The first steps to connect the Bella Vista bypass to Missouri were kicked off last week during a groundbreaking ceremony near the highway's current endpoint off Rocky Dell Hollow Road.
ARDOT Director Scott Bennett said that this project includes two major pieces -- extending Arkansas Highway 549, the future U.S. Highway 71, into Missouri and building an interchange that will replace the existing traffic circle and carry interstate traffic directly into the bypass.
The project is expected to conclude in 2022.
"The Bella Vista bypass will soon be a reality," he said.
There's a lot of work going into this, he said. Completing the interchange is projected to cost $67 million and finishing the highway is budgeted at $36 million, he explained.
"It's a win-win for so many people," mayor Peter Christie said.
He expects the bypass, once it is complete, to ease truck traffic in Bella Vista and reduce the number of stops highway travelers have to make. The easier traffic flow will also help tourists access Bella Vista, he said, and the city will get better access to its business, in part, because it's the first stop in the state.
Steve Lawrence, ARDOT District 9 traffic engineer, explained that this project is taking a lot of coordination from state and local agencies, but the biggest challenge is going to be coordinating with workers in Missouri to ensure that the highway sections meet in the same place.
The interchange is also going to be a massive project, he said, and it'll be tricky to manage the heavy workload in such a high-traffic area.
"The schedules are very tight," Lawrence said.
One Bella Vista resident, Ron Furman, came to check out the ceremony.
Furman said he lives near Branchwood and uses the existing stretch of the Bella Vista bypass often.
It will be nice to have less traffic in the existing U.S. Highway 71 corridor, and he hopes the area sees more development as a result -- though he doesn't expect anything will happen before the highway is finished, he explained.
"It's going to be a good deal ... They're serious about getting this thing done," he said.
General News on 10/23/2019