I-49 in Arkansas

[Grzrd]

I just noticed some info relevant to this thread in a Dec. 6, 2009 article US71 recently posted in the "I-49 in AR (Fort Smith, Bella Vista)" thread:

The only work that has been done between Texarkana and Alma are environmental-impact studies on two separate sections.
The Texarkana to De Queen section is a 36-mile leg that will have an additional 16 miles in Texas and include a new bridge over the Red River, an expense that will be shared equally between Arkansas and Texas. Total cost is expected to reach $536 million.

(http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-regional-local/13536201-1.html)

(above quote from Texarkana (Future I-49, I-69 Spur) thread)

Maybe Arkansas would be willing to pay for I-49 through Texas? Or pay for some of it?

With what? Chickens?

Unfortunately, the link provided by US71 regarding the Red River bridge has gone cold; however, the quote from the article indicates that, as of late 2009, Texas planned on paying half the cost of the bridge. I assume that means Texas planned on paying for its section of I-49 at that time, also. Given TxDOT's renewed efforts regarding the I-69 system since that time, I suspect I-49 is waaaaaay down TxDOT's list of priorities.

What is the hold up on building I-49 north from Texarkana to Ashdown and further north (other than funding)?

They build bypasses around the cities first, then connect the bypasses

At any rate, AHTD will prioritize building bypasses first. Speaking of bypasses,this April 11 aticle reports that a study may begin in the near future to relocate the I-369/I-30 interchange, probably to accomodate an I-369 West Loop.  I assume (hope?) that the study would also consider a feasible corridor for the Northwest Loop and a connection to I-49.* Then, they would have a battle to find the funding to build the Loop. At any rate, Texarkana and TxDOT would probably want to build the Loop before even thinking about I-49 and the Texas half of the Red River bridge.

I don't think either agency will have the money for the Texas section of I-49 for a long time.

edit *

The September 17, 2014 Final Texarkana Urban Transportation Study ("TUTS") 2015-2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan ("MTP") contains some information about an envisioned new terrain I-369 routing and an I-369 connection to I-49.  In discussing the results of April 24, 2014 stakeholder meetings, the following comments were noted about roadway capacity (p. 62/126 of pdf; p. 55 of document):



At least some folks in Texarkana are thinking about extending I-49 to the proposed Exit 44 connection to the Northwest Loop.  That would be a beginning .......... and a good near-term opportunity for a "Texas" I-49 shield. 

[Sykotyk]

One thing with Texas is image. If Arkansas were to build I-49 further north from the state line but dumped everyone onto US71 for a few minutes before the current northern end of I-49, I think that would look bad on Texas for not building it.

The problem, then, is Arkansas even ever coming up with the money to build their portion. Which seems farfetched.

[O Tamandua]

http://beta.fortune.com/fortune500/visualizations/?iid=recirc_f500landing-zone1

I know this is more "interesting fact" than anything else (especially in road-building) but...one could call a finished Interstate link from NWA through Fort Smith, Texarkana and Sulphur Springs to D/FW the "Trillion-dollar Corridor", not because that (hopefully not, anyway) will be the cost to build it, but because it links the metro areas containing the 2 largest companies in the Fortune 500, with 6-7 companies accounting for $1 trillion in revenue between them.

(One, obviously, could call the mainly-Oklahoman route between Siloam Springs, Muskogee, McAlester and Sherman/Denison the same thing, but this route would be all-interstate, and would be exclusively between the two states which seem to have an intertwined modern history. Still amazing that there's so much corporate money in this area now vs. being exclusively on either coast or the industrial midwest.)

[Grzrd]

This June 27 article reports that representatives from three Arkansas cities met recently to discuss the next steps for I-49, Texarkana, Fort Smith, and Mena. 
They agreed that initial focus should be on finishing the Arkansas River bridge, and then the initiation of acquiring rights of way  for the furtherance of I-49 in Arkansas:

Delegations from the Texarkana USA Chamber of Commerce, Mena/Polk County Chamber of Commerce, and the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce met to discuss the final stages of completion of Interstate 49 from Texarkana to Fort Smith ....
The Chambers met to discuss the next stages to complete the highway ....
The productive meeting resulted in a common agreement to encourage forward actions on the project. Focus is on the Interstate — 49 bridge over the Arkansas River at Fort Smith and the initiation of acquiring right of ways to further the highway through Arkansas.

Although it is still too early to tell, it appears that Mena might have the inside track for the next section of I-49.

[Road Hog]

It seems to me like DeQueen would be a higher priority. It's a slightly bigger population than Mena and has more traffic with four US highways converging (59, 70, 71, 371). Plus lots of trucks due to the chicken industry.

