FAYETTEVILLE -- Finishing Interstate 49 around Bella Vista would be a priority in southwest Missouri if voters approve a tax Aug. 5 dedicated to building and improving state highways, regional planners were told earlier this month.
"I would say No. 1 is the Bella Vista Bypass," Jason Ray, of the Harry S. Truman Coordinating Council, told members of a regional planning committee in Springdale. If the sales tax passes, it will pay for the extension of I-49 to the state line.
At A Glance
Show Me The Money
Missouri voters will decide next month the fate of a dedicated 10-year, three-quarter-cent sales tax for highways. The proposal, Amendment Seven, will appear on the Aug. 5 primary ballot. If passed, it will amend the state’s constitution. The tax increase would not apply to medicine, groceries or gasoline purchases. The money would be available starting in 2015.
Source: Staff Report
The Truman council is the regional planning commission for Barton, Jasper, McDonald and Newton counties in Missouri.
Missouri has promised $32.4 million for the Bella Vista Bypass project if the sales tax passes.
The missing section of the bypass, between the state line and Jane, has been on hold since Missouri moved money it set aside to other projects until Arkansas is ready to link up. Arkansas passed a sales tax dedicated to highways last year and the section through Benton County is under construction, although only two lanes are being built.
Arkansas will be ready to go on the last 2.5-mile section from Benton County 34 to the state line when Missouri is ready to do its final 7-mile section, highway officials said recently during a ceremony marking the opening of the bypass around Hiwasse.
Dick Trammel, Arkansas Highway Commissioner, said if Missouri voters approve the tax and the project north of the state line becomes a reality, it could speed up construction of all four lanes on this side of the line. Arkansas needs an estimated $50 million more to finish the bypass as a four-lane divided highway.
"If they get it, maybe we can get our other two lanes," Trammel said.
A $13.7 million project is under way to extend the bypass from Hiwasse north to Benton County 34 on the west side of Bella Vista and should be complete before the end of this year. The state has awarded a $52.6 million contract to extend the bypass east from Hiwasse to a new interchange on I-49 on the north side of Bentonville. That section is expected to open by the spring of 2016.
Interstate 49 will eventually run from south of New Orleans to Canada.
Ray said polling has been positive but also indicates the Missouri vote will be close. Business entities have shown support for the measure but several environmental groups have come out against the tax because it includes only highway projects, Ray said. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is on record opposing the tax.
Other southwest Missouri projects on the list if the tax passes include interchange improvements to I-49 at Carthage and work on the Missouri 60 corridor between Monett and Republic and, eventually, to Springfield. Work is also planned along the Interstate 44 corridor.
Members of the Technical Advisory Committee were also told their cities need to submit projects for a share of $6.5 million in federal money the region is expected to receive for the 2015 Surface Transportation Program.
The Northwest Arkansas metro area became eligible for the money when the urban population surpassed 200,000. The money is administered by the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission.
The deadline to submit projects is Aug. 15. Projects will be evaluated and ranked for regional significance before a final list is approved by the full planning commission Sept. 24.
General News on 07/30/2014