Bentonville to host meeting on plans to extend J Street, build I-49 interchange

The city of Bentonville, in coordination with Arkansas Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration, will seek feedback on plans to extend Northeast J Street to Interstate 49.

The 1.1-mile project will include a new I-49 interchange about halfway between the Arkansas Highway 72 and U.S. Highway 71 interchanges.

The city will host a location and design public hearing from 4 to 7 p.m. Aug. 29 at Bentonville Community Center at 1101 S.W. Citizens Circle in Bentonville. The hearing will allow residents to view design plans and the environmental assessment for the new interchange.

Plans show Northeast J Street will be extended from Tiger Boulevard to the interstate. It will include two new bridges, one across Shewmaker Creek and one across I-49. According to plans, the road extension will be two lanes with a raised median from Tiger Boulevard to just south of the Shewmaker Creek bridge. It will transition to four lanes from there to the interstate.

A roundabout will be included at Northeast Chapel Hill Drive and Northeast Heights Lane.

Link here to view plans. Additional information will be posted online Aug. 23. Plans are also available in the engineering department at Bentonville Public Works Facility, 3200 S.W. Municipal Drive, Bentonville. A comment form has yet to be posted online, but once it is, comments will be accepted through Sept. 13.

The city has been working with Garver on project design and hosted a virtual meeting in February 2022. The 2020 cost estimate was $37.2 million, but officials previously said it’s expected to be more.

In 2021, Bentonville voters approved a bond issue that included $173.5 million in street projects. The extension of Northeast J Street is expected to be the largest street project in the bond issue.