I guess the difference is Mena is getting its act together and DeQueen hasn't.

[RBBrittain]

It seems to me like DeQueen would be a higher priority. It's a slightly bigger population than Mena and has more traffic with four US highways converging (59, 70, 71, 371). Plus lots of trucks due to the chicken industry.

I guess the difference is Mena is getting its act together and DeQueen hasn't.

The Mena area has three US highways (59, 71, 270) and is closer to Fort Smith. I believe it would also be easier to build as a bypass, since earlier I-49 environmental studies suggest it will largely follow the existing 71/270 "S-curve" route north of Mena; unless it's entirely north of 59/70/71, a De Queen bypass might have to go to southern Sevier County to reach 59/71 again. (Not to mention racial politics possibly affecting the cities' political pull; De Queen has a far larger Hispanic population than mostly lily-white Mena.)

[O Tamandua]

Not highway news, but BOY is it Arkansas I-49 related.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon was quoted yesterday as saying that Northwest Arkansas is now projected to have over 1 million people in 15 years.  Here's a link to the post where the math is done; that translates to an average of 91 new people per day in NWA moving in over the next decade-and-one-half.

(And I'm wondering whether that takes into account any further completion of I-49, at least the Bella Vista Bypass and the Arkansas River Bridge.  Regardless, given this is essentially the middle of the I-49 corridor between Kansas City and Texarkana/Shreveport, it will someday have a big effect and CAUSE a big effect if it comes to pass).

At last week's Children's Hospital fundraising gala in Northwest Arkansas, Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon said the region is on pace to grow to more than 1 million residents over the next 15 years.

"If that is really the pace of growth, we will have to accelerate our plan for expansion,"  Doderer said. "The building we're designing is easily expandable. We're actually building it such that we can grow, we can build without disrupting services that are open."

http://talkbusiness.net/2016/08/arkansas-childrens-ceo-says-nw-arkansas-poised-for-more-growth-shares-plans-for-additional-state-reach/

[US71]

Not highway news, but BOY is it Arkansas I-49 related.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon was quoted yesterday as saying that Northwest Arkansas is now projected to have over 1 million people in 15 years.  Here's a link to the post where the math is done; that translates to an average of 91 new people per day in NWA moving in over the next decade-and-one-half.

(And I'm wondering whether that takes into account any further completion of I-49, at least the Bella Vista Bypass and the Arkansas River Bridge.  Regardless, given this is essentially the middle of the I-49 corridor between Kansas City and Texarkana/Shreveport, it will someday have a big effect and CAUSE a big effect if it comes to pass).

At last week's Children's Hospital fundraising gala in Northwest Arkansas, Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon said the region is on pace to grow to more than 1 million residents over the next 15 years.

"If that is really the pace of growth, we will have to accelerate our plan for expansion,"  Doderer said. "The building we're designing is easily expandable. We're actually building it such that we can grow, we can build without disrupting services that are open."

http://talkbusiness.net/2016/08/arkansas-childrens-ceo-says-nw-arkansas-poised-for-more-growth-shares-plans-for-additional-state-reach/

Wal-Mart built XNA (with help from Tyson and JB Hunt). Maybe they should invest in 49?  Heck, they are getting their own exit already, so spend a little more. My 2 pfennigs worth.

[Tomahawkin]

I agree. I started the speculation of the I49 (New Orleans to Canada) when the slow legalisation dragged their feet on the Bella vista bypass. That could have been tolled because of the snow birds who use 49 to southern cities in Texas and the gulf coast. Also a few truck stops and development in cities between Ft. Smith and Texarkana could boost revenues in some of those small towns which sorely need it...IMO, just speculation...

[Tomahawkin]

That post probably should have went to the toll road page. But it correlates with I-49

[jbnv]

Does Arkansas even have any toll highways?

[Bobby5280]

Wal-Mart built XNA (with help from Tyson and JB Hunt). Maybe they should invest in 49?  Heck, they are getting their own exit already, so spend a little more. My 2 pfennigs worth.

Walmart won't bother to invest in proper staffing and security levels at their stores. They just sap local police department resources for that. More taxpayer money goes to fund public assistance for many of their employees. With that being said, I would be absolutely shocked if Walmart contributed any money at all to fund I-49 construction. NFL team owners will be paying for their new billion dollar stadiums entirely with their own money before that happens.

[US71]

Does Arkansas even have any toll highways?

There is a proposed private toll road connecting XNA to the US 412 Bypass, but that is still a few years away. Otherwise, no.

[Gordon]

http://www.swtimes.com/news/20160814/population-projections-show-greenwood-booming
This article show's what kind of snails pace I 49 project is going. Something needs to speed it up.

