I-49 at Fort Smith's Chaffee Crossing

[O Tamandua]

I've never seen more hype over an interstate that currently will go to nowhere

That is, until the big gap between Texarkana and Fort Smith is completely filled in, and the issues concerning the Bella Vista Bypass and Shreveport ICC have been resolved.

(Sigh) Don't forget the new Arkansas River bridge between Alma and Fort Smith/Barling.  (Not mad at you...just frustrated at leaders for not seeing what was going to happen here sooner.)

[Henry]

I've never seen more hype over an interstate that currently will go to nowhere

That is, until the big gap between Texarkana and Fort Smith is completely filled in, and the issues concerning the Bella Vista Bypass and Shreveport ICC have been resolved.

(Sigh) Don't forget the new Arkansas River bridge between Alma and Fort Smith/Barling.  (Not mad at you...just frustrated at leaders for not seeing what was going to happen here sooner.)

Oh, right...that too.

[US71]

I've never seen more hype over an interstate that currently will go to nowhere

That is, until the big gap between Texarkana and Fort Smith is completely filled in, and the issues concerning the Bella Vista Bypass and Shreveport ICC have been resolved.

(Sigh) Don't forget the new Arkansas River bridge between Alma and Fort Smith/Barling.  (Not mad at you...just frustrated at leaders for not seeing what was going to happen here sooner.)

Oh, right...that too.

There seems to be a lot more emphasis on the Arkansas River Bridge than there is finishing the road to Texarkana.

[Bobby5280]

I think if the I-49 bridge over the Arkansas River gets built (and fills in the gap to Alma and the I-40/I-49 interchange) then that will set up the momentum for the gap between Fort Smith and Texarkana to get filled. I-49 would start extending southward from Fort Smith, probably very slowly but with more progress than is happening now.

[US71]

Southbound 549 /Future 49 opened just after 10:30. Governor Asa Hutchinson and his entourage were the first to drive the highway.

Northbound is still closed as of 11am and police are stopping anyone driving around the barricades.

UPDATE
Northbound is now open.

[O Tamandua]

"This is the exclamation point for economic development here,"  he said.

Tim Allen, president and CEO of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the event was another milestone for the area's infrastructure and said the chamber was looking forward to the day when the intersection of I-49 and I-40 places the area in the cross-hairs of economic activity.

Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Ivy Owen said the day was a "hugely historic one"  and said the region would benefit from the project's completion for years to come.

Owen said he personally has been waiting for the stretch of roadway to be completed for eight years, while others have been waiting for more than 20 years or so and said it will be a "huge payoff"  to those who have invested their time and money into projects at Chaffee Crossing and other areas across the region.

http://swtimes.com/news/fort-smith-region-state-leaders-celebrate-completion-interstate-project#sthash.9TBmaMwX.dpuf