$127 million is low bid for work on Northwest airport access road
HIGHFILL — The state highway department opened bids Wednesday for a long-awaited new access road to Northwest Arkansas National Airport, with the low bid coming in at about $127 million.
Three companies submitted bids to the Arkansas Department of Transportation. Crossland Construction of Columbus, Kan., was the apparent low bidder at $127,674,716.
The bid will be reviewed by department staff before a decision is made on final approval by the Arkansas Highway Commission at its next meeting.
The amount ultimately paid for the project could increase based on potential bonuses, if the project is completed ahead of schedule. The contractor could also be docked if work is not finished on schedule.
Emery Sapp & Sons of Columbia, Mo., bid $132,045,322 and Webber LLC of The Woodlands, Texas, bid $147,488,174.
Construction of the new access road is expected to begin in the next few months, and it should be open in mid-2027, barring unforeseen circumstances.
Philip Taldo, an airport board member and state highway commissioner, said he’s happy with the bids.
“They’re in the range of what we can do,” Taldo said.
He said the timing is good, based on record enplanements at the airport last year and new routes opening up.
“This is getting it in just in time,” Taldo said.
Without the transportation department committing to the project, it could have taken decades longer to get a road to the airport.
“We’re just fortunate ARDOT saw it was feasible and agreed to do it,” Taldo said.
Nelson Peacock, president and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council, a business group, said the access road is a significant step forward as the region’s economic future is dependent on expediting infrastructure investments.
“As our population continues to grow, we will need to focus on accelerating the completion of the U.S. 412 Bypass in Springdale, and we look forward to working with ARDOT over the coming months and years,” Peacock said.
Aaron Burkes, CEO at Northwest Arkansas National Airport, said the bids came in a little higher than expected, but the investment in safety, time savings and economic growth should far exceed the dollars invested.
“The XNA access road is so important to the airport and our region,” Burkes said. “The many challenges in getting the road built resulted in two decades of delay, so we are very grateful for our partnership with the Arkansas Department of Transportation who took over the project and very efficiently moved it off of dead center. All of Northwest Arkansas will benefit from the investment in this new road by providing safe and efficient access to the airport and by relieving traffic on other congested roads west of I-49.”
Over the last 20 years there have been multiple fits and starts to get the road built. Airport officials have had a new road to the airport on their wish list since before it opened in November 1998.
The Transportation Department agreed in June 2019 to design and build the road. The road has been identified as a priority project on the department’s plans for several years.
The road will take off from a new portion of Arkansas 612 — also known as the U.S. 412 Springdale Northern Bypass — just west of the Arkansas 112 interchange and go to Airport Boulevard at the airport’s south entrance off Arkansas 264.
The Arkansas Department of Transportation awarded the bid for the new section of the U.S. 412 Springdale Northern Bypass between Arkansas 112 and U.S. 412 in June.
Currently signed as Arkansas 612, the new 6.9-mile, four-lane divided section of highway will run from U.S. 412 west of Tontitown to the existing portion of Arkansas 612 at Arkansas 112 just north of Elm Springs.
Emery Sapp & Sons was the low bidder on the project at almost $181 million. The company estimated it would take 833 days to complete the project, which includes a new interchange for the planned connector road to the airport.
The route chosen for the airport access road is a little less than 4 miles, and the road will have no entrance or exit ramps from beginning to end.
The route is a fairly straight shot from the new interchange to the airport. It follows the Osage Creek valley much of the way.
Ultimately, the route is expected to be four lanes crossing over Arkansas 264 and connecting to a new airport entrance east of the existing entrance. A new diamond interchange and realigned entrance to Arkansas 264 and Airport Boulevard is part of the future plan.
To help move the project along, the airport board voted in June to donate 55 acres the airport owned to the Department of Transportation for that interchange.
The department wants to build a four-lane, limited access road to the airport because it provides the most direct and reliable route. The proposed design reduces the likelihood of congestion, accidents or extreme weather events interfering with people getting to and from the airport, according to a department study.
Current routes to the airport from the south and east, such as Arkansas 264 and Arkansas 112, are winding, twolane rural roads for the most part. Arkansas 264 was closed by flooding during heavy rains. Current routes also run through downtown Cave Springs, which slows traffic.
The Transportation Department will also get money earmarked for the road more than a decade ago by Congress. The earmark was originally $15 million. It’s closer to $11 million now after money was spent on previous efforts by the airport.
The Federal Highway Administration had to complete its environmental assessments of the project area and issued a final finding of no significant impact in 2022.