Let’s talk about something other than the weather
Surprise! This ‘cuff is not about the weather. Warning! I’ve crossed my fingers behind my back. But, seriously, these rambling paragraphs will be about another subject that has been a topic of discussion since the early 1980s. You guessed it, didn’t you? The important subject this week is Interstate Highway 49 will possibly be completed in a couple of years or so.
A breaking-of-ground ceremony was held several days ago to announce bids have been set for completion of the final two segments of the highway in Benton County. The first bid guarantees the completion of the final fourlane segment south from the Missouri state line to connect with a two-lane segment which, within a year or so, will be expanded to four-lane. The other bid is for the completion of an interchange to replace the roundabout interchange located between Bentonville and Bella Vista. The connection is on U.S. Highway 71.
It’s been a long time securing the dollars needed to finish this project which has been underway since the 1980s. When completed, Highway 49 will be a nonstop route between Kansas City and Fort Smith. Only an unscheduled segment in Arkansas south from Fort Smith remains to complete the interstate to the Gulf. A $25 million federal grant was received by Arkansas Planning which, shared with Missouri, allows them to begin the almost fivemile segment from near Pineville to the Arkansas border. Traffic problems in the central part of Bella Vista will be lessened and a new part of Benton County will be accessed by the Interstate Highway. As mentioned, three interchanges are within the Gravette (Hiwasse) area city limits.
Final completion of the entire local area project is being expected by mid or late 2022. Projects already constructed or under construction may be completed sometime late next year.
Most ‘cuff readers are familiar with all of the preceding information. Completion of such a long-awaited project and its impact on all of Benton County, and especially western Benton County are worth celebrating. Thirty-plus years is a long time … so now on to another subject.
What? Nope, it’s not about the weather but … well … it’s about different highway projects that, rumor has it, will involve State Highway 59 which travels south from the Missouri line through Eagle Observer territory. Impacted will be Sulphur Springs, Gravette, Decatur, Gentry and on south toward….
Please note the word rumor. About two months ago I heard that bids were to be let to replace two narrow bridges on Highway 59 in and near Decatur. I completed a ‘cuff about the needed attention to 59 which recalled a couple of articles in the Gravette News Herald. I held it (the ‘cuff ) until now. The first had a headline (on March 29, 1989) which read “Highway 59 Improvement Plan Revealed.” The first paragraph stated: The Arkansas Highway Department (AHD) recently announced the initial steps toward possible improvement of Highway 59 from the Missouri line south through western Benton County to the Washington County line. (Please note the word “possible.”)
State Representative David Matthews was quoted, “I have been urging the Highway Department … to make plans to widen and improve Highway 59.” He added, “A ‘minute order’ issued in February 1989 was the first action required in the long process for approval.” It noted the requirement of financing and the securing of rightof-way. The article further noted, “Although no construction is imminent, this is an important first step toward making our goal of a wider and safer Highway 59 a reality.” The anticipated result “would widen and reconstruct the north-south arterial road.”
Fifteen years later, on March 3, 2004, an editorial in the paper declared, “Now is the time the AHD must make plans for widening and upgrading this important northsouth arterial route … as the growth from the east invades western Benton County, it is becoming increasingly evident that waiting even a few years to make improvement will make the widening of Highway 59 even more difficult … and more
expensive. There is much more, including planning and promoting improvements, that needs to be met so that ten or twenty years (from then) folks will look back and say, “Thanks for the foresight.”
During the past several years, 15 to be exact, there have been upgrades and improvements, including two new bridges north in Sulphur Springs, widening a segment of pavement north from the state line, other pavement projects and, of course, several years ago four-laning 59 south of Gentry. Just what improvements and projects are probable in the near future have not been announced.
Wouldn’t it be great to have some passing areas, not only on 59 but also 72, where being able to pass old slowpoke geezers like me would certainly help traffic move more smoothly? Perhaps, since funds have already been appropriated or saved for the Highway 49 project, more funds from sales and gas/diesel taxes will be available for upgrades in other highways. Widening of 59 and 72 and other state highways would accommodate local drivers, especially truck traffic, as well as tourists and visitors to the area. Highway 59 should be at the top of the list for major improvements and widening. Hopefully, we will see action in the near future for this arterial road.
For persons who were not familiar with when U.S. 71 came south from KC through Noel and Sulphur Springs, at Gravette Main Street it took a sharp turn east toward Bentonville where it proceeded south. It was known as “The Prize Drive of the Ozarks” … and now for the weather report. Whoops, I didn’t cross my fingers. I used them all pounding out the ‘cuff and other stuff.