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Fate of bypass for Bella Vista still uncertain
Missouri anticipating to get $646 million for transportation work By Andy Ostmeyer aostmeyer@joplinglobe.com BELLA VISTA, Ark. - Between them, Missouri and Arkansas stand to collect more than $1 billion for highways as part of the federal economic-stimulus package, but the status of the long-awaited, oft-delayed Bella Vista bypass remains cloudy. The latest cost estimate for the 20-mile bypass is $300 million. "You've got lots of competition (for the money)," said Bella Vista's mayor, Frank Anderson. "What they are going to do as far as priorities, I don't know." On Monday, Missouri Department of Transportation officials heard from the U.S. Department of Transportation that the state will receive $646 million for transportation projects out of the $787 billion economic-stimulus plan, said Sally Oxenhandler, spokeswoman for the department in Jefferson City. She said it was unclear Monday - state officials were off for Presidents Day - what that would mean for the bypass. Last December, MoDOT officials outlined 34 projects that could be awarded within 180 days if the state received $510 million in stimulus money for highways. Upgrading U.S. Highway 71 in Barton and Bates counties was on the list, but not the bypass. MoDOT officials said that if extra money was available, they could consider four other projects. Missouri's share of the bypass, with an estimated price tag of $75 million for its five-mile stretch, was one of the four in the on-deck circle. Wendy Brunner-Lewis, spokeswoman for MoDOT's office in Joplin, said that even with extra funding, if Arkansas does not go forward with its piece of the bypass, there would be no point in Missouri going forward alone, and the extra money might be used elsewhere. "We will look at other projects instead," she said. "We've got other projects we can use that money on." Arkansas officials, meanwhile, are less certain about the status of the bypass, and part of the reason is the higher cost for their state. Glenn Bolick, spokesman for the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Commission, said last week that Arkansas highway officials also have provided a list of projects that could be ready to go to contract in 180 days. There were 130 projects valued at $1.12 billion. Jonathan Barnett, of Siloam Springs, who until January was chairman of the state highway commission, had publicly said that his top priority would have been the bypass, but his term ended in January, and the commission hasn't offered any new ranking. He was replaced three weeks ago by Dick Trammel, of Rogers. "The Bella Vista project will be very, very high on my agenda," Trammel said Monday, but he said he has to look at other needs in his district as well as the needs of the other districts. "I've got to be a team player," he said. The commission as a whole - five people - has not given priority to any of those 130 projects," Bolick said. One of the problems with the bypass in Arkansas is the amount of money required to build it. The list puts a cost of $225 million on Arkansas' share of the bypass, which would be about 15 miles. That would use up more than half of the state's projected money from the federal stimulus package. "The latest numbers we are looking at are somewhere in the $375 million range," Bolick said of the funds coming from Congress. How Arkansas' money would be divided up - equally among each of the five commission districts, for example - is the question. And, there are other high-priority projects on the list for Northwest Arkansas, including $53.1 million to build eight miles of Interstate 540 near Fort Smith. Arkansas officials also have looked at a toll road to finance building their share of the bypass, but previous studies have indicated a toll road might generate $100 million to $130 million, or about half the projected cost. "We were going to come up way short of having the money to actually pay for it," Bolick said. David Bisbee, chairman of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Mobility Authority, could not be reached for comment Monday. The authority was established in 2008 to promote the transportation needs of Washington and Benton counties. Asked about some combination of a toll road and stimulus funding, Anderson, the mayor of Bella Vista and a member of the authority, said: "I would think that is an option that should be on the table. I am hoping that this stimulus is the part that will get it cranked up and started." A toll road, he said, might be the piece needed to finish the project. Andy Ostmeyer is the metro editor for The Joplin Globe. Alliance meeting The Missouri Transportation Alliance's regional forum will be conducted from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, at Thiebaud Auditorium in Lamar. District 7 funding priorities will be discussed.
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