Survey work begins on I-49 route between Fort Smith metro and Y City

Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) employees and consultants will begin this fall the work to “obtain more detailed information” about the proposed Interstate 49 route between the Fort Smith area and Y City in Scott County.

The I-49 route was part of a larger environmental study that began in the late 1990s and examined the preferred location for the interstate traveling south from Fort Smith to De Queen.

Information gathered in the more detailed study set to begin in the fall will be used to draft preliminary design plans for the interstate. ARDOT said they plan to have the survey work finished by the end of 2026, and the survey cost range is estimated between $3 million and $5 million.

“In order to proceed to the next phase of project development, it is necessary to obtain more detailed information,” ARDOT noted in its Sept. 3 press release. “The Arkansas Department of Transportation Surveys Division and its consultants will begin field survey work this fall to obtain design surveys and boundary surveys for this proposed corridor. This work typically consists of utilizing an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for mapping the terrain and field surveys to locate utilities, drainage features, government land monuments, and property corners.”

ARDOT Director Jared Wiley mentioned the new study on Aug. 24 during the groundbreaking ceremony for the I-49 segment between Barling and Alma that includes a river bridge. He said in the next 12 to 18 months there will be crews working on I-49 route evaluation between Greenwood and Y City. That route length is between 50 and 55 miles. Wiley said 154 miles of the route remain to be built in Arkansas, with around 140 of those miles between Fort Smith and Texarkana.

ARDOT told Talk Business & Politics that the cost to build the interstate section from Fort Smith to Y City is estimated between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.

Arkansas highway officials estimated in early 2022 that it would cost $4.1 billion to complete I-49 from Fort Smith to the Texas state line. Considering inflation, that estimate is likely higher.

State officials in October 2022 ceremonially broke ground on the 13.7-mile segment that will connect the segment of I-49 in Barling north to the I-40 interchange in Alma.