I-49 in Arkansas

[O Tamandua]

I'm hearing from a Bella Vista source that Walmart has purchased land at the Rocky Dell Road (also was the old "Gun Range Road") interchange for a Neighborhood Market.  Given that WM builds these only when they're surrounded by neighborhoods, they clearly see this as a hot growth spot.  And again, can't wait to see what will indubitably be a "Texarkana-class" Arkansas Welcome Center near there, although that won't be at an interchange.

There's a need for more services on the west side of Bella Vista for sure as most are concentrated along 71B currently.  And Highlands Blvd. is pretty close to there, so there will be a ready supply of traffic for that exit even without the eminent buildup of that area.

But it's a pain in the tukus to go from I-49 over to Highlands Blvd. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the big players like Love's were already scouting out the area or even quietly buying land.

Casey's, too.  There really are very few "filling station" (what a quaint phrase) options between Anderson, MO and Bentonville at this point along the true (I-49) Bella Vista Bypass.  You have to go a mile east into Pineville to get gas there.  The community formerly known as Hiwasse has a nice rebuilt and locally-owned store (or did) but it, too, is off the interchange.  And all the gas pumps in Gravette are currently a couple miles west.  There are BIG opportunities for fueling operators at the Rocky Dell Hollow and Hwy 72 BVP Arkansas interchanges.

I forget...will there also be an interchange on the Missouri side (on this final section) at the road which heads west to Noel?  With all the summertime canoeing, that, too, might hold similar value for a Casey's or Kum and Go type store.

[US71]

I forget...will there also be an interchange on the Missouri side (on this final section) at the road which heads west to Noel?  With all the summertime canoeing, that, too, might hold similar value for a Casey's or Kum and Go type store.

You're thinking MO 90? Yes, there will be an interchange there.  Love's opened a new store in Neosho at MO 86 last year and a new store at AR 282 near Alma earlier this year.

Casey's just opened another Ft Smith location about a month ago a mile north of 549 on 71. Slightly larger store with an outdoor picnic area. They are also the first Casey's in town to offer E-85, but it trends higher than the E-10 "Regular".

[O Tamandua]

I forget...will there also be an interchange on the Missouri side (on this final section) at the road which heads west to Noel?  With all the summertime canoeing, that, too, might hold similar value for a Casey's or Kum and Go type store.

You're thinking MO 90? Yes, there will be an interchange there.  Love's opened a new store in Neosho at MO 86 last year and a new store at AR 282 near Alma earlier this year.

Casey's just opened another Ft Smith location about a month ago a mile north of 549 on 71. Slightly larger store with an outdoor picnic area. They are also the first Casey's in town to offer E-85, but it trends higher than the E-10 "Regular".

Thanks, US71.  That road to Noel will still be scenic yet a bit tortuous but this will still make it a bit quicker to get there.

[MikieTimT]

OT I think the stretch of 49 from From Smith to Texarkana might be done the same way IH 22 was done in Alabama. That took nearly 20 years to do 100 miles. Even though about 20-30 miles outside of Birmingham is 6 lanes which I love, but the 22/65 interchange took 5-7 years...

I don't see much progress on that stretch until the Waldron, Mena, and De Queen bypasses are done, like Fayetteville was done originally before the rest of I-540 connected up Bella Vista to Alma.  Then, the bypasses connected together, probably with Texarkana to DeQueen connected first as it's the lowest hanging fruit, topography-wise.  Hopefully they put some thought into the interchanges when the time comes so they don't have to redo them like the north side of Fayetteville had to have done.

[MikieTimT]

I'm hearing from a Bella Vista source that Walmart has purchased land at the Rocky Dell Road (also was the old "Gun Range Road") interchange for a Neighborhood Market.  Given that WM builds these only when they're surrounded by neighborhoods, they clearly see this as a hot growth spot.  And again, can't wait to see what will indubitably be a "Texarkana-class" Arkansas Welcome Center near there, although that won't be at an interchange.

