A recently released drone video showcases the impressive advancements on one of the most significant construction undertakings in Northwest Arkansas.
The video, recorded on Aug. 19, was provided to the Northwest Arkansas Council by Emery Sapp & Sons. It follows the path where a new section of the future U.S. 412 Bypass of Springdale is under construction. The Arkansas Department of Transportation, which refers to the roadway as Arkansas Highway 612 until all four sections are complete, hired Emery Sapp earlier this year to build the seven-mile section for $180.8 million.
The drone starts flying near Arkansas Highway 112 north of Elm Springs and goes all the way to where the new highway ends and reconnects with the current U.S. 412 west of Tontitown. Eight of the 15 bridges that are needed are currently under construction, and they are visible in the drone video.
When completed in August 2026, Emery Sapp and its subcontractors will have executed 3.7 million cubic yards of grading and excavation and delivered 187,826 tons of material to the site for asphalt paving.
The four-lane, divided highway is the second of four sections of the future bypass that must be built to keep up with the region’s fast-rising population.
Northwest Arkansas’ two largest counties have approximately 575,000 residents now, and they are expected to have 1 million residents by 2050. Without massive investments in highways, wastewater treatment plants, water systems, public transportation and other infrastructure and services, the likelihood that the region’s quality of life will begin to deteriorate.
A representative of the state Transportation Department at the Northwest Arkansas Council’s spring meeting on April 9 said a third section of the bypass near the J.B. Hunt Transportation Services headquarters in Lowell will start being built in 2025.
The final section, which will complete the bypass, isn’t scheduled to start until 2040 or later.
The expectation is that the Springdale bypass will become part of what will be Interstate 42 someday, connecting I-35 north of Oklahoma City to I-49 in Springdale.
While Oklahoma and Arkansas are doing initial planning focused on what that interstate can and should be, it’s likely to be decades before the whole path between Oklahoma City and Springdale can be upgraded to interstate highway standards.
