I-49 in Arkansas

[US71]

Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (at Fort Chaffee) held its ribbon cutting this morning.

[robbones]

http://5newsonline.com/2016/08/30/ahtd-releases-details-of-i-49fulbright-expressway-interchange-widening/

This is long overdue

LG-H634

[US71]

http://5newsonline.com/2016/08/30/ahtd-releases-details-of-i-49fulbright-expressway-interchange-widening/

This is long overdue

LG-H634

IMO, the current interchange should not have been built the way it was.

[robbones]

http://5newsonline.com/2016/08/30/ahtd-releases-details-of-i-49fulbright-expressway-interchange-widening/

This is long overdue

LG-H634

IMO, the current interchange should not have been built the way it was.

This was done what 30 or so years ago

LG-H634

[US71]

http://5newsonline.com/2016/08/30/ahtd-releases-details-of-i-49fulbright-expressway-interchange-widening/

This is long overdue

LG-H634

IMO, the current interchange should not have been built the way it was.

This was done what 30 or so years ago

LG-H634

Circa 1983

I still think they could have done something different.

[sparker]

http://5newsonline.com/2016/08/30/ahtd-releases-details-of-i-49fulbright-expressway-interchange-widening/

This is long overdue

LG-H634

IMO, the current interchange should not have been built the way it was.

Having driven it several times, it's quite obvious that the current through lanes were built well before the northern extension as a stand-alone US 71 Fayetteville bypass facility.  The northern extension was merely "tacked-on" in a way that would least disrupt the bypass traffic -- and would simplify the funneling of NB traffic directly to the original US 71 commercial strip -- likely for localized economic benefit.  The northern extension freeway was likely originally seen as a similar bypass of the towns to the north (Springdale, Bentonville, etc.) rather than part of a through route -- at least until the I-540 designation was posted in the '90's.  And until now, it was likely thought of as adequate if not optimal.  I guess the increased regional population and subsequent increased traffic finally caught up with the design!

[Wayward Memphian]

I'm just glad I live in the east side of Fayettenam and I can just go up 265 to Don Tyson and over to I-49 and advice what will be a massive cluster till that interchange is complete.

[robbones]

Won't be surprised if 265 becomes jammed once they start working on the interchange

LG-H634

[Tomahawkin]

I thought that interchange needed a makeover when I was there in 03-09. Its about time. My only beef is that they should make I-49, 4 lanes in each direction to 1) handle game day traffic and 2) plan for the future residents moving to the area. Arkansas has a bad habit of just trying to solve current traffic issues instead of doing that and planning for future growth.

[US71]

Won't be surprised if 265 becomes jammed once they start working on the interchange

You know it will

[O Tamandua]

Update on the Bella Vista Bypass and the Arkansas 112 Bypass.  Seems to me that there will have to be some warning signs saying "This is NOT a through road to Missouri right now"...  However, I think it's very possible many of us will see both the Bella Vista bypass and the Arkansas River bridge both on I-49 in our lifetime, and that will put ever more pressure to finish the Greenwood-Texarkana section. :

Work is ongoing from Interstate 49 in north Bentonville, including a large roundabout and other interchange improvements. The road will be part of I-49 when completed. Base and concrete paving are in place from Arkansas 72 on the west to past Pumpkin Hollow Road, going east.

"Realistically, we're looking at right after the first of the year before we'll actually be opening the roundabout and sending traffic down the new bypass," Archer said. "There's going to be a lot of the work that will be completed, but once you complete that bulk work, there's a lot of cleanup, there's a lot of shoulder gravel to put on, you have to pave the shoulders with asphalt."

...

Getting the road connected back to I-49 in Missouri still requires Arkansas building a 2.5-mile section to the state line and Missouri building a section from the state line to just south of Pineville.

Darin Hamelink, area engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation, told regional planners earlier this year $20 million is budgeted in 2020 for construction of the 4.81-mile project, but another $30 million is needed to finish the road.

All right of way has been acquired, Hamelink said. He said the environmental impact statement needs to be done. Preliminary design work is completed, but $3 million must be allocated to finish the plans, he said.

Missouri officials, at one time, said they had money in hand to go ahead with the project when Arkansas was ready. Arkansas wasn't ready at that point and Missouri switched the money to other projects. Hamelink said Missouri is now dealing with a shortage of highway money.

