Why Arkansas Wants to Build SO MANY New Interstates Around the State
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- Опубликовано: 16 сен 2023
- Arkansas is planning to build a surprising number of new interstate highways around the state. On this video we take a look at some of those potential roadways and why officials in the state want them so badly.
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You should mention that Arkansas recently upped their speed limit to 75 on the interstates.
That include the NWA area? People up here going fast enough already lol
@@surge9407 Not sure. My family lives near Batesville, so I can't tell you.
@@surge9407 On I-49, it's 65MPH in Fayetteville between MM 60 and 68 other than the 60MPH construction zone at Exit 64/Wedington Dr., between MM 68 and the SPUI at Exit 91 at Bella Vista, it's 70MPH, but outside of those areas, it's 75MPH like every other rural Interstate. Speed limit isn't exactly commonly followed like many other 6+ lane urban Interstates. Plus we're getting a lot of Texas transplants being flushed out by the insane growth down there.
I drive from Dallas to Hot Springs a lot. The traffic flows at about 85mph which may sound high but is 10mph less than typical Texas freeways outside the city.
@@bobwallace9814Stop the cap 🧢 Texas state troopers are waiting for people like you to pass by. Speed in Texas if you want to tho
The connection between Little Rock and both St.Louis & Chicago is crucial.
I live in Arkansas. I think a lot of those small towns will not benefit from interstate. I think a town or two will improve with some new gas stations and a couple of motels. They’ll just be like all the other small dying towns on I-40 and I-30.
If they build places worth stopping at and not let the cops ticket everyone passing through, the towns absolutely would thrive.
@Printaport1 Look at Baker, CA for example. It's a tiny town along I-15 that has a tourist attraction/beef jerky store that's booming. It also has an overpriced gas station and the world's largest thermometer. Small towns along freeways need to have tourist attractions to stay alive.
Indeed many of these were railroad towns that were killed by the interstate...why stop and patronize the businesses when you can whiz by at 75 mph.
Geopolitics and global economics is causing the United States to go through a period of reindustrialization. A lot of these towns, like other towns you see along interstate highways, will be recipients of some factories being built where wages are relatively low, there aren't a lot of competing employers so there is loyalty, and the education is decent enough that the population is literate in basic math and reading comprehension and finally intellectual and other property is protected by a real law system. This is a case, I think, where local planning officials are trying to be ahead of the curve.
@@kaneinkansas If people in those towns can weld, there will be a factory coming soon.
If your town is within 20 minutes of a highway it changes everything for industrial logistics. I'm from Indiana and I've been seeing this first hand. There is a mostly dead city about 30 minutes from mine, the mall closed, all the main employers closed. Population decline for the last 30 years. A connector highway between 65 and a SR that connects to Fort Wayne was complete a few year back. It is a 4 lane limited access highway. With this major upgrade a new industrial park (and anchor factory) has been announced potentially bringing at minimum 700 jobs and 3.6 billion in investment to a town with a population of only 18,000.
I’ve actually spoken with ArDOT officials & they are very much committed to finishing 49 & 57 as quickly as funding becomes available (which sadly isn’t very quick). They’re actually more excited about Texas completing their spur route of I69 near Texarkana. Once that & 49 is complete, it would connect the port of Houston & the commerce from Mexico via 69 with the rail yards of Kansas City & of course the connection north to the Canadian border via I29. There would also be an intermodal facility near fort smith for barge shipment along the Arkansas River. Finishing I-57 would allow the state to untangle heavy truck traffic bound for the rail yards of Chicago & that headed for the logistics hub of Memphis. Right now both have to take I40 East of Little Rock, turning the drive into an absolute nightmare with all of the trucks. Memphis actually does a huge amount of intermodal movement of goods along I-40, the Mississippi River, & does a staggering amount of cargo flights. The state would like to get on with I-69, but it’s been placed on the back burner due to these other projects taking priority. Another reason why is b/c LA is totally uninterested in building their portion of I-69, & MS has more or less said they’ll only build their piece if the feds fund it in full (which they won’t). In the interim, Arkansas is steadily working to upgrade US 82 to 4 lanes across all of southern Arkansas. SW AR is projected to be booming because it turns out the brine reservoirs it sits on has some of the highest concentrations of lithium found anywhere in the world. Exxonmobil has announced they will be investing billions in the region to extract the lithium for EV batteries, & they’re playing catch up to a Canadian company that’s already getting extraction up and running utilizing the existing infrastructure that’s currently used to extract bromine from the brine (the only domestic source of bromine in the country). US 65 from Pine Bluff to Lake Village is already a 4 lane highway that’s expressway grade between the towns & a 5 lane with center turning lane in the towns. Given that pre-existing N-S connector, the state is working on building the super 2 segment of future I 69 between Monticello & McGehee so that they’re hooked into the system, & the state is nearly complete with upgrading US 425 to four lanes south of Monticello until it hits us 82 near Crossett, which happens to also have a port for river shipping. One of the big projects since 2012 has been the 4 laneing of US167 from El Dorado to a connector with I-530 south of LR, & they’re also working to pipe in 4 lanes from that to Camden. Camden is where a large portion of the US military industrial complex is based, & most missile & rocketry systems in the US military are assembled at a gargantuan industrial park in the area. In the long turn, the opportunity for economic development in southern AR is massive, but it won’t be a quick process. I’ll end this by saying the state plans on upgrading all of us 412 in northern AR to 4 lanes, & has done lots of working plumbing 4 lane connections with all of the cities in NE AR. The state is also working to upgrade US 65 north of Conway to 4 lane all the way to the AR MO border, where the facility is already expressway grade all the way N to Springfield.
Now that sounds like a lot because it is a lot. I’m very excited for the future of the state, but to think all of this gets completed in my lifetime is unrealistic. I’m 24 now, but maybe one day my descendants will get to see all of what has been painstakingly laid out by state roadway engineers come to fruition.
This is great! But what river port is in Crossett?
@@konstantinpobedonotsev5589 I believe the Ouachita River runs nearby
Good info. As a trucker I see how most of this shit would be very helpful, especially the 57 part.
Do they have any immediate plans on finishing the construction on 30 coming into Little Rock? That has to be the most worthless and unsafe stretch of interstate in the southern states.
@@jukeboxdudeWorking on it as you read this.
Most little delta towns in Arkansas up until the 90's had a factory of some kind (shoe, shirt,jeans wallets) and they helped the community thrive. NAFTA pretty much ended that as everything moved south of the border and then eventually to asia. And you can follow the old highways alongside the freeways and see every little town that was killed by the freeway
Wow didn't realize the connection there. That's exactly what happened to my town. Huge American Greetings factory shutdown in the early 00s. Town struggled since.
NAFTA was a major Clinton achievement. It hurt the very people that Democrats claim to protect. SE Arkansas keeps voting for the nonsense too.
I hope they have enough sense to extend I-555 to the proposed I-57.
They’ve been working on that I-49 corridor for 40 years. When I was in the military, I used to drive that route from Omaha, NE to Russellville, AR back and forth at least twice a year for 20 years. I remember when you had to take US 71 through the mountains before the route from Alma to Springdale was opened. It went from taking 12 hours to less than 10 over that time. That south portion needs to get done. Currently, I would have to drive all the way to Little Rock and backtrack on I-30 to get to Texarkana unless I wanted to take pig trails down through southwest Arkansas. I doubt I’ll live long enough to see it.
