ARDOT to hold public meetings about I-49 route

Two public meetings soon to be conducted by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) in Greenwood and Waldron are more small steps in the larger and expensive effort to complete Interstate 49 through western Arkansas.

The first meeting is set for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., March 10, at the Valley View Church of Christ in Greenwood. The second meeting will be held 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., March 12, at the First Church of the Nazarene in Waldron.

“The purpose of this public meeting is to update the public on the status of the Future Interstate 49 (I-49) project and gather input from the public on the proposed alignment that runs from Y City to Barling,” ARDOT noted about both meetings. “The original environmental clearance for this segment was completed as part of a larger corridor between De Queen and I-40, a distance of approximately 127 miles. ARDOT is now preparing a re-evaluation of the environmental clearance to facilitate the construction of this new segment of Future I-49.”

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

ARDOT Director Jared Wiley first 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.

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.

Communities in western Arkansas continue to lobby for enough funding to complete the route through the state. Local governments along the Interstate 49 route through western Arkansas were recently provided a draft resolution calling for more federal funding to complete the long-awaited interstate. It’s part of a unified lobbying effort, according to Sasha Grist, executive director of the Fort Smith-based Western Arkansas Planning and Development District (WAPDD).