Any step forward is good news for Curt Green when it comes to Interstate 49.
Green owns a commercial real estate firm in Texarkana and is president of the I-49 International Coalition, which is based in Shreveport. It is Green’s dream to see the completion of I-49 between Texarkana and Fort Smith along the western border of Arkansas, hopefully in his lifetime.
“Well, I’m 73, so probably not for me,” Green joked.
Green was reacting to the news that the Arkansas Department of Transportation had awarded a $282.5 million contract to Manhattan Road & Bridge of Tulsa to construct a 3.1-mile stretch of I-49 from Gun Club Road to Highway 22 in Fort Smith. The stretch is phase one of a 13.7-mile, four-phase project that will eventually connect Highway 22 to Interstate 40 in Alma.
The first phase is expensive for a 3.1-mile stretch because it includes a bridge over the Arkansas River. Officials have said for years that getting the bridge built is the linchpin of the I-49 expansion efforts in Fort Smith. “In a lot of ways it is like the key to the door,” Green said. “You open up the door and start us on the downhill side.”
The 13.7-mile stretch and bridge are the northern hinge of the remaining unbuilt portion of I-49, which otherwise runs from Canada to Interstate 10 in Lafayette, Louisiana. The last 162 miles of the interstate are expected to cost as much as $1.3 billion.
And it all starts with $282.5 million.
“Every dollar is appreciated,” Green said. “Every time you get money to finish out another mile or two or three or 10 or 12, it takes it on down the road. Just like when we got from Texarkana to Shreveport. Every mile helps, and there’s no telling when there will be funding for the whole thing. There will never be funding for the whole thing [at one time], I do not believe.”
Arkansas improved its infrastructure funding in recent years with the passage of a permanent half-cent sales tax and other legislation that will generate approximately $300 million annually for highways. President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act in November 2021 that provides the state with $3.6 billion for roads and $278 million for bridges over five years.
Still, more money means more competition for that money, and Green said it was a credit to Arkansas’ congressional delegation that the I-49 expansion received its share.
“We really appreciate our congressional guys working for us up in Washington and getting us the money,” Green said. “You have to understand there are like 5,000 highways that want money. When you get money you bubble up to the top in some shape, form or fashion, so you need to be appreciative of what the guys have done for us to bring it home.”
Green said any money invested in building out Interstate 49 will be worth it. He has business interests in northwest Arkansas and said the completion of the I-49 Bella Vista Bypass has been a boon to southern Missouri.
He said when I-49 runs from Fort Smith to Texarkana, towns such as Mena on the western edge of Arkansas will see enormous benefits. Having another interstate outlet emanating from Texarkana and Fort Smith will also alleviate some of the interstate truck traffic that often plagues I-30 and I-40 in Arkansas.
“If you want to see growth in southern Missouri, get on I-49 in Bella Vista and drive to Joplin to see what has grown along the interstate; you can see what an interstate can do for you on the economy,” Green said. “As you pick up sections you line yourself up better to pick up the next section. One of these days when we have I-49 running from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada nonstop, the whole western side of Arkansas is going to look like I-40 going across east to west Arkansas.”
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