State opens bids for I-49 connector
Projects to take highway to state line
BENTONVILLE — Arkansas highway officials opened bids Wednesday for two projects needed to finish the Bella Vista bypass, also known as the Missouri/Arkansas I-49 connector.
The two projects are the last 2½ miles from Hiwasse to the state line and a new interchange to replace the roundabout at Interstate 49 and U.S. 71 in Bentonville, where the highway heads west.
The apparent low bidder on the two projects was Emery Sapp & Sons of Columbia, Mo., according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation. The company said it will cost about $102.1 million to complete both projects. The company said it could build the 2½-mile stretch of road for about $35.5 million. The new interchange will cost about $66.6 million.
Construction should begin by November. The company has 90 days from the date the bids are awarded to start work.
The company said it will take about a year to finish the highway and about 700 days to do the interchange, which consists of about 2.7 miles of roadways and bridges.
A second bidder, Kolb Grading of St. Charles, Mo., submitted a lower bid for the interchange — $60.9 million — but said it would need 1,000 days to complete the project. The Transportation Department requires contractors to bid the number of days and uses that to determine the amount for award consideration.
Emery Sapp’s bid on the final 2½-mile section was lower than three other bidders.
All bids will be reviewed before they become final.
Missouri highway officials said earlier this year that they want to have their portion of the Bella Vista bypass finished by the middle of 2022.
The Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission approved in March the finances and timeline for completion of 4.8 miles of I-49 from Pineville to the state line.
The estimated total cost for the project is $47.9 million, according to a news release from Missouri’s Department of Transportation Southwest District office.
Jeff Hawkins, executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, said Missouri officials have said they won’t take bids on their portion of the highway until March 2020.
“They’re wanting to get the projects coordinated so they can finish both at about the same time,” Hawkins said. “We’ll know more about that once Missouri sees what Arkansas awards.”
Mayor Peter Christie said Bella Vista residents have complained about the roundabout that will be replaced. Christie said recent estimates show traffic counts at the Missouri border are about 20,000 a day and traffic counts at the southern end of U.S. 71 in Bella Vista are about 44,000.
“That’s about 24,000 or 25,000 car trips a day being generated by Bella Vista residents,” Christie said.
“The truck traffic is of great concern to myself and Bella Vista residents,” Christie said. “I’m sure the truckers will be happy, too, to get off the stop-go, stop-go and onto a proper highway.”
Arkansas opened a twolane section of the bypass in May 2017. Work on the other two lanes is underway and should be done by late 2020.
In December, a $25 million federal grant was awarded to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, which is giving the money to Missouri to build the 4.8-mile section. Even though the project is across the state line, it’s within the commission’s jurisdiction.
The grant application had the support of both state departments of transportation, the Northwest Arkansas Council and myriad business interests. The project has been discussed for 25 or 30 years and is considered a priority by Northwest Arkansas and federal transportation officials.
Money for the small section of I-49 in this region has been holding up completion of the 278mile corridor between Fort Smith and Kansas City, Mo.
Bella Vista is the only stretch where traffic must leave I-49 to continue traveling north or south. The connector would allow motorists to bypass Bella Vista and its multiple traffic signals, reducing travel times and improving safety, planners have said.
The grant is coming from a federal Department of Transportation program called Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development Grants, which is allocated for nationally and regionally significant projects.
The $25 million grant leverages $86.6 million from Arkansas voter-approved money along with Missouri Department of Transportation money to complete the project.