77 replies to this topic

[Rardy]

It has always been confusing why Little Rock has Interstates 430, 440, and 630.  According to federal guidelines, 3 digit interstate highways that begin with an even number should connect at least twice with their host highways (i.e. loops), while those that begin with an odd number only have to intersect their host once (spurs).  

Neither 430, 440, or 630 connect twice with their hosts.  They are actually all spurs yet they're signed as loops .  Is there a master plan that I'm unaware of, or were the original plans for these highways changed?

[Aporkalypse]

Rardy, on Sep 6 2006, 11:21 AM, said:

It has always been confusing why Little Rock has Interstates 430, 440, and 630.  According to federal guidelines, 3 digit interstate highways that begin with an even number should connect at least twice with their host highways (i.e. loops), while those that begin with an odd number only have to intersect their host once (spurs).  

Neither 430, 440, or 630 connect twice with their hosts.  They are actually all spurs yet they're signed as loops .  Is there a master plan that I'm unaware of, or were the original plans for these highways changed?

When the North Belt Freeway is finished it will connect all of what is now I-440 with I-430 making an imcomplete loop around the city which will be linked at the South by I-30 at I-430's southern terminus and I-440's downtown terminus.  Whether they will rename the entire loop at that point I-430 or I-440 I don't know.

[mcheiss]

I read that an on-ramp from Arkansas 107 to I-40 was to open today.

I'm guessing it was closed, because I-40 is being widened to 6 lanes.

[skirby]

mcheiss, on Sep 8 2006, 09:52 AM, said:

I read that an on-ramp from Arkansas 107 to I-40 was to open today.

I'm guessing it was closed, because I-40 is being widened to 6 lanes.

It has been closed since construction began. At that point 107 is better known as JFK.

[mcheiss]

skirby, on Sep 8 2006, 01:00 PM, said:

It has been closed since construction began. At that point 107 is better known as JFK.

Ah, my paper just called it 107.

[Aporkalypse]

That JFK intersection has always been a bit awkward, mostly because of the hill that JFK is located on - at the bottom of the hill JFK (107) becomes Main St.

The Skyline Dr and Cherry Hill neighborhoods of Park HIll at the top of JFK are really some neat historic neighborhoods that are safe and clean but with nicely priced homes.

[Rardy]

Does anyone (itk?) know if there are plans to widen I-40 between Little Rock and W. Memphis?  That road is really getting congested and is supposedly the heaviest traveled rural highway in the U.S.  That's not too hard to believe!  

I also read in the Memphis paper about how I-40 is being lobbyed to be expanded as a high-priority corridor, but that's a federal project.  Does Arkansas have similar plans?

[itk]

Rardy, on Dec 8 2006, 12:01 PM, said:

Does anyone (itk?) know if there are plans to widen I-40 between Little Rock and W. Memphis?  That road is really getting congested and is supposedly the heaviest traveled rural highway in the U.S.  That's not too hard to believe!  

I also read in the Memphis paper about how I-40 is being lobbyed to be expanded as a high-priority corridor, but that's a federal project.  Does Arkansas have similar plans?

No, but I have heard people talk about that possibility.  I wouldn't identify it as "congested"-- it's crowded with all those trucks, but it's not like stop and go (you may just be driving at 65 mph behind trucks rather than 75).

However, I-69 will be roughly parallel to I-30/I-40 through Arkansas, and will likely take some pressure off of I-40 between LR and WMemphis.  Whenever that happens, though... I'm not holding my breath.  It doesn't have full federal support, so right now states are basically on their own for the most part.

[Aporkalypse]

itk, on Dec 8 2006, 06:48 PM, said:

No, but I have heard people talk about that possibility.  I wouldn't identify it as "congested"-- it's crowded with all those trucks, but it's not like stop and go (you may just be driving at 65 mph behind trucks rather than 75).

However, I-69 will be roughly parallel to I-30/I-40 through Arkansas, and will likely take some pressure off of I-40 between LR and WMemphis.  Whenever that happens, though... I'm not holding my breath.  It doesn't have full federal support, so right now states are basically on their own for the most part.

There aren't a lot of 6-lane stretches outside of metros in this part of the country that I can think of, I-35 between Austin and San Antonio being an exception but it carries a lot more traffic.

I don't think widening I-40 across that whole segment can be justified when there are other areas needing it more.  Id' rather see I-540 widened through NWA and then I-40 between Conway and LR widened next.  I guess the biggest need is I-630 through LR but that's not really a "segment" but an urban freeway.

[Rardy]

itk, on Dec 8 2006, 06:48 PM, said:

No, but I have heard people talk about that possibility.  I wouldn't identify it as "congested"-- it's crowded with all those trucks, but it's not like stop and go (you may just be driving at 65 mph behind trucks rather than 75).

However, I-69 will be roughly parallel to I-30/I-40 through Arkansas, and will likely take some pressure off of I-40 between LR and WMemphis.  Whenever that happens, though... I'm not holding my breath.  It doesn't have full federal support, so right now states are basically on their own for the most part.

Well...I was on it a couple of Sunday's back, and it really was stop and go.  I averaged it and traffic would flow fine for almost 10 miles, then come to a complete stop.  It would slowly creep back up to speed, then stop again...for 128 miles.  And there were no accidents or construction.  The westbound side was slightly better, but not much.  It took 4 hours to get from NLR to Memphis.  That's actually what prompted my question.

