Executive order not expected to impact I-49 river bridge work

by Michael Tilley ([email protected]) 238 views 

Rendering of planned Interstate 49 Arkansas River bridge in the Fort Smith metro

The almost $300 million project to build part of a section of Interstate 49 between Alma and Barling is not expected to be delayed or halted by a recent presidential executive order blocking some Congressionally-approved infrastructure funds.

Soon after his Jan. 21 inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act [IRA] of 2022 … or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act [IIJA].” The White House later clarified the order to suggest it only applied to green energy and climate change projects.

The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) in October 2024 awarded Tulsa-based Manhattan Road & Bridge a $282.5 million contract to construct a 3.1-mile stretch of I-49 between Highway 22 in Barling and Gun Club Road in Crawford County. The project primarily includes a bridge across the Arkansas River, and is the first of four projects needed to build the almost 14-mile segment between Barling and the I-49 and I-40 interchange near Alma.

The awarded segment is being funded by a combination of regular federal-aid highway funding, federal grant funding, Congressionally designated spending, and state funds, according to ARDOT. ARDOT estimates the cost of the total project at $1.3 billion.

Dave Parker, head of communications at ARDOT, said the executive order “is very recent and still to be discussed more,” but the state agency does not believe it will impact the I-49 project.

“We’ve not received any official word of any change with the funding for the project you mentioned. Everything is continuing as is for now,” Parker noted.

Keith Gibson, a member of the Arkansas Highway Commission who lives in Fort Smith, said he is confident the money for the I-49 Alma-Barling segment is secure, but said there are valid questions about federal funding for future infrastructure projects.

“But going forward, sure, we need to find out exactly what the (Trump) administration has in mind and I think we will in the next few months,” Gibson said.

The order has created funding uncertainty for about $40 million in federal grants awarded to the City of Fort Smith.

Adie Tomer, a senior fellow at Brookings Metro, said Trump’s order could result in costly uncertainty for states and cities.

“There is reason to expect that many states and localities, irrespective of their cash reserves and risk tolerance, are going to stop projects or halt them temporarily. And that could have real costs,” Turner noted in this Jan. 23 article from Governing.

Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, said the group believes the order is targeted at a small subset of programs, namely those aimed at promoting electric vehicles, according to the Governing article.