I took the old Hwy 71 from Alma up to Fayetteville a couple years ago to remember how exhausting it was lol. Hwy 71 south of Ft. Smith isn’t bad though. It’s a beautiful drive.
Pig trail/71 between alma and Fayetteville is a beautiful but relatively dangerous drive. Hwy 71 south of Fort Smith to Texarkana is both a gorgeous drive and pretty flat and pretty safe.
@@Musician837some of the most beautiful roads I've driven in our state, are also some of the most dangerous. It seems that danger and beauty go hand in hand here, at least in my opinion. I was down on the pig trail a couple weeks ago, and loved every second of it. I drive 71 from Fayetteville down to fort Smith area (more like alma/mountainburg) to see a coworker who's wife is friends with my wife. Such an enjoyable drive. I also drive 412 east often as it goes down to two lanes and becomes a curvy, hilly area. Another decent place if a little less scenic til you get farther out..
I just moved to Arkansas full-time in August for medical school in Fort Smith. But before I moved here, I made several road trips here for vacation in the past two years. The two most memorable road trips were from Kansas City to New Orleans, and again from Kansas City to Norman, Arkansas.
Driving through SE Arkansas on my way to NOLA was actually a really interesting drive. It was very slow (low speed limits and frequent intersections), and many towns were horribly underfunded. But the people we met down in those small towns were some of the nicest and most polite people I’ve ever met. I felt very safe and welcomed, and I will likely revisit soon.
On my road trip to Norman, that is the first time I’ve ever gotten carsick. It is truly one of the most dizzying, uncomfortable drives. Constant loops around mountains, and people tailgating you if you don’t go 75 in a 50-60 mph zone. However, if you’re lucky enough to make this drive at night, the area around Y City is technically a light-free zone due to low population density. I think we pulled over about two miles southeast of Y city, and spent a few minutes stargazing. It was spectacular.
Here in Fort Smith by the med school, a section of highway 49 has already been completed between Barling and Fort Chaffee. It’s such a small piece of highway, maybe about 5 miles in total. It’s super nice and new, but it gets absolutely zero traffic since it isn’t even connected to other major highways. It seems like it just *exists*. I can’t wait until it’s connected to i540 or i40, it’ll make my commute 20 minutes shorter if I don’t have to take “highway” 59 to Van Buren to get to the nearest interstate.
I live in Barling, that new-ish section of I49 is so weird, but not unwelcome. It's like taking a wormhole to Greenwood compared to the old route. Also, I used to walk my dog through the new med school when that area was just empty fields and abandoned Army buildings, lol. Kind of miss it, but the school is nice too. Also also I have folks from around Y City, that whole area of the Ouachitas is super underrated for its beauty, so I'm glad you appreciated it.
@@ominousbiscuit there used to be old abandoned Army buildings where the campus is now? Whaaaaat? I’ll have to do research on that, it sounds really interesting because my friends and I always wonder about the military history of the city. I love it around here, it’s amazing. It’s a shame the open fields are gone, but hopefully you’ve been able to enjoy the new park behind the newest village apartments, it has a really nice pond, fountains, and walking trail, and is very well-lit and safe at night. Very peaceful.
It's my understanding that once I-69 is built, then I-530 becomes I-53 and is extended from Pine Bluff to I-69, at Wilmer, between Monticello and Warren. Then I-53 will eventually go all the way down through northeast Louisiana and connect to the future I-14 through Alexandria, Louisiana, which appears for now to have decent potential for it's construction, and then further down to Lake Charles.
Uh no, sorry, we need the Springdale bypass finished in NWA and 412 converted into an interstate first. We are where the big growth is at. Fort Smith can wait.
Out of all the interstates, I see I-57 being completed first. Like you mentioned, it's already interstate standard roadway for quite a bit of that corridor. The terrain is relatively flat, you have a Walmart DC in Searcy and ASU in Jonesboro. It will relieve traffic congestion on I-40 between Memphis and Little Rock. Plus, Arkansas already signs St. Louis as a control city for AR-440EB at the junction of AR-440, I-40 and I-440.
Certainly would help with I-40 east of LR to W. Memphis. Trouble is, there's some significant floodplain to build new terrain through north of Walnut Ridge in Arkansas, and Missouri and Arkansas don't exactly have a history of syncing up funding with border Interstate crossings, like the only recently completed I-49 Bella Vista Bypass.
It's an interstate quality road without the interstate truck traffic. Excellent for traveling from the Cincinnati area down to Texas. I like to take I-69 through western KY, followed by US-51/I-155 across the Mississippi river north of Dyersberg TN. From there, it's a segment of some 2 lane roads across very flat, very manageable stretches of MO and northern AR until you get to Walnut Ridge, where you meet up with US-67. I think it's actually quicker than going through Memphis, and maybe even quicker than taking I-40/I-55 from I-155. More stopsigns, but less truck traffic, so overall much less exhausting.
@@michaeltrace1109They actually are on the same page here surprisingly. As much as it pains me to say it as an Arkansan, MO is ahead here. Most of the road is expressway grade & they’re building the final portion down to the border. They’ve more or less told our officials that they’ll get to work on final touches to bring the expressway segments up to interstate standards once we’ve gotten to work on building the final stretch from walnut ridge to the state line. They’ve more or less said that as long as it sits unfunded on our side of the border, they won’t put the finishing touches. On our end the state has decided to build the road on a new alignment after it came out to be much cheaper than to try and upgrade US 67. MO felt burned when they built US 71 to near interstate standard to the state line for I-49 only for us to backtrack & change the alignment after the costs projections for trying to upgrade 71 through Bella vista got eyewateringly high after we failed to secure ROW. They were royally PO with us, which is why it took so long to get the BVB finished. Mo refused to commit money, so the NWA council had to work with McDonald County for a federal grant to get that last bit paid for.
I-57 likely WILL be the one completed first .... as the leg between Walnut Ridge and Poplar Bluff is the only holdup from signing it from Sikeston and Little Rock. and upgrading the interchange with I-40 is ALSO on deck.
@@dhinton1
There are still a few on-grade crossings between Dexter and Sikeston that'll have to be removed, but I imagine we're not going to be removing those until the last second, to minimize the impact on local traffic.
A lot of people don’t know that 412 is a main hub for truckers. They are getting ready to put in charging stations for electric vehicles and trucks
You're right -- I didn't know this.
I'd actually put my money on US-412 being upgraded to Interstate 42/46/48/50 before I-57 is completed. Oklahoma is on board for pushing this as well and the only new terrain development they really need to do is the Siloam Springs Bypass along with Arkansas tying back in to the Cherokee Turnpike at the Flint Creek crossing. AR-612 is the eastern terminus and has a partial stack with I-49 already complete, and along with the remaining western leg of the Springdale Northern Bypass, will make up a chunk of Arkansas' share. They only really need to close down about a dozen access points, put in around 4 exits between Tontitown and Siloam Springs, and put some short stub access roads off those exits to cover the vast majority of the private access since Old Highway 68 serves nearly the entire northern side of US-412 already, and most of the southern size is public land (Ozark National Forest).
