Let's go to a "B" topic today: the Bella Vista-Hiwasse-Gravette bypass. Progress continues. In fact, public hearings are being held concerning connection to the Interstate north of Bentonville. It's time to get ready for a round-about, one of those "inventions" to cure all, or at least some, traffic problems.
Did you realize this interstate project has been underway for 20 years? It began in 1996 when the Missouri and Arkansas Highway Departments hired an engineering firm to conduct a required study, necessary to determine a location for the new highway.
But wait. It was five years earlier, in 1991, that Congress identified the existing Highway 72 corridor from Kansas City south to Shreveport, La., as a high-priority corridor which would become Interstate 49. And before that, almost 30 years ago, in 1987, the Federal Aid Highway Act had identified the need for such a north-south superhighway.
Time passed ... and passed. And finally an environmental impact study was completed and the several hundred page document of information and maps, which weighed almost seven pounds, was presented. Hearings were held, one in Hiwasse, in May, 1998.
The study contained information for three proposed routes, one east of Bella Vista, a near-west (or Bella Vista) route and a far west route which extended west to Mt. Pleasant. The far-west route was selected and now three exits are inside the far-east side of the city of Gravette in the Hiwasse and Bella Vista area.
As we all know, two limited segments of the proposed highway are open, one interchange located from south of Hiwasse on Highway 72. A second intersects 72 near Mt. Pleasant and the third provides entrance from the Highlands area of Bella Vista. The third highway segment from north of Bentonville to the south Hiwasse exit is expected to open early next year. Progress. Just when the final segment to the Missouri line will be completed hinges on a money problem. Isn't it usually a money problem that causes the final cost of such projects to soar before they are completed? We can hope the road will be finished by 2025. But don't hold your breath. I never thought I'd live to see the dual highway completed from Bentonville to Fort Smith. Upgrades on that highway seem to be happening constantly, particularly in growing Benton and Washington counties.
Let's drift to another topic: The Federal Reserve Board, the agency which controls the interest rate system. It held a rate to near zero percent for seven years until raising it about half-a-percent last December. It seems that it should be time to raise it again. The board has teased us for 11 months. Isn't it time for our monetary system to get back into some semblance of normalcy. Who knows?
Enough for this time except a final topic: Thanksgiving. It is the time of year that a real meaningful holiday brings families together at Grandma's house and a time to really give thought to the many blessings for which Americans have to be thankful. Dating to colonial days, it's a tradition that we must continue to foster by remembering those patriots who gave and give so much, that allows us to have so much today for which to be thankful. It is a time for every American, regardless of who, to, in all sincerity, foster our freedoms and work diligently to pass these freedoms on to be enjoyed by coming generations. That is, and must be, the legacy we leave, not a legacy of one person, but a legacy of this and every generation. We must not fail!
Dodie Evans is former owner and long-time editor of the Gravette News Herald. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 11/30/2016