

The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT), in collaboration with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), will host the second round of public meetings this month on the project to convert a nearly 190-mile segment of U.S. Highway 412 in Oklahoma and Arkansas into an interstate. ArDOT and ODOT will receive feedback on the project through the end of the month.

The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, designated Highway 412, between Interstate 35 and I-49, as a high-priority corridor and future interstate. ArDOT is working with ODOT to complete an engineering study of the highway. It’s expected to identify needed improvements and prioritize them to prepare the highway to become an interstate.

The second meeting on the Highway 412 Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) study is set for 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at John Brown University. The drop-in meeting will take place at Simmons Great Hall at 2000 W. University St. in Siloam Springs. A virtual meeting is available online. Link here for the meeting. Comments will be accepted between Oct. 10 and Oct. 31.

According to the meeting information, the second public meeting will allow attendees to review the potential transportation solutions or alternatives for the project. Six proposed scenarios or groups of alternatives were developed, and a combination of these alternatives might be selected for the project. An analysis of the proposed scenarios is set to take place after Oct. 31. A third round of public meetings will be hosted in spring 2024 to review the results of the analysis and provide draft transportation solutions for the project.