BENTON COUNTY (7-19) – Highway 71 southbound traffic in Bentonville will begin using a newly constructed entrance ramp to Highway 549 (Bella Vista Bypass) on Wednesday, according to Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) officials.

Weather permitting, the highway entrance ramp will open to traffic during overnight hours Wednesday, July 21 at the I-49/Hwy. 71/Hwy. 549 interchange. Hwy. 71 southbound traffic will use this single-lane ramp to Hwy. 549 westbound. See traffic pattern map NR 21-223-A for additional information.

The route for Hwy. 71 northbound traffic accessing Hwy. 549 westbound will remain the same, with drivers using the intersection at Peach Orchard Road north of the construction project.

This project (Job CA0903) is part of ARDOT’s Connecting Arkansas Program and includes constructing approximately 2.8 miles of roadway with bridge structures on U.S. Highway 549, including a new Bella Vista Bypass interchange with U.S. Highway 71 in Bentonville. More information on this $66.6 million project is available at ConnectingArkansasProgram.com.

Additional travel information can be found at IDriveArkansas.com or ARDOT.gov. You can also follow us on Twitter @IDriveArkansas for traffic and @myARDOT for everything else.

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