[Tomahawkin]

Oh wow. I did not know how slow its going. I left the NWA area in 09 and I thought things were progressing slow then. I wonder why hasn't the AHDT poster commented on this as well as my toll roads in Arkansas post???

[Road Hog]

http://www.swtimes.com/news/20160814/population-projections-show-greenwood-booming
This article show's what kind of snails pace I 49 project is going. Something needs to speed it up.

The population of Crawford county is projected to shrink by 2040. Old people?

[O Tamandua]

Not highway news, but BOY is it Arkansas I-49 related.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon was quoted yesterday as saying that Northwest Arkansas is now projected to have over 1 million people in 15 years.  Here's a link to the post where the math is done; that translates to an average of 91 new people per day in NWA moving in over the next decade-and-one-half.

(And I'm wondering whether that takes into account any further completion of I-49, at least the Bella Vista Bypass and the Arkansas River Bridge.  Regardless, given this is essentially the middle of the I-49 corridor between Kansas City and Texarkana/Shreveport, it will someday have a big effect and CAUSE a big effect if it comes to pass).

At last week's Children's Hospital fundraising gala in Northwest Arkansas, Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon said the region is on pace to grow to more than 1 million residents over the next 15 years.

"If that is really the pace of growth, we will have to accelerate our plan for expansion,"  Doderer said. "The building we're designing is easily expandable. We're actually building it such that we can grow, we can build without disrupting services that are open."

http://talkbusiness.net/2016/08/arkansas-childrens-ceo-says-nw-arkansas-poised-for-more-growth-shares-plans-for-additional-state-reach/

Wal-Mart built XNA (with help from Tyson and JB Hunt). Maybe they should invest in 49?  Heck, they are getting their own exit already, so spend a little more. My 2 pfennigs worth.

I agree.

The article posted by Gordon, plus the McMillon quote I added above, would put metro NWA/FSM at a population of over 1,400,000 by 2040.  That's bigger than metro Memphis is now.

[O Tamandua]

From a businessman friend in Fort Smith:

When I-49 is complete, Fort Smith will explode. It will be at the corner of I-40 and I-49, in the center of the U.S. With access to rail and river, the proximity to major trucking lines (ABF, C. R. England, J. B. Hunt, USA Trucking, Jones Truck Lines etc.) it will be, perhaps, the single largest drop and ship hub (not attached to a sea or ocean) in the country. It will be central most drop point for shipped items arriving in the gulf ports for distribution east, west, and north.

I read a study several months ago that predicted that, after the completion of I-49, the River Valley will be one on the 5 fastest growing areas in the country, with a return of it's strong manufacturing base to take advantage of it's, now enhanced, ability to ship North, South, East, and West.

According to a couple of friends of mine on the FS Board of Directors and the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, east and south of Fort Smith is being gobbled up in huge chunks by investors in anticipation of the growth that will be facilitated by the completion of I-49.

[Bobby5280]

Even if/when I-49 is completed there will be bigger rail & road hubs in the Central US than Fort Smith. For rail, Kansas City and Amarillo both dwarf anything in Fort Smith. Oklahoma City and Kansas City are important Interstate highway hubs.

[O Tamandua]

Even if/when I-49 is completed there will be bigger rail & road hubs in the Central US than Fort Smith. For rail, Kansas City and Amarillo both dwarf anything in Fort Smith. Oklahoma City and Kansas City are important Interstate highway hubs.

Could be (depending upon what happens with the Kansas City Southern railroad in metro Fort Smith).  Yet there aren't about 6-7 largest-cities-in-their-state almost straight north of Oklahoma City as there are Fort Smith, and the latter city is closer to more of the busiest gulf ports than is OKC (admittedly with 3 interstates to FSM's 2).

What's interesting is that if one looks at current numbers of a combined Northwest Arkansas/Fort Smith population vs. those projected by Doug McMillon and the Fort Smith Southwest Times-Record, NWA/FSM is about 3/5 there right now...

[US71]

With Fort Chaffee being decommissioned, there is lots of land available cheap (one reason why 549 was built in that area). Almost all the land surrounding the Huckabee Nature Center has been bought by housing developers. There is a private college under construction, plus a church nearby. There is a new fire station on Massard Rd, about half a mile from 549.
The only services right now is a Casey's General Store on AR 22 just west of the new highway. It would not surprise me if Love's or another truck stop has already purchased land and is simply waiting for 549 to be extended.
AR 255 is proposed to be rerouted through Ft Chaffee as well, instead along the edge as it is now.

