BELLA VISTA (KFSM) — Northwest Arkansas planners and legislators continue to await a decision from the federal government on the fate of a $25 million grant that would be used to build a 4.81-mile segment of Interstate 49.
The grant would fund construction to complete the 18.9-mile Arkansas/Missouri connector, also known as the Bella Vista Bypass.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is expected to decide by Dec. 18 on whether the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission will receive the grant money for which it had applied July 18.
The money would come from the $1.5 billion Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program, which has replaced the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program.
The commission would give the money to the Missouri Department of Transportation to complete the $48 million segment.
Work would allow other transportation projects to be completed in Arkansas and lead to the completion of an 18.9-mile gap in I-49 between Pineville, Mo., and Bentonville.
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