Missouri is the partner with Arkansas again on I-57 like they were with I-49's Bella Vista Bypass, and it took over a decade before the 2 states got on the same page with funding availability to punch it through 2 years ago, so I'm not holding my breath on I-57, especially with the floodplains it has to cross with new terrain build.
@@michaeltrace1109 Plus with Oklahoma's portion being associated with their Turnpike corporation likely funding will not be an issue on their side, as they have had basically no issue with multiple rounds of major expansion much larger than this over the last 20+ years.
Make the most sense to have it as an interstate from Jackson, TN to I25 in New Mexico... Cuts a lot of trucker travel thru major cities.
I respectfully have a different view. I’m from a medium sized town, but most would likely call it a small town and it certainly feels like a small town. It’s in northwestern Oklahoma. Highway 412 is merely the main road that goes through my sleepy town. It’s where we have our town hall and police department.
It serves as the Main Street effectively with our businesses along it. You might not have heard of it, Enid, and that’s okay, I like small towns, it’s a more peaceful way of living. Further west, there are probably 50 small towns that highway 412 also passes through, and acts as the Main Street for. All the gas stations and businesses are built along it as well as the fire departments, government offices, etc. To put it into perspective, you’re going 70 mph on highway 412, then you get into town and slow down to 35. You see all the little quaint businesses and the townsfolk. Then you exit the town 5 minutes later and it picks back up to nothing but farmland and wheat fields.
It’s fair to say that a mighty interstate roaring through town would greatly interfere and bring in an entirely different way of life than what we want. If you ask the farmer in Woodward if he wants an interstate and the booming metropolitan areas that interstates usually bring, and to forgo their agricultural, rural lifestyle, we would say no, respectfully. We prefer that to metropolitan living. So I see turning highway 412, the main street of my small town and dozens others, into a mighty interstate as very hard to implement.
And it would not have support from the locals of north Oklahoma, although perhaps if enough cross country travelers supported it, the feds could come in and override it.
It’s something I would like to have remain the same, as I don’t the hubbub that bringing an interstate through town brings.
Obviously, what Texas does, in making the interstate loop outside the town would be possible and preferential to turning little 412 Main Street into an interstate that bisects town. However. Still there would not be many northern Okies that would be all ears to the feds wanting to bring an interstate to the area and turning the small agricultural towns into the next metropolitan area. Northwest Oklahoma is a getaway from the metropolitan lifestyle, rather than an extension of it. It’s a distinct one from it in that it’s all about agriculture and farming, not about metropolitan suburbia.
With all that being said, Uncle Sam will have his way. If they deem highway 412 as important enough to open up as an interstate, there will be little to prevent it other than a grumble.
I would wish it to remain small town Main Street, as it is in the entirety of northern, northwest Oklahoma.
In the alternative, I’d rather see a new diagonal interstate from OKC to Denver, one that mirrors Highway 270. With that being said, a small town boy that grew up in Seiling (where 270 is like their main street) will use the exact same argument against me and for why they should do 412 instead.
Really it’s just tough to implement turning main street northern Oklahoma into an interstate and also not what the Okies in that part of the state desire. Just personal views, not definitively stating that “it’s wrong to turn 412 into an interstate.”
Of course not.
But respectfully, I and a lot of the 412 users, in northern Oklahoma enjoy it as it is. As it was intended. An ordinary highway that functions as the mainstreet of the town and a fair bit of semis going west. Just this morning on my way to school I saw 2-3 semis carrying whatnot. I then stopped at my friend’s house to pick him up too. He even lives at a highway 412 address! Like I said, it’s just mainstreet to us. That’s our 412.
Arkansas is literally running on one thing and one thing only and that’s Walmart
You forgot weed tax money
Tyson, JB Hunt, and the University of Arkansas do their fair share, but yes, Walmart is obviously the most important as one of the largest companies in the world and the fact that they require every company who sells something in their store to have an office in Northwest Arkansas.
As someone who lives in the neighboring state of Oklahoma, I envy Arkansas road system! They not only build interstates in all the RIGHT places, but they maintain the roads they already have--a lot better than we do ours! You know, we still don't have a "diagonal" interstate that goes from Oklahoma City to Shreveport, LA--or Oklahoma City to Denver! I'm afraid we never will, but we have lots of Oklahomans who visit both Louisiana and Colorado regularly, who get tired of the two lane, pothole filled travel they have to endure going there. If we had Arkansas mindset, it would have been done LONG ago!
Toll roads were effectively banned in AR, so the state gov was forced to allocate much more resources than y’all do & have comprehensive & uniform planning. As an Arkie it seems to me the state more or less throws up their hands & expects everyone to use the toll roads & dumps the responsibility for statewide planning & connections to the turnpike authority. Of course they have absolutely no financial incentive to build those extra routes. My family & I take US-69/75 every once in a while to visit family in Dallas. We may finish I-49 before McAlester ever gets sorted out. There’s a bunch of folks here or all these people from Texas or the coasts that go on & on about how we just need more tolls for everything. To me, OK is a cautionary tale. Y’all have 2 competing systems fighting against each other for limited resources instead of working together. Don’t get me wrong, your turnpikes are much better maintained than our roads, but they’re focused on making money, not what’s in the best interests of Oklahoma & it’s residents as a whole.
@@carlstevens781 Yeah- our system is a mess. I-49 is an interstate highway sticking its tongue out at us over there across the border. When or if it ever gets finished between Ft Smith and Texarkana, southeast Oklahoma (Choctaw Nation) is going to be the biggest loser, missing out on a lot of travel dollars, because Texas, Missouri, and Arkansas travelers will no longer have any reason to travel through Oklahoma whatsoever
@@impalaman9707We live in the Ozarks of south-central Missouri and went to Hot Springs 2 years ago on vacation, as my wife wanted to see a bunch of Arkansas' waterfalls. Going from one near Cedarville down to Cossatot Falls in southwest Arkansas, Google Maps routed us through southeast Oklahoma on US 59 and US 259.
Me, I was born in 1967 -- so yeah, I don't expect I-49 to be completed during my lifetime. LOL
@@carlstevens781are you a transplant. No one from Arkansas refers to themselves as an “Arkie.” You are an Arkansan.
An OKC-Denver connection or at least an OKC-Colorado Springs connection would be amazing. I've driven up through the OK panhandle many times going to Colorado.
As someone who grew up in northeast Arkansas and now lives in Monticello I would like to say the reason why most of the state is dying is because no one believes that these areas have a future. If companies would invest in these areas like they have in northwest Arkansas then people would come to the state in droves. But every time a large company comes to Arkansas they ignore most of the state. what needs to happen is for companies to take a chance on small towns and build factories and have good paying jobs for the people.
I know bro. I’m from northeast Arkansas as well and Jonesboro is one of the fastest growing cities in Arkansas, as well as Brookland, which has doubled in population in the past 10 years. So many projects they are working on currently. They are trying to connect Jonesboro, Brookland, and Paragould, similar to how NWA is set up. But NEA always gets overshadowed by NWA. It’s really annoying to be honest.
Hard to do in the Democrat ghetto eastern part of the state
Unfortunately this is is all about the bottom line - profit margins control things now.
@@Brandon-lw1wx Democrat😂 no I assure you everyone here is not a democrat. Maybe around the west Memphis area along the Mississippi River… but if you look at the New York Times 2020 election results by county, Fayetteville has was more democratic votes than Jonesboro. Just saying🤷♂️
@@chillax593 It’s a heavily blue part of the state.