I can think of many examples of 6-laned roads outside metro areas, Aporkalypse.  That's not at all unheard of.  I-10 between Lake Charles, LA and Houston (120 mile stretch) is almost all 6-laned now, with the remaining portions either under construction or about to begin construction.  Not to mention I-75 through Florida.  I-540 and 40 between LR and Conway are all urban freeways.

Good point about I-69, though.  That will help some.  In 20 years.  

[Aporkalypse]

Rardy, on Dec 9 2006, 01:04 PM, said:

Well...I was on it a couple of Sunday's back, and it really was stop and go.  I averaged it and traffic would flow fine for almost 10 miles, then come to a complete stop.  It would slowly creep back up to speed, then stop again...for 128 miles.  And there were no accidents or construction.  The westbound side was slightly better, but not much.  It took 4 hours to get from NLR to Memphis.  That's actually what prompted my question.

I can think of many examples of 6-laned roads outside metro areas, Aporkalypse.  That's not at all unheard of.  I-10 between Lake Charles, LA and Houston (120 mile stretch) is almost all 6-laned now, with the remaining portions either under construction or about to begin construction.  Not to mention I-75 through Florida.  I-540 and 40 between LR and Conway are all urban freeways.

Good point about I-69, though.  That will help some.  In 20 years.  

I-40 between LR and Conway and I-540 between Springdale and Rogers aren't really "urban freeways" in the sense that I would mean it.  They pass through sparsely populated farmland.  Mainly, though, I'm referring to cost.  Reconstructing and widening I-630 will cost far more per mile than the other freeways in more sparsely populated areas.

Speaking of I-40 between Conway and LR it's always funny how traffic reporters refer to "the beanfield".  Everyone knows what they mean, the area right on the Pulaski-Faulkner Co line where theres' a huge farm.  I think at one point they grew rice there.

[tim2462]

Aporkalypse, on Dec 9 2006, 07:29 PM, said:

I-40 between LR and Conway and I-540 between Springdale and Rogers aren't really "urban freeways" in the sense that I would mean it.  They pass through sparsely populated farmland.  Mainly, though, I'm referring to cost.  Reconstructing and widening I-630 will cost far more per mile than the other freeways in more sparsely populated areas.

Speaking of I-40 between Conway and LR it's always funny how traffic reporters refer to "the beanfield".  Everyone knows what they mean, the area right on the Pulaski-Faulkner Co line where theres' a huge farm.  I think at one point they grew rice there.

Actually, I think the beanfield is up 67/167 past Jacksonville.

[Architect]

tim2462, on Dec 10 2006, 01:53 AM, said:

Actually, I think the beanfield is up 67/167 past Jacksonville.

No, that would be BETWEEN Sherwood and Jacksonville on 67/167.

[Aporkalypse]

Architect, on Dec 10 2006, 09:43 AM, said:

No, that would be BETWEEN Sherwood and Jacksonville on 67/167.

There's ANOTHER beanfield?


That one will fill in over the next few years as Sherwood and Jacksonville grow together.  Because of freeway access that area between Mayflower and Morgan won't be developed for a very, very long time.

[skirby]

Aporkalypse, on Dec 10 2006, 10:16 AM, said:

There's ANOTHER beanfield?
That one will fill in over the next few years as Sherwood and Jacksonville grow together.  Because of freeway access that area between Mayflower and Morgan won't be developed for a very, very long time.

It is at the intersection of I-440 and 67/167. The owners of the property have plans to redevelop it.

[tim2462]

Architect, on Dec 10 2006, 09:43 AM, said:

No, that would be BETWEEN Sherwood and Jacksonville on 67/167.

That's what I meant.  It's around where 440 intersects with 67/167.

That's the only place I've heard them refer to as a beanfield on the
local traffic reports.

[Architect]

tim2462, on Dec 10 2006, 02:43 PM, said:

That's what I meant.  It's around where 440 intersects with 67/167.

That's the only place I've heard them refer to as a beanfield on the
local traffic reports.

Yes, that's my understanding.

[hogwash]

Well I still know the area you're talking about Porky and I don't even live in LR anymore.  If someone said beanfield that would have come to my mind as well, its a very prominent area.  It may actually be floodplain too.

[Aporkalypse]

hogwash, on Dec 11 2006, 09:54 AM, said:

Well I still know the area you're talking about Porky and I don't even live in LR anymore.  If someone said beanfield that would have come to my mind as well, its a very prominent area.  It may actually be floodplain too.

I've heard it referred to on the radio as a beanfield many times when I used to attend college in Conway.  It actually was a flooded and used for rice when I was a kid, I remember that.  I think now they grow soybeans on it.

[cozmosis]

Rardy, on Sep 6 2006, 10:21 AM, said:

It has always been confusing why Little Rock has Interstates 430, 440, and 630.  According to federal guidelines, 3 digit interstate highways that begin with an even number should connect at least twice with their host highways (i.e. loops), while those that begin with an odd number only have to intersect their host once (spurs).

It was my understanding that even three-digit interstates pass through or loop around a city and that odd three-digit interstates lead into a city. Those rules make sense as 630 passes through LR, 430 and 440 loop around the city and 530 leads into LR.

A friend of mine from out of town flew in to LR a week or so ago for business. He found it funny that on the very short drive between the airport and downtown, it's possible to find yourself on three different interstates.