Community Project Funding FY23
Community Project Funding, Fiscal Year 2023
The projects requested by Congressman Westerman are listed below:
Project: Future Interstate 49 Construction
Requested Federal Funding Amount: $7,000,000
Project Funding Recipient: Arkansas Department of Transportation/Arkansas State Highway Commission – P.O. Box 2261, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72203-2261
Additional Information and Request Justification: The Arkansas Department of Transportation has prioritized the completion of Interstate 49 (I-49) for many years. As part of the State’s Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP 040748), it has provided state funding for this project, which will hopefully be met with federal funding from the FY23 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The requested funding will assist ARDOT in constructing a portion of future I-49 from Arkansas State Highway 22 to I-40. The Fort Smith to Alma connection is essential to finishing I-49, which will eventually run, unimpeded, from Shreveport, Louisiana, to Kansas City, Missouri.
When all component roads are linked, this project will aid in the completion of I-49, which will be a multi-state, multi-modal, strategic freight and passenger corridor that will facilitate international trade and ease product congestion and person movement though Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. The project will also bring improved highway function to millions of Americans and rural communities that have been too often left behind by major federal highway projects. In 1991, Congress designated I-49 as High Priority Corridor 1, and this project will help bring that multi decade project to fruition.
Project: U.S. Highway 270 Widening Project – Ouachita River to Fleetwood Drive
Requested Federal Funding Amount: $20,000,000
Project Funding Recipient: Arkansas Department of Transportation/Arkansas State Highway Commission – P.O. Box 2261, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72203-2261
Additional Information and Request Justification: The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) is currently in Phase 1 of a two-phase project that will widen U.S. Highway 270 westward from Hot Springs. This request will provide federal funding for Phase 2 of the project, which will widen, from two to five lanes, U.S. Highway 270 from the Ouachita River to Fleetwood Drive. The project will ease traffic congestion and vehicular pollution, improve safety, and provide economic benefits to the region. This project is supported by ARDOT in the State Transportation Improvement Plan (CA0612, renamed to Job 061737).
Garland County and the greater Hot Springs area is home to nearly 100,000 individuals and welcomes over 2.1 million visitors annually. Access to the many tourist attractions in Hot Springs, and the needs of daily residents traveling around the area, are hampered by inadequate highway options. This project will double travel lane capacity and add a dedicated, safe turning lane. The U.S. Highway 270 expansion will reduce congestion and increase safety so that multi-modal road users are able to traverse the area with ease.