With some prep work either finished and underway, state and local officials are set to gather Aug. 22 in Barling to ceremonially break ground on construction of the Interstate 49 bridge across the Arkansas River.
The event, which is open to the public, is set for 11 a.m. on Aug. 22 and will include members of the Arkansas Highway Commission and officials with the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT). The groundbreaking will take place on the new bridge approach at the end of H Street in Barling, which is east of the Barling City Park.
ARDOT in October 2024 awarded Tulsa-based Manhattan Road & Bridge a $282.5 million contract to construct a 3.1-mile stretch of I-49 between Highway 22 in Barling and Gun Club Road in Crawford County. The interchange with Arkansas Highway 22 in Barling is already complete, as is a short section of I-49 between Barling and U.S. 71 just south of Fort Smith.
The project primarily includes a bridge across the Arkansas River, and is the first of four projects needed to build the almost 14-mile segment between Barling and the I-49 and I-40 interchange near Alma.
According to ARDOT, the bridge will include a river relief structure, and ramps at the Gun Club Road interchange, which is in Crawford County. The awarded segment is funded by a combination of regular federal-aid highway funding, federal grant funding, Congressionally designated spending, and state funds, according to ARDOT. ARDOT estimates the cost of the total project at $1.3 billion.
“The I-49 Extension project, particularly the I-49 Arkansas River bridge, is a significant milestone toward our goal of completing the I-49 corridor from Fort Smith to Texarkana,” Arkansas Highway Commission Vice Chairman Keith Gibson said in a statement issued Thursday (Aug. 14). “When finished, I-49 will offer a safer and more efficient north-south highway in western Arkansas. The convergence of two major interstate highways, I-49 and I-40, in the River Valley will form a crossroads from the Canadian border to the Gulf Coast, and from the East Coast to the West Coast with the River Valley as the centerpiece.”
Arkansas highway officials estimated in early 2022 that it would cost $4.1 billion to complete 136 miles of I-49 from Fort Smith to the Texas state line.
“This is just the beginning of our overall goal to complete Interstate 49 in Arkansas,” ARDOT Director Jared Wiley said in the announcement. “We’re grateful for the support from our congressional delegation, our state and local elected officials and of course, the citizens of Arkansas. Without their support of Amendment 101 five years ago, none of this would be possible.”
This job is estimated to be complete by early 2029, according to ARDOT.