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U.S. Rep. Steve Womack hosted U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in Arkansas on Oct. 5, 2026, with their first stop at the I-49 extension between Alma and Barling. The visit included the project’s Arkansas River crossing, which Womack’s office calls the most critical component of this 14-mile phase. Local reports put bridge construction at roughly halfway complete, but they cite different contract values.
What Womack and Duffy visited
The officials visited Phase 1 of the I-49 extension between Alma and Barling, including construction of a new Arkansas River bridge in the Fort Smith area. The crossing is part of a 14-mile segment intended to extend I-49 through the region. Womack’s office says completing the segment is intended to ease congestion in Fort Smith and Van Buren and support regional commerce and economic development. Womack’s office release
The broader undertaking is meant to help close a 155-mile gap in I-49 between Alma and Texarkana. Womack’s office describes that connection as part of a continuous north-to-south interstate route from Canada to Louisiana. Those are stated project goals, not measured outcomes from the visit.
How much of the bridge is complete?
Two local reports published around the visit described construction as about halfway complete. Talk Business & Politics reported 47% completion, based on the latest contractor pay estimate; KNWA/KFTA described the phase as approximately 50% complete in a report syndicated by AOL. The congressional release did not provide a progress percentage. Talk Business & Politics · KNWA/KFTA via AOL
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The figures are close but not identical, and their stated bases differ. The 47% figure is tied to a contractor pay estimate, while the other account gives a rounded status. They are best read as contemporaneous estimates rather than a single official measure.
Reported bridge and segment costs
The reports cite different values for the river bridge contract, and the available accounts do not explain the difference.
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| Reported amount | What it covers | Source and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| $282.5 million | Arkansas River bridge contract | Talk Business & Politics, 2026 |
| About $274.7 million | ARDOT contract for the new river crossing | KNWA/KFTA report syndicated by AOL, 2026 |
| About $1.3 billion | Alma-to-Barling segment | Talk Business & Politics, 2026 |
The two bridge figures should not be combined or treated as a settled final cost: each is attributed to its reporting outlet, and no reconciliation is given. Talk Business & Politics separately reported an estimated $1.3 billion cost for the full Alma-to-Barling segment. These figures alone do not establish whether the work is on budget.
Schedule and next phase
KNWA/KFTA reported that ARDOT expected the project to finish in early 2029. Talk Business & Politics described the work as ahead of schedule and reported that Phase 2 was expected to go out for bids in November 2026. Those are reported expectations, not guarantees; Womack’s official release gave neither a completion date nor a Phase 2 bidding date.
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Federal funding cited by Womack’s office
Womack’s Oct. 5, 2026, release says he secured $21 million in appropriations for project construction: $18 million in fiscal year 2022 and $3 million in fiscal year 2026. It also says ARDOT received a $25 million U.S. Department of Transportation RAISE grant for the project in 2024. These funding figures are separate from the reported bridge contract amounts and the estimate for the full Alma-to-Barling segment.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the officials said about the visit
Womack, chair of the House Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee, said federal investment was helping advance infrastructure projects in the region and nationally. Duffy’s statement praised Womack’s advocacy for I-49 and the XNA expansion and said USDOT had awarded more than $71 million to Arkansas’s Third District during the president’s second term. The release presents these as remarks about federal infrastructure investment; it does not establish that each statement was made specifically at the bridge site.
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In separate remarks during a funding discussion, Arkansas Advocate quoted Duffy saying, “We need to figure out better how these projects can work together with community, states, private capital and with us all coming together to make them feasible for the communities that use them.” Arkansas Advocate
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