LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Interstate travel is coming to another corner of Arkansas as Highway 67 changed its designation to Interstate 57 on Thursday.
The 110 miles of road from North Little Rock to Walnut Ridge will soon connect with the existing I-57, a 400-mile north-south corridor stretching from Chicago, Illinois, south to Sikeston, Missouri.
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There will be a groundbreaking for the last 42 miles of road work to connect to the Missouri State Line next week.
Brian Evans represents Cabot in the Arkansas State Legislature, but he also owns a local freight company. He says the new Arkansas interstate is also a gateway to economic opportunity.
“This is not just a new number on a sign or a new name on a highway…You can talk about how great that road is going to be, but unless it has an interstate designation, it just turns some heads away when it comes to bringing and attracting new industry and new jobs,” Evans said.
The benefits will also extend to every Arkansas taxpayer because becoming an interstate halves the money the state needs to match federal dollars spent on the road’s many projects. State Highway Commission Chairman Alec Farmer explained.
“From an 80-20 split to a 90-10 split, reducing our contribution by 10%,” Farmer said.
According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, the original Arkansas State Highway System was formed in 1923 with the roads that would become U.S. Highway 67 and now Interstate 57 a part of it.
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Farmer said construction on Highway 67 began in 1956 and much work how gone into expanding the road’s lengths and lanes over the years. Building it today would cost five billion dollars according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
As Arkansas works to connect the last 42 miles to Missouri, Missouri is doing the same thing from Sikeston, MO where Instate 57 currently ends.
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