U.S. Highway 62 widening begins

Photograph submitted U.S. Highway 62 is undergoing work to widen a section of the highway near Garfield.
Photograph submitted U.S. Highway 62 is undergoing work to widen a section of the highway near Garfield.

The widening of U.S. Highway 62 from Avoca to Garfield to five lanes will reduce commuter and tourist travel time in eastern Benton County, local officials say.

Preliminary work on the 6-mile stretch is ongoing, said Steve Lawrence, Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department district nine engineer. He said construction should be fully underway this spring.

In addition, a portion of the road stretching about 1 mile is being shifted 400 feet south of the entrance to Pea Ridge National Military Park, Lawrence said.

The $23.3 million project was awarded to Nabholz Construction in 2013. Estimated completion is September 2015.

U.S. 62 was expanded to five lanes from Rogers to Avoca in 2004. Another 4.4-mile expansion to five lanes from Garfield to Gateway has been proposed, but funding has not been approved.

Nearly 10,000 vehicles travel U.S. 62 from Gateway to Avoca daily, according to a 2013 study by the Transportation Department.

"For a two-lane road that is a significant amount of traffic," Lawrence said. "It is one of the important routes in Benton County."

Lawrence said traffic on U.S. 62 decreases east of Gateway. He said this indicates that a large portion of traffic traveling west on the road has come south on Missouri 37, which becomes Arkansas 37 and merges with U.S. 62 in Gateway.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that more than 1,100 residents of Barry County in Missouri commuted to Benton and Washington counties for work in 2010. More than 35,000 people were estimated to live in the county in 2010, according to the Census Bureau.

Jerry Montgomery, mayor of Seligman, Mo., said a majority of Seligman's residents commute to Northwest Arkansas for work. He said the U.S. 62 expansion will benefit both the residents and the city.

"I think it will make it easier for the people in this area to get over to Rogers to their jobs or to get there to find jobs," Montgomery said. "It will save them some travel time."

Widening the road also might help Seligman's economy by creating local jobs, Montgomery said.

Mike Bishop, president and CEO of the Greater Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce, said widening the road will make it easier for tourists to visit the Eureka Springs area.

"We have a lot of big 18-wheeler trucks that travel those lanes," Bishop said. "Passing lanes will allow tourists to pass those trucks in a safe manner."

Lawrence said the stretch of U.S. 62 from Gateway to Avoca sees higher than average truck traffic compared with other Benton County roads. He said semi-trucks account for about 9 percent of all traffic on that stretch of the highway.

Ron Young, transportation director for the Rogers School District, said the district transports between 75 to 80 students on the highway daily. The district's eastern attendance border stretches to Gateway near the Missouri border.

"It is like most Arkansas roads," Young said. "It is not straight, and it has its ups and downs."

Young said the widening could make the route safer and quicker for students.

"Anytime we can have better roads, we love it for our students," Young said.

General News on 03/26/2014