Overall Progress
• 180 miles, from Kansas City to Pineville, completed 12/12/12 !
• 6 miles of Bella Vista Bypass still to be completed; est. $25 M needed.
• A 14 mile, 2-lane portion of the Bella Vista bypass is being built, partially funded from the 10-year ½ cent sales tax for highways approved by Arkansas voters in 2012. When an additional $50M is obtained, the Bypass will ultimately be 4-lane and will be renamed I-49.
• The new sales tax is also helping to expand Hwy 540 to 6 lanes between Fayetteville and Bentonville, and Hwy 540 has been renamed I-49 !
• 6 miles of I-49 at Chaffee Crossing opened in July ‘15
• 180 miles, Texarkana to Fort Smith, still needs $2.5 B funding.
• The Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has commissioned a study to evaluate the possibility of toll roads in the state
• The Hwy 549 Eastern Loop around Texarkana opened 4/30/13.
• The 4.4 miles extending Hwy 549 from Doddridge to the Louisiana border opened in a joint ceremony at the Arkansas/Louisiana border on November 10, 2014. Hwy 549 has now been renamed I-49 !
NW Louisiana: • The 30 miles from Hwy 1 in Shreveport to the Arkansas border, was opened in the joint ceremony on November 10th !
• The I-49 approach and the Interchange at I-220 in North Shreveport went to bid in early 2014 with an estimated completion time of three years.
• The environmental process on the Inner-City Connector through Shreveport is to move forward, with public meetings in 2015. ICC cost is estimated at $250-300M.
South Louisiana: • The 160 miles of US 90 from Lafayette to New Orleans is being converted to I-49 South. One hundred miles is complete to Interstate standards, and there are currently 6 projects in various stages of planning and development along the I-49 South corridor.
• LA DOTD is advertising for review of the EIS in order to reduce the remaining costs for I-49 South to around $1.5 B.
Joplin Globe - Missouri’s section of Bella Vista Bypass scheduled for completion in fallThe 5-mile section of the Bella Vista Bypass in Missouri, between Pineville and the Missouri-Arkansas state line, is 70% complete and will be open to traffic this fall, according to Missouri Department of Transportation officials. Five proposed projects in the River Valley from Issue 1 fundsIncluding I-49 extensions, here are five transportation routes proposed to be either rehabilitated or upgraded in the next 10-20 years with funds from Issue 1, according to a map of Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s road plans from the Arkansas Department of Transportation. ARDOT looks to Issue 1 for I-49 fundsArkansas State Highway Commissioner Keith Gibson of Fort Smith said Issue 1 funds, if approved by voters, would give the state enough money to begin construction on I-49 between Alma and Chaffee Crossing.
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