I just wonder how long after the connection is made before they get around to a non-pitiful welcome center.  I'm sure there'll be a  fair amount of truck parking, unless it looks like a number of truck stops start popping up in the area.  The current welcome center in Bella Vista isn't very accessible to anything more than a handful of cars, so they're going to have to up their game to put a better face on the state for travelers.

[US71]

OT I think the stretch of 49 from From Smith to Texarkana might be done the same way IH 22 was done in Alabama. That took nearly 20 years to do 100 miles. Even though about 20-30 miles outside of Birmingham is 6 lanes which I love, but the 22/65 interchange took 5-7 years...

I don't see much progress on that stretch until the Waldron, Mena, and De Queen bypasses are done, like Fayetteville was done originally before the rest of I-540 connected up Bella Vista to Alma.  Then, the bypasses connected together, probably with Texarkana to DeQueen connected first as it's the lowest hanging fruit, topography-wise.  Hopefully they put some thought into the interchanges when the time comes so they don't have to redo them like the north side of Fayetteville had to have done.

As I've said before, ARDOT doesn't seem to plan ahead. The Fayetteville Bypass is a good example: built as 2 lanes at-grade, then piecemeal upgraded to 4 Lanes, then sticking 4-Lane 71 next to AR 112, then eventually rebuilding the junction. Not to mention waiting almost 40 years to build a flyover from NB 71B to the SB Bypass. They are more RE-active than PRO-active.

I figure by the time I-49 is complete from Bella Vista to Missouri, ARDOT will decide it needs major upgrades.

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

OT I think the stretch of 49 from From Smith to Texarkana might be done the same way IH 22 was done in Alabama. That took nearly 20 years to do 100 miles. Even though about 20-30 miles outside of Birmingham is 6 lanes which I love, but the 22/65 interchange took 5-7 years...

I don't see much progress on that stretch until the Waldron, Mena, and De Queen bypasses are done, like Fayetteville was done originally before the rest of I-540 connected up Bella Vista to Alma.  Then, the bypasses connected together, probably with Texarkana to DeQueen connected first as it's the lowest hanging fruit, topography-wise.  Hopefully they put some thought into the interchanges when the time comes so they don't have to redo them like the north side of Fayetteville had to have done.

As I've said before, ARDOT doesn't seem to plan ahead. The Fayetteville Bypass is a good example: built as 2 lanes at-grade, then piecemeal upgraded to 4 Lanes, then sticking 4-Lane 71 next to AR 112, then eventually rebuilding the junction. Not to mention waiting almost 40 years to build a flyover from NB 71B to the SB Bypass. They are more RE-active than PRO-active.

I figure by the time I-49 is complete from Bella Vista to Missouri, ARDOT will decide it needs major upgrades.

I wonder if they're worried about induced demand?

[Tomahawkin]

@US71

I did not know that about the Fayetteville bypass but it makes sense. I'm baffled in their reactive approach considering how many students commute to the U of A and NWACC. Im in the belief now that bypasses will be built in those towns south of IH 40 And then will connect to 49 built in stretches, kinda a built it up a over a long stretch (20 years)

[O Tamandua]

I'm hearing from a Bella Vista source that Walmart has purchased land at the Rocky Dell Road (also was the old "Gun Range Road") interchange for a Neighborhood Market.  Given that WM builds these only when they're surrounded by neighborhoods, they clearly see this as a hot growth spot.  And again, can't wait to see what will indubitably be a "Texarkana-class" Arkansas Welcome Center near there, although that won't be at an interchange.

I just wonder how long after the connection is made before they get around to a non-pitiful welcome center.  I'm sure there'll be a  fair amount of truck parking, unless it looks like a number of truck stops start popping up in the area.  The current welcome center in Bella Vista isn't very accessible to anything more than a handful of cars, so they're going to have to up their game to put a better face on the state for travelers.

MikieTimT, I mentioned that earlier.  A few years ago, I actually emailed the state department (Can't remember if its Parks or AHTD) which handles these welcome centers and was told there would be a new center planned.  I'd mentioned here that I'd be surprised, given how much money is spent elsewhere in NWA to attract tourists to Crystal Bridges, the Amazeum, Brightwater, etc., if this isn't a "Texarkana-class" Welcome Center (below).  I've made a rest stop at the TXK center along I-30 and it's nice.  And right now, there's still significant land available for this just south of the state line on future I-49.