Let me know when you're in the area and I'll show you around

[O Tamandua]

With Fort Chaffee being decommissioned, there is lots of land available cheap (one reason why 549 was built in that area). Almost all the land surrounding the Huckabee Nature Center has been bought by housing developers. There is a private college under construction, plus a church nearby. There is a new fire station on Massard Rd, about half a mile from 549.
The only services right now is a Casey's General Store on AR 22 just west of the new highway. It would not surprise me if Love's or another truck stop has already purchased land and is simply waiting for 549 to be extended.
AR 255 is proposed to be rerouted through Ft Chaffee as well, instead along the edge as it is now.

Let me know when you're in the area and I'll show you around

^TY.     Every other state bordering Arkansas (including those with a smaller population) has both a dental and a veterinary school, but the Natural State doesn't (yet).  That private college may be about to change that, and it's time, with the state having two separate in-border metro areas that are approaching the 1 million person mark.  And as you said, future I-49 is nearly at their doorstep.

[galador]

With Fort Chaffee being decommissioned, there is lots of land available cheap (one reason why 549 was built in that area). Almost all the land surrounding the Huckabee Nature Center has been bought by housing developers. There is a private college under construction, plus a church nearby. There is a new fire station on Massard Rd, about half a mile from 549.
The only services right now is a Casey's General Store on AR 22 just west of the new highway. It would not surprise me if Love's or another truck stop has already purchased land and is simply waiting for 549 to be extended.
AR 255 is proposed to be rerouted through Ft Chaffee as well, instead along the edge as it is now.

Let me know when you're in the area and I'll show you around

ARCOM (the new Osteopathic college) is having an open house for their new campus this Sunday (21st).

^TY.     Every other state bordering Arkansas (including those with a smaller population) has both a dental and a veterinary school, but the Natural State doesn't (yet).  That private college may be about to change that, and it's time, with the state having two separate in-border metro areas that are approaching the 1 million person mark.  And as you said, future I-49 is nearly at their doorstep.

I don't think there's an Optometry program, either, but I think I read somewhere that UCA was doing some preliminary research on the feasibility.


There was an interesting comment by Ivy Owens (FCRA director) about the I-49 bridge in Talk Business today:

Owen offered updates on the I-49 bridge and the relocation of Highway 255 to Frontier Road as well as the widening of Frontier to five lanes. Concerning the I-49 bridge over the Arkansas River, Owen said engineering on the estimated $350 million project has been approved.

"The Highway Department has a policy that once they start the engineering on a project, they will complete it within 10 years, so some of the people in this room will be driving on that bridge in 10 years, and we couldn't have said that three or four years ago,"  Owen revealed to the Board. "It's still at the top of the Governor's priority list to get that done. That's one thing that spearheaded this along, and our Highway Commissioner has been right on top of it."

[O Tamandua]

With Fort Chaffee being decommissioned, there is lots of land available cheap (one reason why 549 was built in that area). Almost all the land surrounding the Huckabee Nature Center has been bought by housing developers. There is a private college under construction, plus a church nearby. There is a new fire station on Massard Rd, about half a mile from 549.
The only services right now is a Casey's General Store on AR 22 just west of the new highway. It would not surprise me if Love's or another truck stop has already purchased land and is simply waiting for 549 to be extended.
AR 255 is proposed to be rerouted through Ft Chaffee as well, instead along the edge as it is now.

Let me know when you're in the area and I'll show you around

ARCOM (the new Osteopathic college) is having an open house for their new campus this Sunday (21st).

^TY.     Every other state bordering Arkansas (including those with a smaller population) has both a dental and a veterinary school, but the Natural State doesn't (yet).  That private college may be about to change that, and it's time, with the state having two separate in-border metro areas that are approaching the 1 million person mark.  And as you said, future I-49 is nearly at their doorstep.

I don't think there's an Optometry program, either, but I think I read somewhere that UCA was doing some preliminary research on the feasibility.


There was an interesting comment by Ivy Owens (FCRA director) about the I-49 bridge in Talk Business today:

Owen offered updates on the I-49 bridge and the relocation of Highway 255 to Frontier Road as well as the widening of Frontier to five lanes. Concerning the I-49 bridge over the Arkansas River, Owen said engineering on the estimated $350 million project has been approved.

"The Highway Department has a policy that once they start the engineering on a project, they will complete it within 10 years, so some of the people in this room will be driving on that bridge in 10 years, and we couldn't have said that three or four years ago," Owen revealed to the Board. "It's still at the top of the Governor's priority list to get that done. That's one thing that spearheaded this along, and our Highway Commissioner has been right on top of it."

ANOTHER great find from this week!

[mvak36]

That's great news. Maybe they should start on some of the bypasses of Mena, DeQueen, etc.,