Work is complete on the Bella Vista Bypass, a stretch of I-49 connecting Missouri with Arkansas.
There’s a ribbon cutting ceremony next Thursday, September 30, to officially open the new I-49 lanes at the Missouri and Arkansas state line.
The $70.3 million project in Missouri relocated the four-lane divided highway to the west of the existing US Route 71, and includes a new interchange at Route 90 west of Jane.
The road will open to traffic Friday, October 1.
Edited Press Release
The Missouri Department of Transportation and Arkansas Department of Transportation, along with Missouri Governor Mike Parson and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, will host a ribbon cutting ceremony to help celebrate the completion of the I-49 Missouri-Arkansas Connector.
The ceremony will take place at 10 am, Thursday, September 30, on the new I-49 lanes at the Missouri/Arkansas state line.
Arkansas, Missouri, and federal transportation officials have discussed the necessity of the I-49 Missouri-Arkansas Connector for more than 25 years.
The $70.3 million project in Missouri relocated the four-lane divided highway to the west of the existing US Route 71, and includes a new interchange at Route 90 west of Jane.
It was funded, in part, by a $25 million federal Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant.
This final segment measures just five miles, though the completed I-49 Missouri-Arkansas Connector stretches 290 miles between Kansas City and Fort Smith, Arkansas.
The newly constructed highway will open to the public on Friday, October 1.
