Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Drivers face fewer projects on interstate
Engineers update planners
FAYETTEVILLE — Motorists will face fewer construction projects ongoing at one time along Interstate 49 during the next several years.
Arkansas Department of Transportation engineers recently updated regional planners on the progress of work along the Interstate 49 corridor over the past several years from south of Fayetteville to the Missouri line.
The I-49 corridor has 17 projects, including interchange improvements and widening, either completed, in progress or planned. All the work is expected to be completed or underway in the next five years.
Mitchell Archer, construction engineer, said all the miles that have been widened to six lanes are open, except near the Eighth Street and 14th Street interchanges in Bentonville.
“The two jobs that we have active right now are the Eighth Street project and the additional two lanes of the Bella Vista Bypass,” he said.
Archer said the Eighth Street interchange project, expected to be completed by December, is using what are called braided ramps because of the proximity of two
exits. There will also be tunnels under the Eighth Street bridge for ramps.
“There are no conflicts because of the tunnels,” Archer said. “For putting those two interchanges that close together, that’s the only way it could be done without having traffic conflict between the ramps. We’ve been going for about two years on that project. We’re doing OK on time on it.”
Down the road at Exit 85, contractors are ready to start work on the state’s first single-point urban interchange, he said. The interchange provides access to Walton Boulevard in Bentonville and Walnut Street in Rogers.
“Basically there’s one traffic light underneath the I-49 bridges in this design, and it controls all of the action from U.S. 71 to I-49 and vice-versa,” said Danny Straessle, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
“There are still some conflicts below on Highway 71 with utilities and right of way, but the director wanted that project and the commission wanted that project done as quickly as possible to get all six lanes of I-49 open,” Archer said. “The I-49 work will have to be done first, and, once it’s open to six lanes, then we can work on the part underneath.”
Archer said the project has delayed the opening of some nearby lanes.
“We’ve been asked a lot of questions about why we’re not opening up six lanes south of there, that’s why, our footprint goes a long way,” he said.
The plan for the interchange initially was to use a diverging diamond, but was changed to a single-point urban interchange because Bentonville and Rogers officials didn’t like the design, Archer said. Redesigning the interchange delayed the project.
The interchange consists of two 185-foot bridges that have to be demolished and replaced because there isn’t room between the piers for that type of interchange, he said.
“We’re gonna have to take those bridges out, and we’re gonna have to span that all in one span,” Archer explained. “When you go to longer spans, you’ve got to get taller, so we’re gonna get a lot taller and that pushes our footprint out because we’ve got to raise everything up about 5 feet. What we’re gonna have is one 237-foot single span bridge.”
After completion of the projects, Bentonville and Rogers will take over maintenance of sections of Walnut Street and Walton Boulevard from the Transportation Department, Archer said.
BUILDING MORE AND MORE
Further south, Bashar Qedan, resident engineer for District 4, which includes Fayetteville, said several significant projects are in the queue for the next few years, but most of the projects in Washington County are done.
“We finished the big interchange in northwest Fayetteville earlier this year and from Porter Road to the Highway 112 interchange,” Qedan said.
He said some minor corrective work was required, including adding arrows to I-49 south on an overhead sign and shields on the pavement, pointing to I-49, Arkansas 112 and U.S. 71.
“We are hoping within a month or six weeks we will be out of there and you can see the difference with the new striping and everything else,” he said. “Traffic is flowing wonderful.”
Remaining jobs include replacing the interchange at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard with a single-point urban interchange in 2022.
Replacing the Wedington Drive interchange has been pushed back from this year to 2019, Qedan said. “That is going to involve replacing the entire bridge with an eight-lane bridge,” he said.
There are also plans to redo and add signs, including overhead signs, along I-49 from Alma to Bella Vista starting in September.
Dick Trammel, whose 10-year appointment to the Arkansas Highway Commission is winding down, said the department has made changes to make sure the work is done quickly.
“In the last 9½ years, one of the best changes I’ve seen the department and commission make is that we pay people now,” Trammel said. “We’ve gone from penalties on people who didn’t finish on time to paying them to get through early.”
OFF THE BEATEN INTERSTATE
Work continues on the Arkansas side of the Bella Vista Bypass while Missouri tries to find money for the project on its side, Archer said.
“We’ve completed three projects, 12 miles. We have the other two lanes under construction right now. We’re very early in that project. We’re about 14 or 15 percent done,” Archer said.
“There’s a lot of structure work going on, some of the preliminary earthwork is going on. We will have the section from County Road 34 to about a mile before you get to the roundabout complete. The other two sections, which are still scheduled, basically we’re waiting on Missouri,” he said.
Arkansas will complete the section from Benton County 34 to the state line as soon as Missouri is able to complete its part from Pineville, Mo., down, he said.
Archer said the first portion of the U.S. 412 Northern Bypass, from I-49 to Arkansas 112, was substantially completed in May.
Work is ongoing to extend Arkansas 265 north into downtown Rogers, Qedan and Archer said. The two districts are cooperating on the project.
“We are working on the portion from Arkansas 264 north into the city of Rogers,” Archer said. “We hope to have it open this year.”
Qedan said the part south from Arkansas 264 to Randall Wobbe Road is moving well. The completion date is probably sometime in March, he said.
“This job is unique where the utilities are part of the construction contract. We’re going to be working south of Randall Wobbe with utility relocation and lane shifts to accommodate the work,” he said.
Qedan said a few smaller projects in the district will include sealing Arkansas 16 from the Benton County line to Lake Wedington and renovating a bridge over the Illinois River. Chip and seal was applied to Arkansas 220 north out of Devil’s Den State Park.
Archer said safety projects continue on 14 miles of Arkansas 12 from Rogers through Hobbs State Park. Much of the work involves applying a high-friction surface treatment on the dangerous curves.
“It is basically like a piece of sandpaper. It’s a fine aggregate that sticks in epoxy and the friction numbers are crazy,” Archer said. “It resists water, it does really good in wet conditions, it’s a proven method of preventing wet surface crashes.”