Arkansas Department of Transportation approves $180.8M bid to extend Springdale Northern Bypass

Northwest Arkansas

by Jeff Della Rosa ([email protected]) December 14, 2023 9:27 am 10,874 views 

The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT) has awarded its second-largest contract to Columbia, Mo.-based Emery Sapp & Sons Inc. On Nov. 6, ArDOT Director Lorie Tudor approved the contractor’s $180.87 million bid to extend Highway 612, or Springdale Northern Bypass, from Highway 112 to U.S. Highway 412.

The first bypass segment from Interstate 49 to Highway 112 was the largest when the $100.6 million contract was awarded in 2014 to Eutaw Construction Co. of Aberdeen, Miss. It opened to traffic in April 2018.

Jared Wiley, chief engineer of preconstruction for ArDOT, said the largest is the $187.33 million contract to widen Interstate 30 to six lanes between U.S. Highway 70 and Sevier Street in Benton. Johnson Brothers Corp. of Roanoke, Texas, was awarded the 5.4-mile project in 2018. It’s expected to be completed in late 2024.

Wiley said construction on the second phase of Highway 612 should start in spring or early summer. Emery Sapp & Sons expects to complete the 6.9-mile project in 833 days, or about 28 months. Based on that projection, completion would be by 2027 if work starts by summer. The interstate-style, four-lane freeway will include 16 bridges and three interchanges, including one for the connector leading to Northwest Arkansas National Airport (XNA). The second phase of Highway 612 will have one more bridge and interchange than the first.

Wiley said the XNA connector project should go to bid early next year. He hopes the connector and new bypass segment will be completed at the same time.

Two more bypass segments are in the works east of I-49. Wiley noted that the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission has applied for a federal grant for the segment from I-49 to Highway 265.

Executive Director Tim Conklin said the commission is seeking $160 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The commission applied for the funding in August and expects to learn whether it will receive the money late this year or early next year. The commission also applied for a $25 million DOT grant for the Highway 112 widening project between Bentonville and Fayetteville.