State Seeks Federal Grant Funding for Bella Vista Bypass

With only a portion of stimulus money available for the 20-mile Bella Vista bypass, highway officials are trying to acquire the full funding through a federal grant program.

Glenn Bolick, a spokesman for the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, said the bypass did meet some of the criteria required for stimulus funding and was granted $2 million for utility relocation.

“The reason that it’s being spoken of as not meeting the criteria is because the project in its entirety would have essentially used up all of the money for the state, which was not the intent of the bill,” he said.

The commission will spread the state’s $351.5 million share of stimulus funding for highways across the entire state.

Bolick said the utility relocation is the next step in getting the project built.

“We can’t build the project or even let it go to contract until the utilities are moved anyway, so certainly the next step of the project needs to be moving the utilities,” he said.

As for the state’s $225 million portion to build the bypass, Bolick said the commission is planning to apply for a separate federal grant program established by President Obama.

“The president not only had the stimulus package through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act but also made some grant money available,” he said.

About $1.5 billion in supplemental discretionary funding is available for projects involving more than one state.

Missouri and Arkansas are going to jointly submit a grant application, Bolick said, for the entire amount of money needed to build the bypass.

Missouri’s five-mile portion of the bypass is expected to cost about $80 million.

With a total projected cost of about $300 million, Arkansas and Missouri will be requesting about one-fifth of the available grant money.

The criteria for the grant money have not been established yet, Bolick said, but it is the intent of the commission to submit an application. The rules for the grant program should be released in about 60 days.

Dick Trammel, the new highway commissioner representing Northwest Arkansas, said the grant is probably the best chance the state has to get the bypass funded.

“The only way I feel like we can get it funded in the near future is through a grant like this,” he said.

By near future, Trammel said he means in the next three to five years.

The project will be the state’s only application to the federal government for the grant funding.

Because the project has national significance, officials said the chances of it being funded are good. The route would eventually be part of the proposed Interstate 49, which would go through western Arkansas from Bella Vista to Texarkana and meet up with the existing four-lane corridor in Louisiana.

“I think our chance at funding is as good as any other state, and could be better because we have the support of the Missouri congressional leaders,” he said.

The bypass would run west of Bella Vista and join Arkansas’ Interstate 540, completing the route between Kansas City, Mo., to western Arkansas. The route currently goes through central Bella Vista, creating congestion for commuters.

Trammel said the bypass is needed for two reasons. It will serve as the gateway to Interstate 540 and Interstate 49 in the future, he said, as well as alleviate the traffic congestion in that part of the region.

“We have to recognize our major industries,” he said. “The people who come out of that area and deal with that congestion every morning to try to get to Wal-Mart, J.B. Hunt and Tyson, it’s not a very good thing, particularly in a populated area like we have.

“I’m excited about the opportunity,” Trammel said. “I’m going to do my best to get it.”