[Dr. Foosball]

The mythical I-49 has been coming almost as long as the second coming of Christ. I doubt any businesses are banking on that interstate any time soon.

[ArkansasTgirl]

Originally Posted by Dr. Foosball

The mythical I-49 has been coming almost as long as the second coming of Christ. I doubt any businesses are banking on that interstate any time soon.

Mitsubishi located out there and they kept it quiet until it was a sure deal. Same thing with the nano-tech place that went to Springdale. If they are talking to anybody they aren't going to tell us.

I don't know about the stretch between here and Texarkana. If they can manage a bridge over the Arkansas river just getting from Alma to Greenwood would still be huge for the area. They are building overpasses on Chaffee so they must at least think they can get a bridge built because otherwise they would just be wasting millions of dollars.

[thewizard16]

Originally Posted by Dr. Foosball

The mythical I-49 has been coming almost as long as the second coming of Christ. I doubt any businesses are banking on that interstate any time soon.

It's not mythical exactly, but it's definitely not happening anytime soon. Aside from a few signs proclaiming the "Future I-49 corridor" (and don't forget those future I-69 signs down in south Arkansas too) there's not a lot of progress on the Arkansas end of things in the foreseeable future. Louisiana has been doing a decent job at securing funding for work on expanding the existing 49, but Arkansas has a lot of infrastructure demands on its plate right now and unless the federal government for some reason decided to step in and provide most of the funding for I-49, I just don't see it happening for quite some time. It will happen eventually, LA, MO, and AR all have a lot to gain from it, but it's not happening until there's money they feel they can afford to put towards it.

[Darbro]

Originally Posted by FriendlyFeller

I don't understand what you mean, use I-540 for what? 540 runs into Oklahoma and I-49 will run through Texarkana, you can get there using 71 of course but its winding two lane all the way and on the way to and from Mena at least (I don't go further south than that often) you almost always get caught behind a slowpoke. I-49 will cuts hours off the drive to New Orleans. It will also make getting around the Fort Smith area easier, for example Greenwood might become 10 minutes away from Van Buren as opposed to 30-45 now (guessing).

As far as companies expressing interest they are keeping it quiet, my guess is probably.

My point was couldn't they use the existing 540 through Ft Smith, for I-49, before veering southward and following 71 wouldn't that be cheaper than building a whole new road east of the city as has been proposed? I had no idea it took that long to get from Greenwood to Van Buren. Is traffic pretty during rush hour?

[ArkansasTgirl]

Originally Posted by Darbro

My point was couldn't they use the existing 540 through Ft Smith, for I-49, before veering southward and following 71 wouldn't that be cheaper than building a whole new road east of the city as has been proposed? I had no idea it took that long to get from Greenwood to Van Buren. Is traffic pretty during rush hour?

I guess they could use 540 but it wouldn't be as good as building a road with a new bridge east of the city. I doubt many people commute from Greenwood to Alma/Van Buren but if there was a more direct route I imagine more people would. I bet Greenwood to Alma would be a decent drive during rush hour right now.

Oh yeah there is the Arkansas river right there as well. A company could potentially ship things out that way. I know the regional intermodal transport authority has been looking into utilizing the river more.

[Darbro]

Originally Posted by FriendlyFeller

I guess they could use 540 but it wouldn't be as good as building a road with a new bridge east of the city. I doubt many people commute from Greenwood to Alma/Van Buren but if there was a more direct route I imagine more people would. I bet Greenwood to Alma would be a decent drive during rush hour right now.

Oh yeah there is the Arkansas river right there as well. A company could potentially ship things out that way. I know the regional intermodal transport authority has been looking into utilizing the river more.

That's cool.

[Darbro]

Originally Posted by thewizard16

It's not mythical exactly, but it's definitely not happening anytime soon. Aside from a few signs proclaiming the "Future I-49 corridor" (and don't forget those future I-69 signs down in south Arkansas too) there's not a lot of progress on the Arkansas end of things in the foreseeable future. Louisiana has been doing a decent job at securing funding for work on expanding the existing 49, but Arkansas has a lot of infrastructure demands on its plate right now and unless the federal government for some reason decided to step in and provide most of the funding for I-49, I just don't see it happening for quite some time. It will happen eventually, LA, MO, and AR all have a lot to gain from it, but it's not happening until there's money they feel they can afford to put towards it.

I know the last time I went to Shreveport, they made some decent progress heading south from the Louisiana/Arkansas stateline. Here's a link showing what's been done already and what will be started soon.
http://www.dotd.la.gov/administratio...ects/i49north/

This site has some news on I-49 in Arkansas, http://www.swtimes.com/special_reports/article_83924506-b78d-11df-ab48-001cc4c03286.html (broken link)

[thewizard16]

Originally Posted by Darbro

I know the last time I went to Shreveport, they made some decent progress heading south from the Louisiana/Arkansas stateline. Here's a link showing what's been done already and what will be started soon.
http://www.dotd.la.gov/administratio...ects/i49north/

This site has some news on I-49 in Arkansas, I-49 Has Promise, Problems - The Times Record: Special Reports (http://www.swtimes.com/special_reports/article_83924506-b78d-11df-ab48-001cc4c03286.html - broken link)

Thanks for the Arkansas link. I'd seen the work in Shreveport when I was down there last year, but hadn't read about the project from the perspective that paper wrote from, so it was very interesting. If NWA can get the Bella Vista Bypass underway and hopefully completed in the near future, Missouri will jump on board and finish what they are needing to get done (which luckily, isn't a whole lot compared to building whole new sections of road like AR and LA are doing). I hadn't realized that bridge will be the "bella vista bypass" level event for the southern part of the state, but it would be very exciting to get that underway too. I know they'll get it done someday, I just hope it can be achieved in the relatively near future. As they said though, it took a long time for 540 from 40 to Fayetteville to become a reality, and this project is even bigger.

[Darbro]

I agree and I believe a lot of cities/towns in this state will see a lot of growth from being in this road's path.

[bchris02]

Originally Posted by Dr. Foosball

The mythical I-49 has been coming almost as long as the second coming of Christ. I doubt any businesses are banking on that interstate any time soon.

Last I heard there just wouldn't be enough traffic on the stretch from Fort Smith to Texarkana to warrant the massive cost of building through the Ouachitas. If it were flat, easy terrain it would already be completed now but that stretch will be a very difficult, expensive stretch of highway to complete. About the only way it will be feasible in the near future is as a toll road.