The section of I-40 between Little Rock and West Memphis is already way over capacity and needs more lanes. I would hope this gets done soon.
Should've widened this instead of I57 imo...Most trucker volume in the country from LR to Memphis...Needs to be addressed...At minimum, from Memphis to LR traffic, always seems worse going west.
More lanes won't solve the problem, it only induces it. Over the last 20-30 years Arkansas has wasted millions of tax dollars widening freeways and traffic has only gotten worse, not counting the fact Arkansas spent a lot of tax money reconstructing as well as replacing bridges on I-40 between Little Rock and Memphis for over 20 years. I'd rather we complete I-49, I-69 and I-57 than spend a dime on widening freeways around the state. Those interstates are long overdue and far more important than another unneeded useless another wider freeway. We need more alternatives to get around and to cross the mississippi river, remember the I-40 bridge that was shut down a couple of years ago is a prime example of why we need more alternative routes.
I-57 needs to be completed first. That will take so much traffic off of I-40 between Memphis and Little Rock which is so overloaded with truck traffic in the daytime it is insane. I think that I-57 will be the only one that will be finished before I retire from driving. I-69 is just a pipe dream at this point.
I-57 definitely will be finished sooner .... and I-57 will take a LOT of truck traffic heading northbound from the Texas Gulf Coast.
I live in South Arkansas and I agree about I-69. There's a couple of signs up noting it's the future route, but I feel like it'll be a long, long time if it ever comes.
Yeah I-57 will be completed before the other projects and I'm glad that there is a proposal to do something about US 412 in NWA. Sunset Ave through Springdale is very busy throughout the day.
I miss driving through Arkansas, going through Little Rock. The forests from Texarkana - Little Rock is always stunning
Haven't been there, but I've heard camping at the Arkansas State Parks is one of the best kept secrets.
I retire in 2024 and will move from Texas to Arkansas. It’s a beautiful state with mountains, trees, lakes, etc. Lots of golf, too. I’ll build a small house (1,600 sq ft) and live comfortably in a nice neighborhood. I can’t wait. I see decent growth in the state.
Sounds like you're heading to NWA or North Central Arkansas around Bull Shoals or Norfork with that list of amenities. Both are sure bets for growth.
Stay in Austin
The one thing that’s crucial to completing all of these projects is funding. ARDOT is also a major obstacle. Every project has to have a lot of “studies” and public input done before any actual planning or funding. I use the I-49 corridor in NWA as part of my commute to and from work. The current corridor as you see it now is a result of about 4 decades of planning and construction. The next phase is to build the next section of the corridor from I-40, across the Arkansas River, to connect with the 5-mile section at Barling. That bridge across the river is the bulk of the current funding for that project. It’s going to take years before it will be completed. And then we haven’t even started talking about the gap between US71 south of Fort Smith and Texarkana. The route plan is in place, but no ground has been broken. I’m 51 years old. I’ll be gone and buried before I-49 in Arkansas is entirely finished.
the studies are required by the government/environmentalist do gooders whose goal is to never build another highway.
Imagine a solid logistical channel from NOLA to Winnipeg.
That would be awesome--simply, the greatest super highway in North America
I visited Monticello and McGehee a few years ago. Stayed in Monticello, in fact. This area wasn’t easy to get to. Monticello wasn’t prosperous, but McGehee and the surrounding area were basically similar to the Mississippi delta region. They could use some economic help. NWA on the other hand was a different world, but getting there from Tulsa took longer than you’d think so an interstate level freeway would sure help in that regard. The area was bustling with growth and certainly needs the infrastructure to keep up.
I think you mean *Monticello was prosperous* because its been steadily growing for a long time.
Monticello is a nice town....I hope I69 comes in my lifetime, I think it'd be an amazing thing for the city....That and El Dorado...South Arkansas needs a bigger city in the area much like every other region in the state (NWA, Jonesboro, LR, Texarkana)...
From Tulsa? You can go 90 on that road it doesn't take long
@@kennybir7432 But you gotta have job opportunities and places to attract people long-term. MAD has been a mixed bag for us and also, having the right people in charge will be crucial too. We're still losing people and us losing Murphy Oil made a tough situation even tougher.
@@finchborat Very true about Murphy...I could see a manufacturing company basing in Southern Arkansas with immediate access to Texas, I-40, I-49, I-22, and I-55...I could see a WalMart distribution warehouse or something along those lines showing up. Low cost of living, property is low, plenty of room, it at least makes sense lol.
if you google interstate 57 project it gives you a site for both AR and MO plans for the new interstate and those plan are making a new highway without using the existing U.S 67 from Poplar Bluff, MO to Walnut Ridge, AR which will connect to the existing interstate standard U.S. 67 to Little Rock where the I-57 ends. I'm a truck driver and I never care for the I-40 stretch from Memphis to Little Rock and if I'm coming from the north to TX I normally take the 412 to Walnut Ridge and get on the U.S. 67 through Little Rock and get on the AR 440 that meets with the I-440 around Little Rock to I-30. With that said I can't wait for the 57 corridor to be completed between MO and AR. It will be much faster and easier once I-57 is completed that will meet up with I-30 south of Little Rock.
I paint the highways in Arkansas. We have gotten PLENTY of funding for upgrading our bridges and major highways. When it comes to actually building new highways, the ONLY new highway I have painted was 5 going north from hot springs to lake village. Now to be fair I’ve only been doing this for 5 years. But in 5 years, we have only built 1 or 2 new roads connecting a city and small town. We have so many more towns that NEED to be connected. El dorado to pine bluff needs a better connection where you need to go faster than 55 the entire way. Soon to be 49 from Tex to Missouri NEEDS to be built. But it needs to be safe as hell. If you look up Hwy 70 issue, they could get to hot springs at a decent speed, except you would have to pass once every 6-10 miles, causing sketchy passes and horrible wrecks.
Though not in Arkansas, I myself had the most jarring journey through an area that really could use a better highway purely for economic development. I took US-250N after the I-64E/I-81 interchange in Virginia up to US-50 in West Virginia and it was probably the most desolate and exhausting drive I have ever taken. Your description of the drive needed to get to some of those more remote areas in Arkansas brought that nightmare back into my mind.
Great info!
Nice informative video. Thanks!
I really look forward to your videos dude, it’s great seeing your channel grow. I also want to drive through every state one day (38 down, 12 to go haha) and Arkansas is on my list, I’ve heard the Ozarks are beautiful I can’t wait to go!
You should come during mid October to early November, and take the twisty scenic routes rather than the boring Interstates. I-49 is quite scenic and has the Hopper Tunnel, but I personally prefer less traffic and more interesting routes than the Interstates.
@@michaeltrace1109 awesome, I also prefer the twisty scenic routes. Thank you for the suggestion, can’t wait to see the fall colors! :)
Appreciate it. Trying to pick up the consistency going forward. So many topics to cover.
