U.S. Highway 63 (US 63) is a north-south U.S. highway that begins in Ruston, LA. In the US state of Arkansas the highway enters the state from Louisiana concurrent with US 167 in Junction City. The highway runs north through the eastern part of the state, serving rural areas of South Arkansas and the Arkansas Delta, as well as Pine Bluff and Jonesboro. The highway exits the state at Mammoth Spring traveling into Missouri.
Route information | ||||
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Maintained by ArDOT | ||||
Length | 340.0 mi (547.2 km) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | US 63 / US 167 at Junction City | |||
North end | US 63 in Mammoth Spring | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Arkansas | |||
Counties | Union, Bradley, Cleveland, Jefferson, Arkansas, Prairie, Monroe, Woodruff, Cross, Poinsett, Craighead, Greene, Lawrence, Sharp, Fulton | |||
Highway system | ||||
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Route description
editU.S. 63 enters into Arkansas from Louisiana concurrent with US 167 in Junction City. Just a few miles into the state, the two highways run on the eastern edge of El Dorado as an expressway. US 167 splits here, traveling towards Hampton. US 63 bypasses the town of Warren, crossing US 270. US 63 passes through the rural Cleveland County, then enters into Jefferson County.
In Jefferson County, US 63 serves the city of Pine Bluff. US 63 bypasses the city, running on the last 3 miles of I-530. Also in Pine Bluff, the highway overlaps with US 65 and US 79. US 63 runs northeast with US 79 until Stuttgart, where the highway runs north to Hazen. Just north of Hazen, US 63 overlaps with I-40 to Brinkley. In Brinkley, US 63 begins an overlap with US 49 north to Jonesboro. US 63 leaves US 49 and follows I-555 until I-555 terminates, together serving as a bypass for southern Jonesboro. In Hoxie, US 63 intersects with I-57/US 67. Northwest of here near Portia the highway overlaps with US 412.
In Imboden, US 62 joins this overlap. In Hardy, US 63 leaves the two highways. In Mammoth Spring, US 63 crosses into Missouri, traveling to West Plains.
History
editPortions of U.S. 63 in northern Arkansas have their origins in the work of the Ozark Trails Association, which established a network of roads in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri beginning in the 1910s. A portion of roadway was mapped out in Arkansas between Mammoth Spring and Memphis, Tennessee, and built c. 1918-22. This roadway was eventually designated Highway A-7, and was later designated U.S. 63. Some of the original infrastructure of this early construction has survived the 1927 Mississippi flood and the realignment of U.S. 63 in 1967. Northwest of Tyronza, Old U.S. 63 runs for about 1-1/4 miles of original concrete pavement;[1] it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.[2] Four bridges built in the 1920s (three before the 1927 flood and one after, are also on the National Register; three southeast of Marked Tree, and one southeast of Tyronza.[3][4]
On March 11, 2016, Interstate 555 (I-555) was dedicated after a new resolution passed in December 2015 allowing farm equipment to use the roadway when it became an interstate.
In April 2019, ArDOT submitted an application to AASHTO to reroute US 63 concurrent with US 49 between Brinkley and Jonesboro, eliminating the concurrencies with I-55 and I-555, and part of the concurrency with I-40.[5] The rerouting took effect in 2021.[6] However, a small section of US 63 in Jonesboro was redesignated as I-555 on November 23 of the same year, making US 63 partly concurrent with I-555 again.[7]
Major intersections
editCounty | Location | mi | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Union | Junction City | 0.0 | 0.0 | US 63 south / US 167 south – Ruston | Louisiana state line | |||
| 10.4 | 16.7 | AR 7 south – Lockhart, LA | South end of AR 7 overlap | ||||
El Dorado | 14.1 | 22.7 | US 82 / AR 15 south – Magnolia, Crossett, South Arkansas Regional Airport | Interchange; US 82 exit 22 | ||||
15.0 | 24.1 | 15 | US 82B / US 167B north (Hillsboro Street) | Interchange | ||||
16.2 | 26.1 | US 167 north / Main Street – Fordyce, Camden | Interchange; North end of US 167 / AR 7 overlap; US 63 north follows exit 16 | |||||
Old Union | 22.5 | 36.2 | AR 129 south (Lawson Road) – Lawson | |||||
| 33.2 | 53.4 | AR 275 south – Strong | |||||
Bradley | | 36.4 | 58.6 | AR 600 – Moro Bay State Park | ||||
| 48.9 | 78.7 | AR 160 west – Jersey | South end of AR 160 overlap | ||||
Hermitage | 52.7 | 84.8 | US 63B north / AR 160 east – Hermitage, Ingalls | North end of AR 160 overlap | ||||
53.4 | 85.9 | US 63B south – Hermitage | ||||||
Carmel | 62.2 | 100.1 | AR 8 east – Johnsville | South end of AR 8 overlap | ||||
| 64.1 | 103.2 | AR 980 – Warren Municipal Airport | |||||
Warren | 65.4 | 105.3 | US 278 – Hampton, Monticello | |||||
65.9 | 106.1 | US 63B north | ||||||
66.9 | 107.7 | US 278B | ||||||
68.4 | 110.1 | AR 8 west – Fordyce | North end of AR 8 overlap | |||||