[cjk374]

I'm hearing from a Bella Vista source that Walmart has purchased land at the Rocky Dell Road (also was the old "Gun Range Road") interchange for a Neighborhood Market.  Given that WM builds these only when they're surrounded by neighborhoods, they clearly see this as a hot growth spot.  And again, can't wait to see what will indubitably be a "Texarkana-class" Arkansas Welcome Center near there, although that won't be at an interchange.

I just wonder how long after the connection is made before they get around to a non-pitiful welcome center.  I'm sure there'll be a  fair amount of truck parking, unless it looks like a number of truck stops start popping up in the area.  The current welcome center in Bella Vista isn't very accessible to anything more than a handful of cars, so they're going to have to up their game to put a better face on the state for travelers.

MikieTimT, I mentioned that earlier.  A few years ago, I actually emailed the state department (Can't remember if its Parks or AHTD) which handles these welcome centers and was told there would be a new center planned.  I'd mentioned here that I'd be surprised, given how much money is spent elsewhere in NWA to attract tourists to Crystal Bridges, the Amazeum, Brightwater, etc., if this isn't a "Texarkana-class" Welcome Center (below).  I've made a rest stop at the TXK center along I-30 and it's nice.  And right now, there's still significant land available for this just south of the state line on future I-49.

The El Dorado welcome center on US 167 @ US 82 looks just like this one at Texarkana.

[US71]

@US71

I did not know that about the Fayetteville bypass but it makes sense. I'm baffled in their reactive approach considering how many students commute to the U of A and NWACC. Im in the belief now that bypasses will be built in those towns south of IH 40 And then will connect to 49 built in stretches, kinda a built it up a over a long stretch (20 years)

Well, that's basically how I-44 was built in Missouri (among other roads) : piecemeal upgrades & bypasses. Bugo has predicted in the past that Mena would likely be one of the first towns to be bypassed.

[Bobby5280]

Obviously the bypasses around the towns along the route (Ashdown, DeQueen, Mena, Waldron, Mansfield, etc) need to be done first. The cost of building those segments will get ever more expensive the longer they're put off to the future. The rural sections will be less expensive to build and may not be subject to as much cost inflation.

It would be a big mistake for ARDOT to start at one end of existing I-49 and add extensions to in linear fashion. The proposed ROW in all the towns farther down the route would be deliberately overrun with development. One motivation behind that is so people can cash in from the gub'ment when it comes time to buy up the ROW and demolish all those newly built properties. The other motivation is simply blocking the way in an attempt to prevent it from being built.

The first thing ARDOT needs to do is buy up the ROW needed for those town bypasses. I think they need to do that before building any actual I-49 freeway between Fort Smith and Texarkana. Once they have that done it will be easier (and less costly) to piece everything else together.

[seicer]

How will the south terminus of the Bella Vista bypass tie into mainline 49? It has the temporary ramps now.

[US71]

How will the south terminus of the Bella Vista bypass tie into mainline 49? It has the temporary ramps now.

My guess is there will be an overpass connecting the segments, probably making a clusterf*ck out of what's already there

[wdcrft63]

Obviously the bypasses around the towns along the route (Ashdown, DeQueen, Mena, Waldron, Mansfield, etc) need to be done first. The cost of building those segments will get ever more expensive the longer they're put off to the future. The rural sections will be less expensive to build and may not be subject to as much cost inflation.

It would be a big mistake for ARDOT to start at one end of existing I-49 and add extensions to in linear fashion. The proposed ROW in all the towns farther down the route would be deliberately overrun with development. One motivation behind that is so people can cash in from the gub'ment when it comes time to buy up the ROW and demolish all those newly built properties. The other motivation is simply blocking the way in an attempt to prevent it from being built.

The first thing ARDOT needs to do is buy up the ROW needed for those town bypasses. I think they need to do that before building any actual I-49 freeway between Fort Smith and Texarkana. Once they have that done it will be easier (and less costly) to piece everything else together.

