I-49 in Arkansas

[M86]

This new sign showed up at the new Don Tyson interchange and I must say it is a huge improvement! Love it!


iPhone

Huge improvement, how?  That shield is awful (kerning seems off), and doesn't conform to the rest of the I-49 shields in NWA!  Not to mention my OCD is going off.

[M86]

Just wait until they start in on the roundabout at 56th and Don Tyson...y'all will love that

Please tell me you're joking about that.

[bjrush]

Nope, its in design I believe

[Grzrd]

Google Maps has updated its imagery of the Bella Vista Bypass:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Hiwasse,+AR&hl=en&ll=36.442276,-94.354019&spn=0.051371,0.077162&sll=33.605899,-91.760387&sspn=0.10637,0.154324&oq=hiwasse,+AR&t=h&hnear=Hiwasse,+Benton+County,+Arkansas&z=14

[Avalanchez71]

Was that area not sold as quiet mountain vistas?

[US71]

Nope, its in design I believe

I can find nothing on Springdale's Master Street Plan.

[O Tamandua]

From today's Ft. Smith edition of The City Wire, about the proposed I-49 Arkansas River bridge:

Their are two sections of I-49 in western Arkansas without designated funding or engineering work. The shortest is the 15-mile section between the I-40/I-49 interchange near Alma and across the Arkansas River into Barling. That work, according to Randy Ort with the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department, will cost in today's dollars around $350 million. That's about $23.3 million per mile.

...

Thicksten, a former Arkansas legislator from Alma who does not hold an official position with the I-49 Coalition but has become an advocate for the "I-49 Build the Bridge"  push, said lobbying for precise engineering on the bridge is key to obtaining federal and state dollars for the 15-mile section.

"It's the cornerstone, if you would, for everything that will happen for everything to connect that road between Alma and Texarkana,"  Thicksten said. "If you don't do the engineering, and don't get firm figures, then our federal legislators and our state legislators can't do anything. You can't go to Congress, you can't go to Congressman (Steve) Womack and say, "˜This is about what we think it will cost.' That won't work with this. That just won't work."

Thicksten said part of the lobbying push is to convince the AHTD to move forward on precise engineering work. He admitted that Congressional inability to restore future solvency to the federal Highway Trust Fund "puts in jeopardy"  existing highway projects and causes state highway agencies to be reluctant to study future project.

"But what we'd like is to get a commitment from them (AHTD), as much as they can, on this because Congress, at some point, Congress will get this (Highway Trust Fund) done. ... Let's not wait, let's be prepared to go forward,"  he said.

http://www.thecitywire.com/node/33760#.U7wQuvldXUQ

[bjrush]

Nope, its in design I believe

I can find nothing on Springdale's Master Street Plan.

I've seen it, Crafton Tull is doing the design I believe

[M86]

Nope, its in design I believe

I can find nothing on Springdale's Master Street Plan.

I've seen it, Crafton Tull is doing the design I believe

Damn.  I know (and it's been said) that Springdale is going to exceed Fayetteville, eventually population wise.
Don't put in roundabouts at potential major intersections!  Roundabouts work great on lower traffic roads.

[bugo]

Roundabouts work better on low speed roads.  The roundabouts in, say, Kansas, for example the one at the US 59/169 split near Garnett is horrible.  It's tiny, and the recommended speed is something like 10 MPH.  It's almost too small for big trucks.  If you're going to have a roundabout on a high speed road, it needs to be a really big one.  The roundabout east of Kansas City at MO 7 and MO 78 isn't too bad.

[bjrush]

It is plenty big IIRC

[bjrush]

So I heard the engineers with Bentonville are really unhappy with the proposed $10 million roundabout

If Missouri doesn't pass the funding for the BVB, it will be around 10 years before MoDOT funds the BVB. So since the roundabout contract is for 700ish working days (not including winters), it will be at least 3 years (probably 4) before the roundabout is built. Meaning it will have a useful life of 5 years before it begins to be torn out for the SPUI

[RBBrittain]

pretty sure these five, and perhaps one and only one more, are in NWA.

Alas, Compton, AR is in Newton County -- just a little too far east for "our" NWA.