69.0 | 111.0 | US 63B south / AR 189 south – Monticello | ||||||
Cleveland | Rye | 74.8 | 120.4 | AR 35 south – Monticello, Lake Monticello | South end of AR 35 overlap | |||
Pansy | AR 11 north / AR 35 north – Rison, Star City | North end of AR 35 overlap | ||||||
Calmer | AR 114 west – Rison | South end of AR 114 overlap | ||||||
AR 114 east – Star City | North end of AR 114 overlap | |||||||
Jefferson | | AR 54 east – Glendale | South end of AR 54 overlap | |||||
Pinebergen | AR 54 west | North end of AR 54 overlap | ||||||
Pine Bluff | 107.106 | 172.370 | I-530 north / US 79 south (US 65 north) / AR 463 north – Little Rock | South end of I-530 / US 65 / US 79 overlap; US 63 south follows exit 43 | ||||
| 44 | AR 530 south – Star City, Monticello | Future I-530 south | |||||
Pine Bluff | 46 | US 65 south (US 425 south) / AR 190 west (Harding Avenue) – Dumas, McGehee, Lake Village I-530 ends | Southern terminus of I-530: north end of US 65 overlap; south end of US 65B overlap; US 63 north follows exit 46 | |||||
US 65B north / Harding Street / Market Street | North end of US 65B overlap | |||||||
| AR 81 south | |||||||
Altheimer | US 79B to US 65 north – Pine Bluff, UAPB | |||||||
US 79B south to AR 88 – Reydell, Altheimer Business District | ||||||||
Arkansas | Humphrey | AR 13 north – Humnoke, Carlisle | ||||||
| AR 152 east – Bayou Meto WMA | |||||||
| AR 343 south | |||||||
| US 79B north – De Witt, Phillips Community College | |||||||
Stuttgart | US 79 north (West Michigan Street) – Clarendon, Arkansas County Agricultural Museum | North end of US 79 overlap | ||||||
| US 165 – England, Little Rock, De Witt, Clarendon | |||||||
Prairie | | AR 980 – Stuttgart Municipal Airport | ||||||
| AR 86 west – Slovak | South end of AR 86 overlap | ||||||
Siedenstricker | AR 86 east – Tollville | North end of AR 86 overlap | ||||||
Hazen | US 70 east – DeValls Bluff, Brinkley | South end of US 70 overlap | ||||||
US 70 west – Hazen Business District | North end of US 70 overlap | |||||||
I-40 west / AR 11 north – Little Rock, Des Arc, Lower White River Museum State Park | South end of I-40 overlap; US 63 south follows exit 193 | |||||||
See I-40 (Exit 193 - 216) See US 49 (Arkansas milepost 54.97 to 125.53) See I-555 (Exit 45 to 49) | ||||||||
Craighead | Jonesboro | 49 | AR 91 (Dan Avenue / AR 18 west) / I-555 | Interchange; North end of freeway; North end of AR 18 overlap; northern terminus of I-555 | ||||
| US 63B north – Bono Business District | |||||||
| AR 230 to AR 91 – Alicia, Bono | |||||||
| US 63B south – Bono Business District | |||||||
Greene |
No major junctions | |||||||
Lawrence | Sedgwick | AR 228 east – Light | South end of AR 228 overlap | |||||
AR 228 west to AR 349 | North end of AR 228 overlap | |||||||
Walnut Ridge | AR 91 – Egypt | |||||||
US 63B north – Hoxie | ||||||||
I-57 / US 67 / US 412 east – Walnut Ridge, Pocahontas, Paragould, Little Rock | Interchange; South end of US 412 overlap, I-57 exits 121A-B | |||||||
Hoxie | AR 367 – Walnut Ridge, Tuckerman | Interchange; former US 67 | ||||||
| US 63B south – Hoxie Business District | |||||||
| US 412B east – Walnut Ridge | |||||||
Black Rock | AR 25 – Black Rock, Powhatan, Davidsonville Historic State Park, Powhatan Courthouse, Lake Charles | Interchange | ||||||
AR 117 north – Davidsonville Historic State Park | South end of AR 117 overlap | |||||||
AR 117 south – Smithville | North end of AR 117 overlap | |||||||
Imboden | US 62 east – Pocahontas, Business District | South end of US 62 overlap | ||||||
AR 115 south – Smithville, Cave City | ||||||||
Randolph |
No major junctions | |||||||
Lawrence | Ravenden | AR 90 east – Ravenden Springs | ||||||
Sharp | | AR 58E west – Williford | ||||||
| AR 58 west – Williford | |||||||
Hardy | AR 175 north – Wirth | South end of AR 175 overlap | ||||||
US 63B north – Hardy, Historic District | ||||||||
US 62 west / US 412 west / US 63B south (AR 175 south) to US 167 – Hardy, Ash Flat, Batesville, Mountain Home | North end of US 62 / US 412 / AR 175 overlap | |||||||
Fulton | Mammoth Spring | AR 9 south – Salem, Business District | ||||||
| US 63 north – Thayer | Missouri state line | ||||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "NRHP nomination for Highway A-7, Tyronza Segment" (PDF). Arkansas Preservation. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ "NRHP nomination for Highway A-7, Bridges Historic District" (PDF). Arkansas Preservation. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
- ^ "NRHP nomination for Highway A7, Ditch No. 6 Bridge" (PDF). Arkansas Preservation. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
- ^ "Application from ArDOT to AASHTO Highways Special Committee on U. S. Route Number" (PDF). April 23, 2019.
- ^ Inman, Keith. "Arkansas DOT orders rerouting of U.S. 63". The Paragould Daily Press. Paragould, Arkansas. p. 1A. ISSN 1082-8788. OCLC 21942659. Retrieved October 25, 2021 – via NewsBank.
- ^ "Highway 63 in Jonesboro redesignated as I-555". Talk Business & Politics. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2023.