North Carolina built I-73 in a linear fashion but it is building I-42 with bypasses first. So it works either way. The most important thing is to sketch out the entire route through a feasibility study and then decide with public hearings how to prioritize the various segments. Is anything like that happening?

[vdeane]

Obviously the bypasses around the towns along the route (Ashdown, DeQueen, Mena, Waldron, Mansfield, etc) need to be done first. The cost of building those segments will get ever more expensive the longer they're put off to the future. The rural sections will be less expensive to build and may not be subject to as much cost inflation.

It would be a big mistake for ARDOT to start at one end of existing I-49 and add extensions to in linear fashion. The proposed ROW in all the towns farther down the route would be deliberately overrun with development. One motivation behind that is so people can cash in from the gub'ment when it comes time to buy up the ROW and demolish all those newly built properties. The other motivation is simply blocking the way in an attempt to prevent it from being built.

The first thing ARDOT needs to do is buy up the ROW needed for those town bypasses. I think they need to do that before building any actual I-49 freeway between Fort Smith and Texarkana. Once they have that done it will be easier (and less costly) to piece everything else together.

It's too bad states can't just declare the corridor to "lock in" the ROW costs, with the current costs of the properties along the route being a price ceiling for the amount the state would have to pay when the projects move forward.  That would stop developers from being able to scoop up the land, develop it, and then take the eminent domain as profit.

[Gordon]

Now there is money to finish the Bella Vista Bypass and engineering has started on the Arkansas river Bridge section to Fill that gap is next priority. Then I would to see it extended from Hwy 71 in Fort smith to bypass Mansfield because of the sharp turn and hill north of Mansfield is a Bottle neck for traffic. Then next would be Mena because of the long route thru town. Traffic would flow a lot better for increased truck traffic. One thing that is costly is Waldron has been relocated before and they immediately build along side of that bypass so you have to move it again. Waldron is not that big anyway and just strung out now.   

[US71]

Now there is money to finish the Bella Vista Bypass and engineering has started on the Arkansas river Bridge section to Fill that gap is next priority. Then I would to see it extended from Hwy 71 in Fort smith to bypass Mansfield because of the sharp turn and hill north of Mansfield is a Bottle neck for traffic. Then next would be Mena because of the long route thru town. Traffic would flow a lot better for increased truck traffic. One thing that is costly is Waldron has been relocated before and they immediately build along side of that bypass so you have to move it again. Waldron is not that big anyway and just strung out now.   

Won't happen any time soon. ARDOT cares more about the 412 Bypass.

[Bobby5280]

Political and public pressure to extend I-49 South from Fort Smith will increase only after the Alma to Barling segment is finally built. The price of that proposed bridge over the Arkansas River is only getting more expensive the longer it keeps getting pushed off into the future, like a game of political kick the can. The US-412 bypass up in NWA is easier to build because its cost is cheaper per mile and it's located closer to higher income locations than the lower rent stuff around Fort Smith. So they're making that a bigger priority.

This all gets back to why the federal government has to be taking a far bigger leadership role in this stuff. It's important to the overall Interstate highway network that ALL of I-49 gets completed. If individual states and local areas are going to be doing more of the deciding on what gets built and when then that notion of a big picture NATIONAL highway network becomes completely irrelevant. As much as Fort Smith is kind of a red-headed step child to its neighbors up the road to the North the smaller communities between Fort Smith and Texarkana are even less of a priority. IMHO it will take a lot of federal intervention and federal funding for the I-49 segment between Fort Smith and Texarkana to get built. If it's left up to Arkansas alone the road may never get built.

[Rick Powell]

It's too bad states can't just declare the corridor to "lock in" the ROW costs, with the current costs of the properties along the route being a price ceiling for the amount the state would have to pay when the projects move forward.  That would stop developers from being able to scoop up the land, develop it, and then take the eminent domain as profit.