Word of warning!!! If you come to the Ozarks, you wont want to leave. I came here (to the Ozarks) and I aint leavin! The rest of the country call them hicks. I call them real people with purpose and passion. Beautiful state and people>
@@richardlively1666 love to hear it, hoping to experience it in full soon :) it’s definitely a different experience being in the south compared to up north so far
49 isn't just a corridor to connect NOLA to Canada but also via the Texarkana Loop you can exit 49 and hop on 369 South to 69 near Tenaha and make a B-line to Houston Victoria Corpus Christi and split between Laredo McAllen and Brownsville Via the 69 W-C-E combo. So for Western and really most of Arkansas its a economic revenue generator for most of the state since you can also do the same with 57 and other interstates in the state.
I mean…it’s Arkansas….😢
@@denver0102 and what does that mean to you? To me Arkansas is a major crossroads for several major current and future interstates. Plus if you buy land now near some of these areas prices will go up 10 to 20 years from now because once some of these interstates connect like 49 from KC to NOLA or 57 from Chicago to Little Rock and then either go to Dallas thru 30 Shreveport or NOLA thru 530 to 69/49 or OKC and beyond thru 40.
Being a long haul trucker who occasionally picks up at a meat plant in De Queen, I’m looking forward to it.
De Queen itself isn’t that bad, it’s just a monumental pain in the ass to get to from the interstate system. 2 hours of wriggling through a single lane that feels like it’s about 6 inches from both oncoming traffic and a sheer drop-off into the ditch.
About 20 years ago, I attended a public meeting about the US-412 bypass around Springdale. I have also seen plans to upgrade US-412 across northern Arkansas. I doubt much will be done in my lifetime. I drove to Murfreesboro to Crater of Diamonds about 2 years ago. That was a long drive.
As someone in the engineering field and a resident of the general area, I can tell you ARDOT really wants 412 to get done! But funding and right of way will be difficult.
@@jtlegionnaire6310 , they are currently building bypasses around cities and towns in NE Arkansas. Just finish Eva two lane around Paragould.
What about U.S. 65? It is not interstate quality, but it is very close to being 4 lanes thru entire state.
The better the infrastructure the more population growth and more industry’s will come. Look at what happened to Phoenix Arizona. In the early 80’s had a horrendous freeway system. Arizona had the same population as Arkansas. When they built a better infrastructure around Phoenix. The state hasn’t stop growing!!!
Would be great if 49 would be finished. That one has been hyped up since the 90s, but they've never been able to build the portion through the Ouachitas.
Having lived over 40 yrs. in Arkansas before moving to GA, I can understand the need for the addition of a couple of Interstate highways. However, since I still have relatives there and travel there every year, I have to say that if the new Interstates are like the only two that currently exist, it's not such a great idea. Both I-30 and I-40 have had long stretches of "under construction" every year since they were built back in the late 50's.
Thanks for sharing ❤
There seems to be little incentive to finish I69 in Arkansas and Mississippi. The need for a a new bridge across the Mississippi River, however, is critical as the two bridges in Memphis, I55 and I40, are in critically bad condition.
I live in Hot Springs. I'd like to see a connector between I - 30 and Hot Springs. A couple miles of E. Grand Ave. ( 70 ) is already interstate standard and there was a recent widening project that made the entire highway go from 2 east/ west lanes to 5 east/ west lanes with a center turning lane. The center could be removed and grass seed planted, and a wire installed, and there could be one- way access roads on each side except at 128 which could become an overpass or underpass
I live in NWA and enjoyed your video. I have actually lived all over north arkansas and still travel it quite a bit. It is a beautiful State. My business is located right next to one of the exits off of the new I-49 and the area has definitely picked up a lot of traffic coming to the interstate. I do think adding the interstates in the other areas of the State will help but will need industry to move into those areas that will attract population growth. But, like you pointed out, nothing moves quickly.
Used to live in Rogers in the 90s until my family moved to Fort Smith in early 2000. I-49 (formally I-540) from Alma to Fayetteville was created to replace Hwy 71 as it was a two lane that wound through the Boston Mts. 540 helped NWA become the booming metro it is today. Another one of the biggest financial challenges for the I-49 project has been connecting the existing 49/40 junction to the completed 49 spur that is south of the Arkansas River.
I have traveled through the northeastern part of Arkansas many times using I-40 from Little Rock to West Memphis and then I-55 north. The completion of I-57 will certainly create a good bypass and get cars off of I-40, which is already very busy with traffic.
Yes, I-40 from Little Rock to Memphis is quite a journey. 15 years ago I would drive from Brinkely, AR to Little Rock stretch, but these days (and I'm older), I'm usually looking for a back road somewhere. But love my state!
Just learned of your channel and subscribed. I love learning of detailed facts. Given that for the past 2.5 years I've been a Digital Nomad around America, your videos are doubly interesting!
Your channel is excellent 🎉Keep up the great content.
this channel has been perfect for fueling my new, extremely strange US highway hyperfixation
I live in Fort Smith near the future I49 corridor. The article failed to mention the construction now underway connecting the existing 549 on the west side of Fort Smith to I-40 at Alma. It will cross the Arkansas River and provide a more direct route from Fort Smith to Fayetteville. Eventually it will extend south to Shreveport, La. The Fort Smith area is currently undergoing high growth and construction. Soon the air base there will be expanded for pilot training for pilots from Singapore and other nations. F-16s and the advanced F-35 fighters will be stationed here. Construction projects are booming in the Fort Chaffe area where I live. In addition, there has been a major expansion of medical schools and facilities in this area and other parts of Fort Smith. I love living here. There are numerous parks, walking trails, and bike trails. City services are excellent. I have neighbors that have moved here from all over the USA.
Fort Smith needs to fix the traffic on Rogers Ave before they finish the new interstate. The fact that it won't even connect directly to the routes that go to Fayetteville seems weird cause you will have to get off the new one onto the interstate just to take the exit to go north to Fayetteville
I live at Chaffe Crossing and 549 is right near my home. It will save me time going to NW Ar. When finished I just get on it at Massard and head north. Of course as I am 77 I may not live to see it depending how long it takes to build. Rogers is a mess and I take Phoenix and Zero going towards downtown. @@noyou9379
We could do a new interstate called i-53 North that connects from Jackson Mississippi that goes north through Arkansas, also going through pine bluff & little rock Arkansas to Springfield Missouri. By using the I-530 that already exists can help with that.
I agree with you. I-530 is going southeast direction from Little Rock to Monticello where future I-69 will meet, and on its way to Jackson Mississippi which should be future I-53, the only numbers is available, since it is between I-49 and I-55. Can’t use I-51 because US-51 is running down central Mississippi to avoid the duplication of the same digit of two different highway signs, so I-53 is the only option.
@davidtosh7200 Well, yes, but...Wisconsin approved, and got signed, I-41, which overlays (and is) US-41 in Wisconsin, so I wouldn't rule out a potential I-51/US-51 concurrency so fast..m
@@davidtosh7200I find arguments about where a highway can be built based on available numbers to be putting the cart before the horse. There are always more numbers or the option to renumber. Assuming such a thing was to happen, I51.5 would have an odd ring about it until a few years after it's in use, then it will be mundane as multiple other highways get similar names.
It's my understanding that the plan is to connect I-530 at Pine Bluff, which then becomes I-53 down to I-69, then later to go through Monroe and Alexandria in Louisiana, connecting to I-14 when and if it gets built, then on to Lake Charles.
great analysis mileage mike!
Thanks!
