I-49 interchange plans unveiled

ROGERS — Residents got a look Tuesday at state highway department plans for improving a new interchange at Interstate 49 and U.S. 71B, also known as Walnut Street in Rogers and Walton Boulevard in Bentonville.

The new interchange will feature a single-point urban interchange, a type of interchange that is located either above or underneath the freeway and is designed in such a way that the intersecting off-ramps and on-ramps are diagonally adjacent to each other, according to highway officials.

The interchange will be reconfigured with some existing traffic signals being eliminated and others added, including a new light at Moberly Lane. There will also be a light at 46th Street on the Rogers side of the interchange.

A light in the middle of the interchange will control turning movements.

Linda Somerville lives near the interchange on the Rogers side and was looking over the plans and said a planned new median would prevent her from turning left on 45th Street when she goes to work in Bentonville in the mornings.

“It’ll be an inconvenience to me but there’s a wreck

there every day so it’ll probably be safer than than what I have to deal with today,” Somerville said. “I’ll have to find an alternative to get on the road.”

Plans call for starting the project in 2018, according to Danny Straessle, spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.. It is estimated the project will cost $20 to $30 million.

Straessle said the project will include a new 239 foot overpass with three lanes in each direction.

Currently, I-49 sees some 73,620 cars a day at the interchange and 71B has about 39,000 cars a day, Straessle said. By 2036 traffic estimates predict the I-49 interchange will see some 122,800 cars a day and 71B 55,000.