Several states have corridor protection laws that do just that. Once the corridor is recorded, the developer of any proposed new building inside the corridor limits must contact the state, which has right of first refusal to purchase the underlying property to prevent its development. If the developer neglects to follow the process and somehow gets local approval to build without notifying the state, the value of the buildings is not considered in any future eminent domain proceedings. I was involved in a test case in IL that went all the way to the US Supreme Court, that validated the state's corridor protection law. IN modeled their corridor protection law almost word for word on the IL law.

One problem with corridor protection is that, if it isn't done in combination with the NEPA (federal environmental) process, you may have a corridor that is partially or wholly unusable because it can't get the required federal and state environmental permits. But on the plus side, assuming the corridor is on a permittable alignment, it helps lock in a buildable corridor without the state having to buy all the land years or decades in advance of the need.

[sparker]

Political and public pressure to extend I-49 South from Fort Smith will increase only after the Alma to Barling segment is finally built. The price of that proposed bridge over the Arkansas River is only getting more expensive the longer it keeps getting pushed off into the future, like a game of political kick the can. The US-412 bypass up in NWA is easier to build because its cost is cheaper per mile and it's located closer to higher income locations than the lower rent stuff around Fort Smith. So they're making that a bigger priority.

This all gets back to why the federal government has to be taking a far bigger leadership role in the stuff. It's important to the overall Interstate highway network that ALL of I-49 gets completed. If individual states and local areas are going to be doing more of the deciding on what gets built and when then that notion of a big picture NATIONAL highway network becomes completely irrelevant. As much as Fort Smith is kind of a red-headed step child to its neighbors up the road to the North the smaller communities between Fort Smith and Texarkana are even less of a priority. IMHO it will take a lot of federal intervention and federal funding for the I-49 segment between Fort Smith and Texarkana to get built. If it's left up to Arkansas alone the road may never get built.

All well and good -- but the main obstacle to federal initiative is 45+ years of executive orders and legislation directed specifically in the other direction -- an initiated by none other than the 37th President, Richard Nixon.  For those not old enough to remember the 1968 election, there was a 3rd party candidate, Gov. George Wallace of Alabama, who openly espoused pre-Civil Rights Act (1964) sentiments, attracting a sizeable chunk of Southern Democrats, who at the time were considerably well to the right of most Republicans (who had a limited Southern contingent up to that time due to post-Civil War activities by that party).  Wallace's "American Independent" party (AIP) threatened to eat a sizeable piece of the electorate in states from Virginia to Texas by espousing a "states' rights" platform.  Nixon won his very narrow victory over Hubert Humphrey largely by promising to enact measures that would drastically reduce the ability to promulgate top-down programs at the federal level -- but do so in the fiscal realm rather than the political.  In that way he was able to attract both those who wished to punish the federal government for enacting not only the '64 Civil Rights act but increasing the bureaucracy necessary to enforce it as well as the more traditional fiscal conservatives intrinsically drawn to the Republican party.  And that ad hoc coalition was rewarded by the "block grant" measures drafted by the Nixon administration and pushed through Congress from 1971 through early 1973, after which time that administration was swamped with the Watergate affair.  These made the states responsible for initiating activities and measures -- which would be funded by yearly budgeted "block grants" to each state, with the various federal agencies largely limited to a "vetting" role, typified by feasibility and environmental reviews.  Depending upon one's POV, the Nixon initiatives were either one of the most backhanded and downright sneaky (almost to an "evil genius" level) way to achieve a political goal or a simple "elections have consequences" expression of political will.  In any case, the measures did leave a giant hole in the ability to initiate policies and programs at the federal level (i.e., how such things as the Interstate system originated); the changes to Title 23 alone -- the section of the U.S. Code addressing transportation issues -- made such things as the 1968 USDOT-initiated batch of Interstate additions effectively impossible to replicate.  But such actions by the Nixon administration were an important part of the shift in Southern politics from conservative (and largely racist/segregationist) Democrat to correspondingly conservative (but less overtly racist) Republican by the early '80's (of course by then a major component of the "Reagan Revolution").   A political goal was achieved -- but at the expense of cohesive national policy; transportation was simply one of the areas in which this sea change was manifested.

