INTERSTATE PLAN IS MOVING FORWARD

By Amy Riggin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

Arkansas’ portion of a planned interstate to link Mexico and Canada is slowly moving closer to completion. One section from El Dorado to McGehee received federal approval this week and part of another section connecting Wilmar and Pine Bluff was completed recently.

Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department officials announced Wednesday that the Federal Highway Administration has approved the location for one section of the proposed Interstate 69, a 2,700-mile national corridor. It is one of four sections in Arkansas and begins at U.S. 65 north of McGehee, continues west just south of Monticello and Warren and ends north of Hermitage.

The AHTD evaluated several alternative routes before choosing a location that would have the least environmental impact, Director Dan Flowers said.

“The environmental impact statement is a very large and detailed document and years of hard work went into its preparation,” he said, adding, “The public now has a good idea of exactly where this highway will eventually be built.”

The route crosses Arkansas 7 north of Louann before turning south and tying into existing U.S. 82 about 10 miles west of El Dorado. It will cost an estimated $784 million to construct the 103-mile road.

State highway officials now will begin planning and design, which includes gathering public input. Construction will begin as funding becomes available and no timetable has been determined yet, AHTD spokesman Glenn Bolick said.

In addition, a ribbon cutting ceremony is planned for June 6 to mark the completion of a four-mile leg of another section. That section will be a connector route linking I-69 near Wilmar with Interstate 530 at Pine Bluff and was the first to receive federal approval.

Bolick said four miles of road from U.S. 278 near Wilmar running north to Arkansas 35 were completed in the last week.

“It will officially be called Highway 530,” he said of the connector, which will eventually make its way to Pine Bluff.

The connector from Wilmar to Pine Bluff is 38 miles long and is expected to cost $360 million.

“It would be safe to say that by late 2010 the entire 38-mile section that is not already completed will be into its last phase of construction,” Bolick said, adding that it should be finished by 2012.

Another section extending from Mississippi 1 near Benoit, Miss., to U.S. 65 near McGehee that includes the Great River Bridge received federal approval in May 2004. AHTD expects federal approval of a fourth section in early 2007, according to Bolick. That portion begins at U.S. 82 near El Dorado and ends near Shreveport, La.

Interstate 69 currently exists from Port Huron, Mich., near Detroit, to Indianapolis, Ind. From Indianapolis southward to the Mexican border near Laredo, Texas, the proposed highway has been divided into 21 sections, which are in various stages of planning, design and construction.

The entire corridor is estimated to cost $17 billion. The portion in Arkansas is expected to cost $1.7 billion and to span 185 miles.

Politicians and economic developers in Southeast Arkansas have been big supporters of the I-69 project, which will connect to a planned intermodal facility near Wilmar.

“Completion of I-69 would be a great boost to existing industry in our area as well as a boost in recruiting new businesses and industries,” said Mary Seymore, executive director of the Bradley County Industrial Development Corp.

In 1997 the state Legislature adopted the Regional Intermodal Facilities Authority Act, authorizing Bradley and Drew counties and the cities of Monticello and Warren to form a compact and function as public utilities, according to Seymore.

The legislation allowed the two counties to establish the multijurisdictional Southeast Arkansas Intermodal Authority, which will build an intermodal freight transfer facility near Wilmar, about halfway between Monticello and Warren. The facility will utilize both highway and rail services and have the capability to be linked to waterway service at Yellow Bend Port.

Drew County Judge Damon Lampkin says he sees a huge potential for the 354-acre investment, especially when I-69 becomes a reality.

“If we can ever get I-69 completed ... I think that’s going to be the best thing that ever happened to Southeast Arkansas,” he said.

Desha County Judge Mark McElroy said 20,000 vehicles are expected to cross over the future Great River Bridge from Mississippi to Arkansas every day.

“I just wish it would go a little faster,” McElroy said. “But things just don’t happen overnight with a big project like that.”

McElroy was reached by telephone Thursday while on a trip to the nation’s capital with the Mississippi Delta Grassroots Caucus. About 75 members of the caucus went to champion regional issues among federal lawmakers, including transportation, farming and hurricane relief.

Pine Bluff Mayor Carl Redus also attended caucus meetings at the Capital.

“I-69 is essential to developing the economy of the region,” Redus said. “Interstate highways are crucial to attracting industry that wants to distribute its products throughout the nation.”

Redus said that, if the region doesn’t have infrastructure connections like I-69 to the rest of the nation and its economy, “we fall behind, and we don’t need to fall behind further than what we are.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.