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Toll road on Bella Vista bypass moving forward Thursday, Apr 13, 2006 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The Arkansas Highway Commission gave the go-ahead Wednesday for construction of Arkansas' first toll road, a planned bypass around Bella Vista in northwest Arkansas. The 15-mile project estimated to cost $188 million would connect Interstate 540 with Bentonville and Bella Vista, and carry traffic west and then north into Missouri. "This really is an important moment, I think, in the history of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department," commission chairman Prissy Hickerson of Texarkana said. "This is a great day," commissioner Jonathan Barnett of Siloam Springs said after the commission approved the project on a voice vote. The project could serve as a prototype for other highway projects in northwest Arkansas that have struggled to find a funding source, Barnett added. The road could be financed with bonds, paid off with $37 million in federal transportation funds and revenues generated by tolls. However, the state Highway and Transportation Department would be obligated to cover the $2 million annual cost for maintenance and operation. Public hearings on the project's design are expected in the area this summer, commissioner's were told. Mike Malone, executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Council, praised the board's decision and said the toll road is important for the area to keep up with its growth. "The council has four key regional transportation priorities. This is one of them," said Malone, whose organization represents Benton and Washington counties. "Traditional funding streams aren't going to get any of them built, not to mention all four, so we've got to look at alternative, innovative financial strategies like (tolls)," Malone said. Paul Marcella with New Haven, Conn. -based Wilbur Smith Associates, presented a study that concluded the project was feasible and how the four-lane toll road would work. Marcella's report included the amount of revenues generated from a variety of toll costs, but he said that $1.50 per vehicle, and more for commercial vehicles, probably would be adequate. Since 1999, the traffic growth in the area has grown 4 percent to 9 percent annually, Marcella said. He said he expected similar growth in the future. Ronald Marino with New York City-based Citigroup presented commissioners with several options for funding the bypass but said using toll revenues and federal financing, along with the highway department covering the annual operation and maintenance costs, was the best option given the region's booming economy, low unemployment and its status as home to Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Tyson Foods and major trucking companies. A study presented to the commission three years ago questioned the financial feasibility of building a toll road around Bella Vista and to the Missouri line. That project, however, included the 15 miles in Arkansas and the five-mile stretch in Missouri. The commission was told Wednesday that things changed when voters in Missouri approved Amendment 3 in 2004 allowing all sales tax money from vehicle sales to go toward highway repairs. Along with the vote in Missouri, Barnett said the Legislature's Act 296 of 2003 allowed the Highway Commission to mix tolls and regular highway construction money from fuel taxes and other sources to pay for toll roads. That measure, sponsored by Sen. Dave Bisbee, R-Rogers, "gave us authority to do be a toll road authority." |
