Interstate 40 in Arkansas facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This page is about the section of highway in Arkansas. For the entire length of highway, see Interstate 40.

Quick facts for kids

Interstate 40

I-40 highlighted in red

Route information

Maintained by AHTD

Length

284.69 mi (458.16 km)

Major junctions

West end

I-40 at Oklahoma state line

I-540 / US 71 in Van Buren

I-49 / US 71 in Alma

I-430 in North Little Rock

I-30 / US 65 / US 67 / US 167 in North Little Rock

Future I-57 / US 67 / US 167 in North Little Rock

I-440 / AR 440 in North Little Rock

I-55 / US 61 / US 63 / US 64 in West Memphis

East end

I-40 at Tennessee state line

Location

Counties:

Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Pope, Conway, Faulkner, Pulaski, Lonoke, Prairie, Monroe, St. Francis, Crittenden

Highway system

Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Main • Auxiliary • Business

Arkansas Highway System
Interstates • US • State
Business • Spurs • Scenic

←

AR 39

AR 41

→

Interstate 40 (I-40) is an east–west Interstate Highway that has a 284.69-mile (458.16 km) section in the U.S. state of Arkansas connecting Oklahoma to Tennessee. The route enters Arkansas from the west just north of the Arkansas River near Dora. It travels eastward across the northern portion of the state connecting the cities of Fort Smith, Clarksville, Russellville, Morrilton, Conway, North Little Rock, Forrest City, and West Memphis. I-40 continues into Tennessee heading through Memphis. The highway has major junctions with Interstate 540 at Van Buren (the main highway connecting to Fort Smith), Interstate 49 at Alma (the main highway connecting to Fayetteville and Bentonville), Interstate 30 in North Little Rock (the Interstate linking south to Texarkana and Dallas, Texas), and Interstate 55 to Blytheville.

For the majority of its routing through Arkansas, I-40 follows the historic alignment of two separate United States highways. From Oklahoma to Little Rock, Interstate 40 generally follows U.S. Route 64 through the Ozark Mountains. East of Little Rock, the route generally follows the routing of U.S. Route 70 until the Tennessee state line.

Route description
- Oklahoma to Little Rock
- Little Rock to Tennessee
History
Exit list

Route description

Oklahoma to Little Rock

Interstate 540/US 71 run south from I-40 at exit 7 in Van Buren, providing access to the larger city of Fort Smith.

Interstate 30 begins at I-40/US 65/AR 107 and runs south ad I-30/US 65/US 67/US 167.

I-40 enters Arkansas from Oklahoma at Dora in Crawford County. It heads east into Van Buren, giving access to Fort Smith as well across the Arkansas River to the south. Access is primarily via Interstate 540/US 71, which was built as a southern spur to Fort Smith in the 1970s. I-40 overlaps with US 71, forming a concurrency until the alignment of Interstate 49 breaks north to Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville, and its northern Arkansas terminus in Bella Vista, with US 71 breaking away shortly afterwards at another interchange. The route continues to parallel US 64 into the Ozark Mountains by entering Franklin County and providing access to the Pig Trail Scenic Byway in Ozark. Interstate 40 runs through Clarksville (where it has a junction with US 64), passes over part of Lake Dardanelle, and meets Highway 7 in Russellville. I 40 continues to the east through Morrilton before turning south to Conway and Faulkner County. In Conway, I-40 forms a concurrency with US 65 at exit 125, which will continue until exit 153a in Little Rock. The highway also has another junction with US 64 and US 65 Business in Conway before passing Lake Conway and entering the Little Rock metropolitan area.

Little Rock to Tennessee

In West Memphis, Arkansas, Interstate 40 is designated as a Blue Star Memorial Highway.

Now in Pulaski County, I-40 heads towards the south-southeast as it heads to the town of Maumelle. It continues towards this direction until it reaches Interstate 430, which provides access along the western side of Little Rock. Further southeast near the Arkansas River, the route has a high volume interchange as the northern terminus of Interstate 30 as well as concurrent routes with US 67/US 167; US 65 turns south at this intersection, breaking the concurrency formed in Conway. I-40 (now concurrent with US 67 and US 167) continues east for 1.5 miles (2.4 km) before the US 67/US 167 concurrency turns north as a separate northeasterly expressway. From this point onward, Interstate 40 begins to parallel US 70 rather than US 64, which was a more or less a parallel route until Conway. The interstate continues to the east to intersect the concurrency of I-440/AR 440 before entering Lonoke County. Passing through Lonoke, the route runs through rural Arkansas with straight alignments and relatively few junctions, forming an overlap with US 63 in Hazen and meeting US 49/AR 17 in Brinkley. Upon entering St. Francis County, Interstate 40 runs northeast to Forrest City, where it intersects with Highway 1. Continuing northeast, I-40 enters Crittenden County, where it intersects with US 79 at Shearerville and enters West Memphis.

