The Arkansas Department of Transportation recently awarded a $282.5 million contact to Manhattan Road & Bridge for the construction of a 14-mile segment of I-49 between Highway 22 in Barling and I-40 in Alma.
Construction will include a new bridge across the Arkansas River and four interchanges, and Gun Club Road will be improved between the future I-49 and Highway 59.
The first phase of the I-49 Extension will construct a 3.1-mile stretch of I-49 between Highway 22 and Gun Club Road.
“When finished, I-49 will offer a safer and more efficient north-south highway in western Arkansas,” Arkansas Highway Commissioner Keith Gibson said. “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.”
The I-49 Extension will cost approximately $1.3 billion and will be comprised of four projects. When complete, the I-49 Extension will link the Gulf Coast with the central United States and Canada.
“When combined with the area’s major railway systems and waterway transportation opportunities, I-49 will generate significant economic benefits and development not only to the region but to the entire state of Arkansas,” Gibson said.