Helpful! Thanks! I live in NWA and have watched population far outpace infrastructure and roads. My biggest question is why do they start stuff and take years, up to a decade to get things done? The lack of focus and urgency is unreal in Arkansas. Also, the mindset of the government is very unfortunate, from state level to local. I live in a bedroom community outside of bentonville. The old timers have missed some big opportunities bc they are terrified of change. Then we fall behind and can never catch up. I live in Pea Ridge and there is no simple way to leave town anymore. Two main ways, one to Rogers and one to Bentonville, the other options take you away from the main corridor. It’s quite the issue, and now with literally 15 new subdivisions being built, but no changes to the roads, our very limited roads are a nightmare, and only going to get worse.
there's also a project in the works for connecting the i430/40 interchange to the i57/i440 interchange.
Another wrinkle for I-49 is that little bit that inexplicably and unnecessarily crosses into TX. I guess AR was trying to get TX to share the costs of a bridge over the Red River, but I wonder if they considered the implications of tying their alignment to a state for whom that connection has so little relative significance. Speaking of river crossings, a southwestern bypass of Memphis from I-22/I-269 around to I-40 would help relieve things around Memphis, especially since it looks like TN is never going to finish I-22 into town. The whole I-57 thing is news to me, so thanks for that.
Arkansas is saving for the I-69 bridge further south of Memphis and cannot afford another Mississippi River bridge connecting to I-269 either south or north of Memphis... Tennessee Is saving to build I-69 north of Memphis alongside US-51, which is already a divided four lane highway, not to mention a future I-55 replacement bridge... Mississippi is saving for the I-69 Mississippi River bridge as well. All of these poor states desire more federal funding... Neither Arkansas or Mississippi can afford at the present time a I-269 bridge south of Memphis... Mississippi River bridges are not cheap in the Mississippi River delta of boggy ground...
I’ll ask the obvious question: has there been any notable discussion or spitballing to reroute planned I-69 over the existing Greenville Bridge AND utilizing/upgrading existing corridors accordingly inbetween?
As opposed to building an additional 9 figure bridge within the same region? That move alone could free up limited re$our¢es, as well as put Greenville MS “back on the map”…
I’m glad they completed that i49 bypass around Bella vista… I hated having to drive through there on us71 to connect back to i49
I grew up in part of the area the proposed I-69 would help, although the oil fields near El Dorado have done a good bit to keep it from being completely dead. El Dorado is pronounced El Doh-ray-doh, however some say it as El Doh-ray-duh. Nice job on the updates. Hope you enjoyed your visit to Arkansas.
Yay, someone said how to pronounce El Dorado! The El Dorado area used to be a lot more populated during it’s oil boom in the early 20th century, but there’s still a decent bit of oil/chemical industry here now.
Also, El Dorado is home to Murphy USA Inc., which is rank 182 in the Fortune 500 and one of the reasons El Dorado has not decline as fast.
I gather Edgar Allan Poe once wrote a poem about the place, but he rhymed it with "shadow." No wonder the poor fellow never got there, if he was always mispronouncing it.... :)
@@isaacwoollen Though we took a serious hit with Murphy Oil leaving town. If we focused more on jobs than trying to be a festival town, maybe we're doing better. Plus, as great as it is, the Promise was ultimately a free ticket out of town for EHS grads from '07 on. Not many Promise recipients who ventured out opted to come back. If not for personal circumstances, I would've stayed in Conway.
NWA is already a traffic nightmare. US 412 in Tontitown/Springdale clearly needs bypassing sooner rather than later. Meetings continue in Siloam Springs to get I-35 to I-49 interstate designation.
I travel the area around the nww a lot. I 49 cutting through the hills on the Missouri border has saved hours of driving. I hopes they connect more of the other sunbelt towns to it
Im visiting here from PA, and I grew up in NY. State "rankings" can be VERY subjective. For example, PA and NY both have insane taxation, terrible infrastructure (and what is existing is tolled to death), not to mention 6 months of winter, colleges and universities that crank out Che Guevara majors... Look, its all in what you like. Im a Conservative so Arkansas has been very appealing. The state operates on a budget, and currently has a $2 billion surplus. Last time PA or NY had a budget on time (without crippling debt racking up) is God knows when. The people here are friendly, the weather is nice (Jun-Jul-Aug being the exception), taxes are low, and the state is actually entering a growth trend with Texas growing so fast. Its like Arizona or Nevada to California. Yes, there are some towns that are gutted, but those are being bought up and restored, or other purposes. I find it a little hard to believe that you coin Ark as having the most decay in your travels. Pick any city in PA and NY... The decay is awful, and a heckuva lot more than Ark. Its not as stagnant as you might think. Businesses are moving here, those expressways are being built for a reason... Unlike PA and NY tha think behind, Ark is thinking ahead. One final thought - most people here consider Ark to be the Midwest, which I find interesting. Oh well... Good video. I didn't realise Rt 57 was slated to head down to LR, and I have been wondering about Rt 69. Good info!
One side of my family lives in Forth Smith (NW AR) I live in Houston. We used to go up and get on highway 71, a two lane highway. Then I started going thru Oklahoma through the ouachita forest. I would love I-49 to be extended down to Texarkana because there’s currently no great way to travel directly north through AR. Though I do have fond memories of my mom driving my brother and I through rural Arkansas as kids, I would really like to see the interstate being extended.
I can't imagine an interstate running through the main part of my small little town. It would divide the town in half and be a nightmare. I don't want all of this growth and traffic. It would only help a few corporations and be a nightmare for everyone else.
I hope I-49 is completed. It would make it much easier to go to the Dakotas, Yellowstone, and Montana from the south/gulf coast. The best way to get there from Florida now is to go up I-75 through Atlanta, up I-24 through Nashville, and then I-64 through St. Louis to get to I-70.
I live in Mena (MEE-nuh) and I hope to see I-49 come by here before I get too old to drive. Thanks for this video!
I hope you do too. I'm sure I won't, but if you were born after 2010, you might get to see more than the Super-2 they start with. Mena will get a bypass before the Super-2, so we can get excited when that gets started.
Mileage Mike, I am a VA resident. I would love a video on I-95 in-between Northern VA and Richmond. What causes the constant delays and awful traffic? It seems once you past Fredericksburg going North, you're going to hit standstill traffic at least once on the way to DC, no matter what. What can be done? How much longer of my life do I have to deal with this?
Excellent idea. I’ll add it to the list.
Make it the same as the Jersey Turnpike in New Jersey - quadruple highway, all tolled as it should have been originally.
Also upgrade the train service between Richmond and Washington DC to all electric trains every 15 minutes. Provide for local, express, and super express services.
Yeah, for no apparent reason, Fredericksburg seems to be goobed on I95N every time. Are people getting lost in The Wilderness? If it's raining, it seems to be nerfed in both directions. Not just MY data point.
Double the lanes & add tolls
Sadly, I stumbled across the flagging of I-69 in Monticello not less than 200 yards from my deer stand. After doing some research I found where the western portions money was put in for the eastern portion to be completed first so I have a few more years before I must relocate my deer stand.
US-412 between I-35 through Tulsa and NW Arkansas was recently given the approval to be I-42. AASHTO approved it within the past like week.
Source for this please?