"I don't think we'll ever see construction quit on the Bella Vista Bypass until it's four lanes and finished," said Dick Trammel, chairman of the Arkansas Highway Commission. "It's not a road to nowhere. The part that's finished and open, it's being used pretty heavily."

http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2016/sep/04/officials-happy-with-progress-of-two-no/

[NE2]

Why would people think it's a through road to Missouri? It'll be accessed via a roundabout off the main highway, right?

[US71]

Why would people think it's a through road to Missouri? It'll be accessed via a roundabout off the main highway, right?

(1) Likely be AR 549
(2) There are already "Freeway Ends" signs on 49 approaching 71.
(3) I wouldn't be surprised to see the new road signed "local traffic only"

[Wayward Memphian]

Won't be surprised if 265 becomes jammed once they start working on the interchange

LG-H634

The lack of a decent east west corridor will negate that a bit. 112 will be worn out though. Folks will be cutting through  western residential areas get to it.

[Tomahawkin]

I saw the 2017 rand mcnally atlas today and it showed interstate construction to the southwest of the wagon wheel road exit? Is this where the are planning the Bella vista bypass (southern leg)?

[O Tamandua]

I saw the 2017 rand mcnally atlas today and it showed interstate construction to the southwest of the wagon wheel road exit? Is this where the are planning the Bella vista bypass (southern leg)?

I think that's actually part of the road to the XNA airport.

[capt.ron]

I thought that interchange needed a makeover when I was there in 03-09. Its about time. My only beef is that they should make I-49, 4 lanes in each direction to 1) handle game day traffic and 2) plan for the future residents moving to the area. Arkansas has a bad habit of just trying to solve current traffic issues instead of doing that and planning for future growth.

They have always had a "reactive" vs "proactive" approach to road building. No need to change that, I guess!

[Tomahawkin]

Oh OK. Fill me in? I have not heard any word of this on here? I'm guessing its going to be a 4 lane spur parkway?

[Tomahawkin]

@capt.Ron. I agree. Its always a reactive approach. I'm not surprised that AHTD has ignored any questions of widening areas of 49 and other roads in the area to deal with game day traffic. Getting caught in that mess b!ows

[O Tamandua]

Though the I-49 bridge (and a completed I-49) is still a ways off, and though Effingham, IL might want to disagree, Alma, AR has a new slogan: "Crossroads of America".  When the I-49/Texas I-69 hourglass corridor is complete, they may be right (alongside fellow I-49 interstate junction cities Kansas City, Joplin and Shreveport/Texarkana, of course):

With the loss of the spinach cannery, Alma dropped the title of "Spinach Capital of the World" in favor "Crossroads of America."  Greene said it's an apt description since the gateway to the future Interstate 49 bridge is set to begin at Alma and Interstate 40 lies just to the north of the city. Incorporated in 1872, the city of Alma also was a crossroads for the area with travelers finding it as a junction when they "came down out of the mountains,"  Greene said.

http://www.swtimes.com/news/20160906/alma-being-reshaped-by-arkansas-162-relocation-project

[aboges26]

Oh OK. Fill me in? I have not heard any word of this on here? I'm guessing its going to be a 4 lane spur parkway?

I believe you are referring to the first segment of the US 412 bypass of Springdale.

[Bobby5280]

Though the I-49 bridge (and a completed I-49) is still a ways off, and though Effingham, IL might want to disagree, Alma, AR has a new slogan: "Crossroads of America".  When the I-49/Texas I-69 hourglass corridor is complete, they may be right (alongside fellow I-49 interstate junction cities Kansas City, Joplin and Shreveport/Texarkana, of course)

Kansas City and Oklahoma City both have legit claims on being the middle cross-roads point of America's highway network. Alma does not. Neither does Effingham for that matter.

I-69 in Arkansas, if it ever gets built (which is highly doubtful), will at best only be used as a local/regional traffic route thanks to the route being so awfully crooked and time/distance wasting. From the Texas border to Indianapolis I-69 is pretty comical looking compared to so many other far straighter, far faster Interstate routes in the middle of the country. It's a clear illustration of just how much America sucks doing big things like highway projects now. We're sure great at lawyering though.

[The Ghostbuster]

When are they going to renumber the exits on the segment of Interstate 49 that used to be Interstate 540?

[KamKam]

Good Question

[Road Hog]

They'll wait until they build the bridge and connect the Barling segment, which uses the new I-49 mileage.