I-49 Mena bypass

[bugo]

Rumor is that the next section of I-49 between Greenwood and Texarkana will be a bypass of Mena. Has this been confirmed? There would be exits at AR 8 and 88, CR 70, and some sort of interchange where it meets US 71 southwest of Mena. How are the CR 70 and the southwestern interchange going to be configured?

[Scott5114]

I don't know if it's officially been confirmed, but a Mena bypass would probably be the most sensible next step and benefit the most people.

[bugo]

It's the biggest town between Ft Smith and Texarkana and the I-49 will connect to hwy 71 on both ends of town. DeQueen isn't as big, and besides I-49 will cross US 59-70-71-371 several miles east of town, and won't reconnect with 71 anywhere near DeQueen. Waldron already has a bypass, even though it's only 2 lanes and has traffic lights on it. Ashdown is another possibility, but from what I've seen forging an Ashdown bypass out of I-49's routing would be nearly impossible. The other towns are small towns that only take a few minutes to drive through.

[Bobby5280]

The I-49 section in Mena would probably be the most do-able and sensible segment to build.

However, I would still like to see the section from Alma to Barling (from I-40 across the Arkansas River, linking the Fort Chaffee segment) completed and signed as I-49 ASAP. That's a stumbling block section that kind of halts the momentum of the I-49 corridor from getting extended as long as that segment is missing. The Belle Vista bypass and the very short Texas segment of I-49 are also stumbling block segments, but they're out of Arkansas' control while Texas and Missouri continue to do little if anything at all about those segments. At least the one by Fort Smith is a problem Arkansas can solve on its own without depending on other states to get something accomplished. If I-49 is able to be extended to the South side of Fort Smith it can then slowly grow South toward Texarkana.

Meanwhile though, it would still make sense to build I-49 in the areas with more development, like Mena and Waldron, sooner rather than later. I suppose they could be signed as "Future I-49" or AR-549. It will be more difficult to build through those areas if I-49 is built in a totally linear manner, inching in one direction from Fort Smith southward. There would be more property to buy and demolish to make way for the highway by the time it reached towns like Mena.

It's not going to be cheap to build I-49 over the Ouachita Mountains between Mena, Waldron and Mansfield. Those mountain passes might be among the last segments of I-49 to get completed.

[rte66man]

"...There would be more property to buy and demolish to make way for the highway by the time it reached towns like Mena..."

It will never happen, but I would like the ROW to be purchased to prevent future development from encroaching on future I49.

[Road Hog]

It's the biggest town between Ft Smith and Texarkana and the I-49 will connect to hwy 71 on both ends of town. DeQueen isn't as big, and besides I-49 will cross US 59-70-71-371 several miles east of town, and won't reconnect with 71 anywhere near DeQueen. Waldron already has a bypass, even though it's only 2 lanes and has traffic lights on it. Ashdown is another possibility, but from what I've seen forging an Ashdown bypass out of I-49's routing would be nearly impossible. The other towns are small towns that only take a few minutes to drive through.

Population will factor in, but so will traffic count. As you noted, DeQueen technically has four US highways that converge in the area and the poultry industry there is booming (or was, before the bird flu outbreak). Maybe they'll build both of them.

[bugo]

"...There would be more property to buy and demolish to make way for the highway by the time it reached towns like Mena..."

It will never happen, but I would like the ROW to be purchased to prevent future development from encroaching on future I49.

I think at least some of the right of way has already been bought.