Vehicles pass between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Wedington Drive on Interstate 540 in Fayetteville.
Photo: Todd Gill, Flyer staff
A widening project that will expand Interstate 540 from four to six lanes between Wedington Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is set to begin this summer.
The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department this week announced APAC-Central Inc. of Fayetteville was awarded the $5.8 million, 75-day contract to widen the 1.4-mile section.
The project is the first in a series of long-range I-540 improvements recommended in a 2006 Highway Department study. Other improvements include work at various interchanges between Fayetteville and Bella Vista.
Interchange work will be paid for with bonds approved by voters last November, but the state must look elsewhere for more widening funds.
A state proposal on this year’s ballot could allocate $125 million to widen six more sections of I-540 if voters approve a half-cent temporary sales tax increase in November.
“Our state’s commitment to widening I-540 is critical to reducing traffic congestion, improving quality of life and enhancing our region’s economic vitality,” said Mike Malone, executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Council. “A better I-540 makes Northwest Arkansas a better place.”
I-540 widening map
View I-540 widening – Summer 2012 in a larger map
No one likes more taxes but easing the congestion on I540 seems a very good use of public money. I know there are those who will say more alternative transportation is the way to go but the reality is that I540 is and will continue to be the most used way to travel through the metro.
Since I never travel north of North Street, I’m ok with the widening that is already paid for. Let BenCo enviously admire our wide-laned expressway from now until the end of time.
Just what we need; more pavement. More lanes does not ease traffic congestion for long. Look at LA.
I don’t think NWA be LA in our lifetime.
Agreed, my point is that more pavement is not the solution.
Then what is the solution?
The population of NWA has more than doubled since “The Bypass” was built, and will continue growing. I-540 is now a major corridor in the post-NAFTA era, and it will only become more prominent with the completion of I-49, a cross-country North-South Interstate.
Right now, I-540 has been at dangerous, dysfunctional capacity during peak hours for several years, which affects traffic both personal and commercial, local and through.
If you can prove out and fund new infrastructure and expensive right-of-way for alternative short-distance commuter transport, please do. If you can’t, it still doesn’t mean I-540 stops being a critically important carrying route in desperate need of expansion.
A four lane expressway is not practical in an area with a population the size of metro NWA; even if we had an alternative means of transportation such as light rail. Obviously it cannot be the only long term solution, but it is the only current solution to keep NWA economically viable and safe. Drive between Fay and Bentonville at 5:30pm during a weekday and I think you may agree.
Why can’t we have passenger train service between Fayetteville and Bentonville?
i would love a train to bville, but i just don’t think there is enough of a population or demand in the area for it to be remotely feasible. if we ever do get a train though, i would love to use that to get up to bville instead of using 540 (especially around 7:00-9:00 am and 4:30-6:30 pm).
i would love a light rail system up to Northern Benton County as well. I think there is enough support for that type of system but we would have to implement a proper bus network around the train stops (only Fay has something remotely appropriate). I, however, don’t think we have the proper support, even here in Fay, to bring a system like that to reality. At least not anytime soon :-(
I won’t be voting for widening any streets. I too think that a light-rail system of public transportation is the proper solution for commuting in NWA, even if there is no shot of it being supported outside of Fayetteville (I’m looking at you Benton County).
??? They just finished construction on that intersection and wider on-ramp to 540 last October. Not even done a year and fixing to rip on the same stretch of highway.. nothing like forward thinking…
That construction was done in preparation for the road widening. You can look online(I believe the AHTD website) and find a list of interchanges in Benton and Washington Counties that are scheduled for improvements to prepare for the widening of the freeway.