State highway officials accepted a $52.7 million bid Wednesday for construction of a six-mile portion of the Bella Vista Bypass, according to the Northwest Arkansas Council.
After opening up construction bids on the project, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department accepted the apparent low bid from Kolb Grading LLC, a company out of Weldon Spring, Mo. The three other bids ranged from $56.9 million to $78.2 million, according to the council.
"This project has been in the works for 30 years, and today's bid opening will help advance it and get it almost to the finish line," said Mike Malone with the Northwest Arkansas Council. "I think they picked it because the needs are great in and around Bella Vista. This project will open up commercial corridors for all of western Arkansas and on into Missouri and beyond."
The section of the bypass will run from Bentonville to an area just southeast of Hiwasse, while the entire Bella Vista Bypass will include a 19-mile highway connecting Bentonville to Pineville, Mo.
A different three-mile, $19.9 million section of the bypass project is 96 percent complete, according to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.