Arkansas and Missouri have been trying for years to complete the Bella Vista Bypass in northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri.
There’s good news, but first a little background.
I wrote about this subject back in July. … I’ll wait as you find your clipped copy of my column in your keepsake drawer so you can refresh your understanding before I proceed. OK. Ready?
The bypass is a 19-mile stretch of Interstate 49 that will sweep around Bella Vista to the west and reconnect in southern Missouri. It is the only uncompleted stretch of Interstate 49 between Kansas City and Fort Smith.
The problem, of course, was money. Arkansas had some and built a two-lane quasi-interstate on a 6-mile stretch but had 2.5 miles left to go — in addition to adding two more lanes to the 6 miles it built recently.
Missouri had 5 miles left to finish and had salted away $22 million, not nearly enough. Arkansas’ 6-mile, two-lane kind-of-interstate construction cost $52.7 million.
So the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission — southwest Missouri falls under its purview — applied for a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development fund.
(Wouldn’t the world be a much more efficient place if everybody always better utilized investments? I mean, isn’t that the whole point? I digress.)
Well, the U.S. DOT came through, awarding the $25 million to the Bella Vista Bypass cause. It didn’t hurt that heavy hitters such as Arkansas Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman (both Republicans), Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill (a Democrat), both states’ governors and top business leaders put their influence behind the proposal.
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao awarded the $25 million grant, and she also awarded $20 million to an interstate project in Hot Springs. The Northwest Arkansas Council said the BUILD grant’s maximum award is $25 million and there were hundreds of applications, so the lobbying efforts were worth it.
The politicians were happy to bask in their success — rightfully so, I might add. Their job is to provide leadership to utilize investments for better developments, and the Bella Vista Bypass project is an important one.
“Interstate access heralds the continued economic growth of any area, which is why completing the Bella Vista [B]ypass is vital for northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri,” Cotton said. “Many businesses and future infrastructure projects depend on its finalization, and this funding will allow that project’s construction finally to move forward.”
No one was happier than Pineville, Missouri, Mayor Gregg Sweeten, who told the Joplin Globe the following:
“That is going to be so great,” Sweeten said. “I mean, it’s just — I just can’t say how happy I am. Wow. That is — that’s wild. That’s amazing. That’s a Christmas present right there.”
Don’t you love a world where a mayor can get so happy?
The grant, coupled with the money Missouri was saving, will allow that state to finish its 5-mile stretch. Arkansas has been holding onto some money for when Missouri got its money together, so now our state can finish its portion, which includes a $51.4 million interchange in Bentonville that had been postponed.
When it’s all completed in a few years, traffic headed to Kansas City and points north will be able to avoid Bella Vista traffic congestion completely. All that will remain uncompleted of Interstate 49 between Canada and south Louisiana is the 150-mile stretch between Fort Smith and Texarkana. Price tag: north of $2 billion.
It would take a lot of BUILD grants to get to that amount, and tolls would be a tremendous headache and could be a financial boondoggle. That leaves raising the gas tax but, as Cotton said: “Interstate access heralds the continued economic growth of any area.”
So if it is important enough for 19 miles in the Bella Vista area, how much more important is the southern route along the western edge of Arkansas?
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