It would take "walking back" much of that legislation from the '70's to reinstate the sort of Federal initiative seen with both the initial '56 Interstate authorization and its '68 extension -- and the past several Congressional iterations have either been openly hostile to such concepts or have taken a "CYA" stance, not willing to commit to any ideas that could be deemed controversial.   The fact that I-49 was designated at all north of Shreveport is in itself a minor miracle; that a state not teeming with fiscal resources such as Arkansas (and MO to a somewhat lesser extent) can get a decent percentage of its corridor mileage actually built is noteworthy.   A result of the past 45+ years of national policy in this arena is that resource-rich states -- or influential factions within those states -- such as NC or TX can initiate new Interstate corridors almost at will, exemplified by the I-69 cluster in TX, the nascent I-14 in that same state, or the various Interstate projects crisscrossing NC.  Raising the 20% state/local share for corridor development doesn't pose the same problems in those wealthier states that it does in other areas not as fortunate -- so both clearly warranted and speculative corridors flourish there. 

[Bobby5280]

The states and federal government need to figure out something and do so soon. The current model used by the states and federal government works poorly. It is literally taking away this nation's ability to build any big things. Highways, railroads and other pieces of infrastructure are all critical for commerce. We wouldn't be a modern society without it. But we're not the only nation building this kind of stuff. Nations like China, Japan and South Korea all build this stuff and do so a lot faster and for less money. If we can't upgrade our infrastructure in a timely, efficient manner we're going to be at an ever-worsening competitive disadvantage with countries like China. They're not standing still, yet we've got our feet stuck in concrete.

[Gordon]

Just a Small project like Missouri 5.5 mile section to finish I 49 it is going to take up to a year to update environmental part. Too much red tape and spending money that when it was good back in 2009 when Arkansas and Missouri applied for a tiger grant to get started.

[US71]

Just a Small project like Missouri 5.5 mile section to finish I 49 it is going to take up to a year to update environmental part. Too much red tape and spending money that when it was good back in 2009 when Arkansas and Missouri applied for a tiger grant to get started.

My guess is it won't be a complete new environmental assessment, but merely updating "hot spots", for lack of a better term.

[MikieTimT]

Political and public pressure to extend I-49 South from Fort Smith will increase only after the Alma to Barling segment is finally built. The price of that proposed bridge over the Arkansas River is only getting more expensive the longer it keeps getting pushed off into the future, like a game of political kick the can. The US-412 bypass up in NWA is easier to build because its cost is cheaper per mile and it's located closer to higher income locations than the lower rent stuff around Fort Smith. So they're making that a bigger priority.

This all gets back to why the federal government has to be taking a far bigger leadership role in this stuff. It's important to the overall Interstate highway network that ALL of I-49 gets completed. If individual states and local areas are going to be doing more of the deciding on what gets built and when then that notion of a big picture NATIONAL highway network becomes completely irrelevant. As much as Fort Smith is kind of a red-headed step child to its neighbors up the road to the North the smaller communities between Fort Smith and Texarkana are even less of a priority. IMHO it will take a lot of federal intervention and federal funding for the I-49 segment between Fort Smith and Texarkana to get built. If it's left up to Arkansas alone the road may never get built.

The US 412 Bypass will likely serve more AADT for the foreseeable future, so it makes sense for Arkansas to prioritize the remaining 2 segments over anything south of Rye Hill at this point.  That said, it would knock about 10-12 minutes off my drive back to my hometown if they would build the bridge and remaining river valley I-49 segment.  And Ft. Smith has earned the red-headed stepchild reputation due to their perpetually dysfunctional city government that puts any business over a barrel that wants to operate there.  A completed Interstate 49 will help a little with commercial/industrial growth, but it won't change the culture of government there that's really the reason it's hamstrung.  Ft. Smith has so many things going for it that should make it growth-positive, like cheap land and labor, status as a border city, access to a navigable river and Class I railroad, etc.

Left up to Arkansas, it'll be 25-30 years until it's done unless we grow another John Paul Hammerschmidt to get some infrastructure budgeted from the federal government since it is actually a federal highway serving interstate traffic, probably even more so than local traffic for a few counties south of Sebastian.