My only complaint about the roads in Arkansas is that many of them are pretty narrow, without wide areas to pull off the road in order to do things like change a tire if needed. Arkansas should look to Texas for examples on that issue. (Although Texas does need to focus on increasing the amount of 4 lane highways). I will point out the unfortunate focus at the Federal level of moving actual infrastructure spending from reality to 'social infrastructure' projects. We need roads and bridges, not social engineering. We can't afford to do anything less than get our real infrastructure up to standard.
7:53 it's I-29 (not I-25) that connects Kansas City to the Canadian border ... and then I-49 would connect down to New Orleans.
I-25 connects Las Cruces, NM (through Denver) to Buffalo, WY.
I live in Paragould Arkansas, and 412 needs to be upgraded across northern Arkansas. We get a lot of 18 wheeler traffic here. I feel like it should be an interstate highway.
There is a plan to turn 412 into an interstate highway---but only from Fayetteville to Enid, Oklahoma. Maybe they will eventually turn all of 412 into an interstate eastward all the way to Columbia, Tennessee. As someone who lives in Oklahoma, I wished they would consider upgrading it to an interstate highway past Enid all the way to the Rockies
@@impalaman9707 That doesn't surprise me, for only the northwest part of the State...
@@arkansasrebel348there are plans to upgrade 412 to 4 lanes across the entire state, but the total price tag is about $2.3B. There’s some big $50M project that’s getting set to take place around Ash Flat, but I’m not having luck nailing down specifics. Alec Farmer is on the highway commission & is from Jonesboro & mentioned to Talk Business & Politics about it, but I feel like there’s a mistake b/c he said it also involved Norfork somehow which doesn’t make sense looking at the map. I’ll pipe in if I can find more info.
@@carlstevens781 I live in Paragould, 412 has 4/5 lanes from Missouri State Line to 67, besides a 2 lane bypass around Paragould. I just don't understand why 412 isn't part of an interstate highway. Besides the fact 67 should've been built closer Paragould. To me it is an insult that Walnut Ridge would get future I57 over Paragould.
They apparently don’t care about NEA. They aren’t gonna extend i555 through Jonesboro, and they definitely aren’t gonna make HWY 49 an interstate between Jonesboro through Paragould or HWY 412 in Paragould. The state just doesn’t care about us.
I've been on the future I-49 from Springdale up thru DeQueen up to Fort Smith..It's so desolate out there. Especially thru the national forest area. But there are some poultry plants and other businesses that are basically cut off from civilization except for 71.As a truck driver i can say The interstate is sorely needed.
I lived in a SWAR town and drive 71 to Russellville for college and go home and dang I wish I could drive 75 and not 55 through small towns
NE AR is my home area, & I’d love to see the 67/57 corridor finished! Missouri is currently working on their southern stretch now, I believe they were waiting on Arkansas to make their mind up on where the Stateline junction would be? & now that the route has been chosen, I expect the land purchases to start on the different lengths of the zones. Just as I’d read in one of the comments, the Commercial Truck traffic is highly congested along
the 2-lane stretch!!
Its gonna hurt a couple towns along the route. Corning and pocahontas will unfortunately loose revenue from travelers. I assume a couple new gas stations may be built along the route but that won't ammont to much
Thanks for the input Terry! & u r very correct.
I appreciate your service to our state & county! Thx!
That 2 lane road just past Poplar Bluff MO through Pocahontas, AR is painful.
Born and raised in Arkansas but have lived on the West coast since 1999. I'm happy to see all this potential development. I grew up along highway 67 where it's still a freeway but going north always ended and then that stretch got annoying. However, on the return trip, when you got back to the freeway you always knew you'd be home soon lol
Thanks Mike
You did not mention that future I-57 over to US-60 was planned in 1994 as a extension of I-30 had it happened there were plans to upgrade AR-226 to interstate status and designate it as I-730
While not in Arkansas, US 60 in Sikeston, MO has recently put signs out stating its future I-57. Currently I57 ends in Sikeston. It'll go over to Poplar Bluff, then head south on US 67.
Numerous trips from NWArkansas to Shreveport/Bossier, LA, but rom Ft.Smith to Texarkana one just wants to cry driving the slow (yet beautiful btw) snaking 2 lane US71 stretch with very few passing lanes and slow speed limits thru small towns. I would GLADLY pay my $10-$15 toll each way for a finished I-49 thru this stretch and shave an hour off my trip. Oklahoma and Florida are excellent examples of how to get it done when the need is pressing and federal highway funds are scarce - interstate quality toll roads.
I just drove 71 from Texarkana to Ft. Scott. And holy shit let me tell you - that is the middle of no where. That highway is scary as hell at night time. I think your explanation that you'd need to be born after 2010 is on point. That's not happening any time soon.
As someone who lives near I-57 in Southern Illinois, (20 miles east of Exit 54 @ Marion, IL) I've never understood why it ends in Sikeston, MO. Glad to see Arkansas has already built its portion of the extension. Now if Missouri would get off its ass and build its section. But that would be good to also hook up with I-55 up to St. Louis.
In the 90s a new 4-lane was built between my town to Marion as an eastward extention of the existing 4-lane west of Marion. I actually worked on a 4 mile stretch of that highway with the DOT in '96. It was a essentially a relocation of an existing winding 2-lane state route that took forever to drive. The new 4-lane parreled the old road through mostly old strip mine areas. It's funny that some of the land that I remember being dynamited back when I was growing up becoming a limited access 4-lane highway not too long after the mines shut down. Seems like they were still shooting off explosives as late as 1990 or so.
Arkansas started their US 67 project in the 1960's. It's still not done, stalled at Walnut Ridge. US 60 west of Sikeston to Poplar Bluff is four lanes and only needs to be upgraded to a freeway, along with much of 67 south to the border. A sloth works faster than Arkansas on highways.
We traveled to UA Monticello for state basketball tournament from my northern border town. Seven hour trip. Arkansas doesn't even seem big enough to take that long :)
(yes, that was a few decades ago but I bet it's the same now)
One also has to consider Interstate 69 will also have access to Camden, Arkansas, where three major aeronautic plants are located. All three build missiles for the U.S. military and defense systems, such as the "Patriot" and the Israeli "Iron Dome". An interstate within reach, would help decrease delivery time on these pieces.
Ive moved out of the hellhole that is Texarkana but god damn it was weird seeing background shots of downtown.
I-69 would be awesome to me, I went to college in Southeast Arkansas and having an interstate to get through some of those towns would be nice - especially to visit the ole college again.
I actually think the East-West Corridor from Oklahoma through Northwest Arkansas will be the first to be completed and then I-57 in part because Arkansas will be able to count on Oklahoma (which the new East-West Corridor will have the most millege on) to get US-412 up to Interstate standards with a good chunk of them (thanks to both the Cimarron and Cherokee Turnpikes) already up to Interstate standards plus both DOTs are undergoing studies for the actual construction for the parts of the road that needs upgrading to Interstate standards.
Given the timeline of the way I feel like things are progressing they'll beat I-57 because right now Missouri has no interest in upgraing Highways 60 (between Poplar Bluff and Sikeston) and Highway 67 (between Poplar Bluff and the State Line) to Interstate Standards.
The fact that US 412 isn't already an Interstate at least from Enid to Springdale is baffling to me. That entire corridor that 412 follows from New Mexico all the way across Arkansas has long needed a proper freeway alternative to I-40 and I-70.
