We should never underestimate the importance of our roadways. After all, it’s how developed the roads are that determine how developed the surrounding areas are. Arkansas had a slow start with this, but it also started very early. From the 1800’s until now, we’ve been working on our slowly-but-surely improving road system, which is good because Arkansas has plenty of beautiful land and historical places to explore!
Some of our first roads started between the 1820s-1840s. They were called the Southwest Trail 1760 and John Pyeatt’s road and were used primarily for military troop travel. Since the government needed to be able to access these roads and develop the eastern side of the state, focus was placed on a road between Little Rock to Memphis, Tennessee. Sixty miles were completed by the 1830s. However, “developed road” was a phrase very loosely defined. The requirements were as follows: trees between six to twelve inches in diameter were cut four inches from the ground, trees less than six to twelve inches were cut to the ground, and trees over twelve inches in diameter only needed to be cut eight inches from the ground. Because of this, the road was only passable via horses or light wagons, and impassable in bad weather.
Later came the public roads. These roads were called “public” because they were ran by the county court. Unfortunately, they were also called the “roads to nowhere,” since they often only ran between farm to market—or sometimes from a river to someone’s home. These roads were also not well made and featured a little quirk called a “turnout” anywhere there was an obstacle. Obstacles, like fallen trees, weren’t removed for a straight forward path. Instead, the road was built around the obstacle. If a new obstacle appeared, laborers would simply build another turnout.
Things changed when Arkansas officially became a state. The biggest change was Act 167 of 1836, which declared public roads were highways, making their maintenance the responsibility of the county courts. Since the federal government wanted to improve the mail delivery system, they took on improving existing military roads. The state and local government, however, continued to lack the funds to make any improvements, so they just didn’t happen. A quote from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas says, “This attitude applied not only to the local roads but to military and postal roads as well. This widely held attitude of “Spend the money to build roads, but keep the cost of maintenance a local responsibility” is in large part responsible for Arkansas’s reputation for having some of the worst roads in the nation.”
In 1921, finally a new federal aid bill (the Federal Aid Highway Act) was passed that changed how states constructed roads. This bill required states to design a system of state highways and promised that the construction of such would be managed by a state highway department. Local governments would only have to guarantee continuing proper maintenance, if they received a larger share of federal funds. Afterward, Governor Thomas Chipman McRae (and the Arkansas General Assembly) passed Act 5 in 1923. This resulted in a 6,700-mile state highway system and the Arkansas Department of Transportation!
All of this only catches us up to a century ago. It would be thirty years later, and much like Alaska’s road development, when Arkansas stepped up their roadways thanks to World War II. In 1956, a national defense network was at the top of the list and that led to the interstate system. The first interstate we had was I-30, running from southwest Little Rock to Dallas. Interstate 40 was being built at the same time. It was as late as 1970 that the rest of Arkansas’s highways were unpaved, but thankfully that’s been mostly remedied since.
The troublesome relationship between Arkansas’s roadways and funding is an issue that Arkansas continues to struggle with. Interestingly, our first five interstates are still in regular use today: Interstates 30, 40, 55, 430, and 540. Some locals might even drive on several of these every day just to get to work, and if that’s you, then you know that these interstates have definitely been seeing a lot of improvement and construction. So, our interstates might have issues but they’re definitely getting better.
Our interstates have to be improved upon because Arkansas has been getting a boost of tourism lately! Aside from being along the path of the eclipse, out-of-towners come to Arkansas to experience the Ozarks, the national parks, the lush highways up the Ozark mountains, the quaint Southern charm, and the really good food—but all of that we’ll get into next week. Until then, should you find your way in Arkansas, remember that Interstate Signways made the signs that lined the way!
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