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Great River Bridge Receives Final Federal Approval On Wednesday, May 3, 2000,
Federal Highway Administration officials signed a Record of Decision (ROD) approving the location of the Great River Bridge linking Arkansas and Mississippi. The
proposed bridge will cross the Mississippi River just north of Arkansas City and will connect U.S. Highway 65 near McGehee, Arkansas with Mississippi Highway 1 near Benoit, Mississippi.
The signing of the ROD nails down the location of the Great River Bridge and marks what highway officials hope will be the river crossing that ties into proposed Interstate 69. Highway
officials from the Arkansas Highway Commission and Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) joined representatives from the Mississippi Highway Commission and Mississippi Department
of Transportation at the Dumas Community Center in Dumas, Arkansas to witness the signing of the document. "The signing of the ROD signifies approval
of the Great River Bridge location and concludes location and environmental studies that have been underway since 1993 to establish the best route for this major river crossing," AHTD Director
Dan Flowers explained. The
signing of the ROD was a significant milestone for the proposed bridge project, which has been ongoing for approximately 16 years. In 1984, at the
prompting of Charles Dean of Cleveland, Mississippi, leaders from Desha County, Arkansas and Bolivar County, Mississippi met to pursue a bridge across the Mississippi River connecting the two
counties. This meeting and several subsequent meetings led to legislatures from Arkansas and Mississippi signing the Great River Bridge Compact in 1985 to
pursue the project. Federal legislation followed in 1986, which ratified the Compact, giving it additional authority. In
the mid 1990's, proposed I-69 came into the picture. Due to studies that had been done, the proposed Great River Bridge was suggested as the crossing for
the project. The estimated $300-$400 million bridge project will be designed as a four-lane, Interstate-type facility to accommodate heavy volumes of
traffic generally associated with major Interstates. "The
signing of the ROD allows us to move to the next step, which will involve the selection of a consultant to design a bridge," added Flowers. Negotiations
are also currently ongoing with the HNTB Corporation to complete I-69 environmental studies in the same location as the Great River Bridge, from U.S. 65 in Arkansas to Route 1 in Mississippi. (Source: AHTD) |