[robbones]

AHTD,

through trucks sign at exit 61 SB still says 540

[US71]

AHTD,

through trucks sign at exit 61 SB still says 540

Also in Fayetteville at 71 and S. School.
There's also a NO Access to I-540 in Greenland at CR 65 and Wilson St.

[Arkansastravelguy]

49 and Garland


iPhone

[US71]

49 and Garland

Probably city, is my guess.

[Arkansastravelguy]

49 and Garland

Probably city, is my guess.

I'm thinking that as well


iPhone

[Road Hog]

Yep, city blade signs are the city's responsibility to change.

[O Tamandua]

The Arkansas portion of the road is already funded, and partially complete, but the highway department won't build the final section until Missouri plans to extend I-49 to the state line. The 3/4 cent tax would pay for more than 800 projects statewide, including the missing link in I-49. Missouri voters will decide on August 5.

Once completed, the bypass will change the flow of traffic to and from Missouri, and the city of Gravette wants to revitalize its downtown now, to draw new investment as crews continue work on the road.

"This downtown used to be the heart of Gravette," says Mayor Byron Warren.

Unfortunately, the buildings on Main Street have seen better days.

"They are kind of in disrepair from the roofs leaking," Warren says.

The city is making a new push to draw businesses downtown to prepare for thousands of drivers expected once the Bella Vista bypass is complete.

"Bringing back what we've lost is our main focus," Warren says. "The traffic is going to grow by 3-4 more thousand cars through here daily, and it will make Gravette a little bit busier town. We want to make sure that when people get off on the exit they'll have things to, to come to shop and to eat, and enjoy our little community."

http://www.nwahomepage.com/fulltext-news/d/story/gravette-prepares-for-bella-vista-bypass/17837/lW4ZTEtq-kSEAUwA2UE54Q

[O Tamandua]

I'm not fully sure, even though we've been talking about it here, why I-49 is suddenly getting more headlines in places that hadn't been discussing it, but I'm guessing it's because more and more are recognizing what an incredibly key piece of work this thing will be:

Arkansas 4th district (south Arkansas) congressional candidates discuss I-49 and other issues.

[bjrush]

That was basically the point of the designation

[Grzrd]

This article reports that the Bella Vista Bypass would be southwest Missouri's top priority if Missouri voters approve the transportation sales tax and that Arkansas Highway Commissioner Dick Trammel is strongly hinting that Arkansas would then be able to come up with the extra $50 million to complete the Arkansas section of the BVB as a four-lane facility:

Finishing Interstate 49 around Bella Vista would be a priority in southwest Missouri if voters approve a tax Aug. 5 dedicated to building and improving state highways, regional planners were told Thursday.
"I would say No. 1 is the Bella Vista Bypass," Jason Ray, of the Harry S. Truman Coordinating Council, told members of a regional planning committee in Springdale." If the sales tax passes, it will pay for the extension of I-49 to the state line.
Arkansas will be ready to go on the last 2.5-mile section from Benton County 34 to the state line when Missouri is ready to do its final 7-mile section, highway officials said recently during a ceremony marking the opening of the bypass around Hiwasse.
Dick Trammel, Arkansas Highway commissioner, said if Missouri voters approve the tax and the project north of the state line becomes a reality, it could speed up construction of all four lanes on this side of the line. Arkansas needs an estimated $50 million more to finish the bypass as a four-lane divided highway.
"If they get it, maybe we can get our other two lanes," Trammel said.
A $13.7 million project is under way to extend the bypass from Hiwasse north to Benton County 34 on the west side of Bella Vista and should be complete before the end of this year. The state has awarded a $52.6 million contract to extend the bypass east from Hiwasse to a new interchange on I-49 on the north side of Bentonville. That section is expected to open by the spring of 2016 ....
Ray said polling has been positive but also indicates the Missouri vote will be close. Business entities have shown support for the measure but several environmental groups have come out against the tax because it includes only highway projects, Ray said. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is on record opposing the tax.

[bjrush]

Why is their governor against it?

[Road Hog]

Why is their governor against it?

That's a huge head-scratcher. Jay Nixon is a Democrat, so he can't be philosophically against gov't spending. He is term-limited, so he can't run again. And he's a two-time loser in running for the U.S. Senate, so I don't know what kind of future he's looking to lay the groundwork for. The only thing I can reckon is the enviros have his ear.