BELLA VISTA (TB&P) —Emery Sapp & Sons Inc. of Columbia, Mo., will build the final segments of the Bella Vista Bypass in Arkansas over the next two years.
The Arkansas Highway Commission approved Thursday (Aug. 1) two bids submitted by Emery Sapp & Sons. Combined, the bids were for $102.11 million.
One is for a 2.4-mile segment of the bypass, from Benton County Road 34 to the Missouri state line. The other is for a single-point urban interchange for the bypass at U.S. Highway 71B, in north Bentonville.
As it is, existing segments of the bypass comprise Arkansas Highway 549 but would become part of Interstate 49 when the 18.9-mile bypass is completed.
The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT) opened bids for the projects in a bid letting July 24. Emery Sapp & Sons was the apparent low bidder for the two projects.
Danny Straessle, public information officer for ArDOT, previously said if the bids are approved, work could start in 90 days. An ArDOT committee checked for errors in the bids before making recommendations to the director, who determined whether to approve the bids.
The work will be part of the $1.8 billion Connecting Arkansas Program, which was paid for with a half-cent sales tax that’s set to end in 2023. Voters in November 2012 approved the tax.
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