Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is paying close attention to Issue 1 which proposes adding the current half-percent sales tax that funds the renovation and expansion of streets and roads to the state constitution in light of the 2023 expiration date. This would provide a long-term solution to this tax and remove the sunset clause.

A $5.4 million interchange project on Interstate 49 in Fayetteville won’t be ready as previously planned, and money from the project will be diverted to other highway projects in the state. Also, Missouri plans to add $7 million to the budget for its portion of the Bella Vista Bypass, which will become a part of I-49 when it is completed.

The Arkansas Highway Commission has scheduled a series of regional public meetings in the first quarter of 2020.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Tuesday that his top 2020 campaign priority is winning voter approval for a proposed constitutional amendment to make permanent the state's half-percent sales tax for highways and roads, and his attention won't be diverted from that goal.

Speaking to the Arkansas Good Roads Foundation Annual Meeting, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said that 68.6% of respondents in an Oct. 9th poll of 800 likely state voters said that the message that generates the most support for a proposed half-cent sales tax extension is that it would affect highways in all four corners of the state, 

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said internal polling he’s conducted shows strong support for passage of the half-cent sales tax for Arkansas highways.

With less than a year until the November 2020 election, Gov. Asa Hutchinson and stakeholders for better roads officially launched their campaign for Issue 1, a permanent extension of a half-cent sales tax that is set to expire in 2022.

In a recent Frontier Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting in Fort Smith, Andrew Brewer, assistant division engineer for ARDOT, said a tolled 14-mile extension was deemed “not viable” based on projected costs and revenue. Federal funding will be needed. 

Western Arkansas Intermodal Authority updates on Greenwood Bypass, I-49 north of Fort Chaffee

Fort Smith native Keith Gibson has been appointed as an Arkansas Highway Commissioner by Gov. Asa Hutchinson. He is the first person from western Arkansas to serve on the commission in decades.