There's a piece of I-49 built around Fort Smith, don't know if you know about that. They're supposed to be working on bringing it up from Texarkana right now to Fort Coffee where that section lies from US Highway 71 to Arkansas Highway 255. It's even badged and mile marked as I-49 on Google Maps. I have heard they're supposed to be working on the bridge soon that will cross the Arkansas River, but let's not hold out hope for that. There's no real place to build it except to swing back and go over the damn on Arkansas Hwy 59.
Way back in 2012 I had the fortune of detouring through rural Arkansas when I-40 was closed. So I got to see part of Future I-57 (Bald Knob to Searcy).
Before 2016 it was Future I-30
Enjoy travel videos...just one small observation--I use to live in Albuquerque, NM, and I-25 runs right down the middle of that city, so it must be a different interstate that's going to run from New Orleans to the Canadian border, if I'm not mistaken.
He meant I-29 that goes from KC up to the Canadian border, I’m sure he just misspoke
I went up and down US 71 the first week of my trucking career, and I owned property just off 71 south of Waldron for 30 years. The last time I checked, the I49 corridor was still in question and may actually be built in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma will never build anything of significance in that part of the state. All their money tends to be funneled to Tulsa or OKC. Arkansas actually has funding to start a Super-2 between Fort Smith and Y-City in their 2023-2026 STIP, so the FEIS only needs updating and then the ROW purchasing can start.
I live in north Louisiana close to the Arkansas border. I’m almost 30 years old and I’ve been seeing “future I-69 corridor” signs for as long as I can remember
Arkansas is also home to some major corporations and is a crossroads between Houston, Dallas, Shreveport, New Orleans, Memphis, St Louis, Chicago and Kansas City.
Could it be (2) of I-42? One interstate 42 might connect between Raleigh to Morehead City North Carolina for 137 miles, and the other interstate 42 might connect from I-35 near Perry Oklahoma to I-49 in Springdale Arkansas for 190 miles. This is ridiculous to have duplicate interstate number in different locations. It should be I-46, I-48, I-50, or I-52. Can’t use I-54 or I-56 because US-54 and US-56 in the Panhandle of Oklahoma and it will violate the AASHTO rules, especially in Oklahoma. I would like to see future I-58 which connect from Wichita Kansas to the junction of I-55 & I-57 in Sikeston Missouri, since US-400 in Kansas and US-60 in Missouri could be upgrade to interstate highway. They might extend future I-58 from Sikeston Missouri to I-65 in Elizabethtown Kentucky, if it is true.
as a retired truck driver, i always thought they should build a new section of I-40 from Conway going east to about exit 180 or 190 on 40.
Yada Yada Yada, Lets spend EVERY Dime on interstates while the secondary roads ARE the roughest on any state anywhere
It's funny you mention the difficulty to reach Monticello. It's a fairly easy drive from Pine Bluff on two different routes; though one is a highway, the other is a four-lane highway.
someone needs look at doing something with 65 HWY from MO into AR.. it's a big player in moving goods from Iowa into Little Rock.. Mo is working on 4 lanes on some parts now.
I heard that US-412 will be upgrade to future interstate for not only in northwestern Arkansas but also in Oklahoma. It should be either I-46, I-48, or I-52, since I-42 has been used in North Carolina, Oklahoma does have US-54, US-56, US-60, and US-62, so they can’t use I-54, I-56, I-60, and I-62 to avoid the duplication of the same numbers of two different highway signs.
I-50 is the obvious choice to me, and I have contacted all 3 members of my Congressional Delegation to recommend as much. I-50 and I-60 were purposefully avoided due to possible duplicates with US routes, but we're obviously not worried about such things in this day and age with GPS navigation. I-49 in Arkansas is duplicated with US-49 already, so DOTs don't refer to routes simply by route numbers anymore in this day and age of basically free computer storage making things like adding a letter I in front of the route number in their documents and IT systems. US-412 was designated High Priority Corridor #8 in the 1991 ISTEA legislation from Tulsa to Nashville, so the intent is to ultimately upgrade US-412 from I-35 to I-65, so that is a long enough distance to warrant a I-x0 designation as I doubt there are any additional transcontinental interstates ever completed going forward that would be a better candidate. It's still well over 500 miles between I-35 and I-65, and there aren't really any other E-W routes other than the US-400 route in Kansas continuing onto US-60 in Missouri and into Kentucky onto their parkway system that warrant potential upgrade to Interstate status (which would make a logical I-60). So, 50 makes for better marketing than 42/46/48/52 ever would. And other than the obvious benefit of the high speed roadway itself, then next most important benefit of an Interstate is the marketability of the Interstate shield for attracting business and industry to your region. Imagine the marketability of NWA having I-49 having a 4 level stack in Springdale with I-50 that connects Tulsa to Nashville without having to drive halfway across a state to I-40.
"they can't use 1-54, 1-56, 1-60 and I-62 to avoid the duplication of the same numbers of two different highway signs"--I/US-41 in Wisconsin would like to speak to you.
@@michaeltrace1109 I would posit that "I-50" should extend along US 412 west of Tulsa through Enid, the panhandle and all the way out into New Mexico (to either Springer or Raton). It's a huge trucking route the entire distance across Oklahoma and while there's new truly major city out there (Dodge City, KS is the largest regional "city" and it's not even on that road), there's enough smaller communities and businesses out that way that would directly benefit from a proper freeway across northwest Oklahoma.
@@mattashworth9744 That's actually something I have considered and posted on a road forum I am a member of (aaroads). Essentially upgrade the entire US-412 route, although I think Raton makes more sense than Springer. That would essentially offer another connection between I-25 and I-65. I would keep I-50 north of I-40 and run it straight to Nashville through Huntington where it dives southeast at Dyersburg along US-70 roughly. That keeps the facility roughly at a latitude and serves a fair number of growing metros. Plus it would make it easier to get to Boise City, where Raton Pass could be bypassed in the winter to get to the Colorado Front Range cities fairly easily in the winter when the pass gets sketchy.
Probably because the state is reimbursed by the federal government for all the expenses related to the maintenance of interstates. This combined with an alleged favorable geographic location between Texas and Appalachia/Virginia/NC/Atlanta. Makes sense that they would want more roadways in the state.
Very interesting! Also Tonitown is pronounced Taw-nee Town. Great place for italian food!
Just a small observation, "Cimarron" is pronounced Sim-uh-ron. Cool and very informative video as always though. 👍
Northwest Arkansas parallels the Mississippi Gulf coast as
an exception from stagnation that cripples my state too.
Mike, I gotta tell you, I-49 in Arkansas doesn't touch Fort Smith at all. It meets I-40 in Alma and then to get to Fort Smith, you take I-540 through Van Buren to get there. Once the stretch of I-49 is done from Barling to Alma, then they can also get to Fort Smith that way.
Driven around North east Arkansas a lot, such a forgotten area. Wondering how Pocahontas will be involved with I-57.
I-40 needs to be upgraded to a 6 or 8 lane highway. It’s terrible trying to travel either direction. It’s packed with semi’s and normal vehicles.
I-69 might get a huge boost from the potential lithium extraction near El Dorado area.
NWA is the “new” hub in Arkansas. It’s about to take over Little Rock in about every category.