The highway continues to the northeast to an interchange with Interstate 55, which form a concurrency east for 3.1 miles (5.0 km). I-40 continues east onto the Hernando De Soto Bridge over the Mississippi River. The Tennessee border is at the midpoint of the river, and Memphis, Tennessee begins at the east side of the bridge.

History

Exit list

County	Location	Mile	Roads intersected	Notes
Crawford	Fort Smith	0.00	0.00		I-40 west – Oklahoma City	Continuation into Oklahoma
	Fort Smith	0.03– 0.70	0.048– 1.13	1	Dora, Fort Smith	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Van Buren	3.12	5.02	3	Lee Creek Road
		5.26	8.47	5	AR 59 – Van Buren, Siloam Springs
		7.35	11.83	7	I-540 south / US 71 south – Van Buren, Fort Smith	Western end of US 71 concurrency; I-540 south to US 271; I-540 exits 0A-B, northern terminus; tri-stack interchange.
	Alma	12.26	19.73	12	I-49 – Fayetteville, Texarkana	I-49 to I-40 east exit 20; temporary southern end of I-49 segment; to use AR 549 freeway in Fort Smith; I-49 south to Texarkana not yet built besides AR 549. Former northern branch of I-540
	Alma	13.25	21.32	13	US 71 north – Alma	Eastern end of US 71 concurrency
	Mulberry	20.00	32.19	20	Dyer, Mulberry
	Mulberry	23.95	38.54	24	AR 215 – Mulberry
Franklin	Ozark	34.52	55.55	35	AR 23 – Ozark, Huntsville
	Ozark	37.26	59.96	37	AR 219 – Ozark
	Wiederkehr Village	40.83	65.71	41	AR 186 – Altus
Johnson		46.40	74.67	47	AR 164 – Hartman, Coal Hill
	Clarksville	54.70	88.03	55	US 64 to AR 109 – Hartman, Scranton, Clarksville
		57.01	91.75	57	Crawford Street
		58.05	93.42	58	AR 103 to AR 21 – Clarksville
	Lamar	63.68	102.48	64	US 64 – Lamar
	Knoxville	66.47	106.97	67	AR 315 – Knoxville
Pope	London	73.84	118.83	74	AR 333 – London
	London	77.61	124.90	78	US 64 – Russellville
	Russellville	80.90	130.20	81	AR 7 (Arkansas Avenue) – Russellville	Arkansas Scenic 7 Byway
		82.99	133.56	83	AR 326 (Weir Road) – Russellville
		83.97	135.14	84	AR 331 to US 64 – Russellville
	Pottsville	87.99	141.61	88	AR 363 – Pottsville
	Atkins	93.71	150.81	94	AR 105 – Atkins
Conway		100.53	161.79	101	Blackwell
	Morrilton	106.33	171.12	107	AR 95 – Morrilton
	Morrilton	107.83	173.54	108	AR 9 – Morrilton
	Plumerville	112.33	180.78	112	AR 92 north – Plumerville
	Menifee	117.37	188.89	117	Menifee
Faulkner	Conway	123.40	198.59	124	AR 25 north – Conway, Wooster	As of May 1, 2008 this exit now includes on-ramps and off-ramps in both directions.
		124.94	201.07	125	US 65 north / US 65B south – Greenbrier, Harrison, Conway	Western end of US 65 concurrency
		126.59	203.73	127	US 64 – Vilonia, Conway, Beebe
		128.53	206.85	129	US 65B north / AR 286 (Dave Ward Drive) to AR 60	Signed as exits 129A (east) and 129B (north/west) westbound
	Gold Creek	132.14	212.66	132	AR 365 – Gold Creek
	Mayflower	135.27	217.70	135	AR 89 to AR 365 – Mayflower
Pulaski		142.17	228.80	142	AR 365 – Morgan, Maumelle
	North Little Rock	147.18– 147.42	236.86– 237.25	147	I-430 south – Texarkana	I-430 exits 13A-B
		148.01	238.20	148	AR 100 (Crystal Hill Road)
		150.16	241.66	150	Burns Park
		151.85	244.38	152	AR 365 – Levy	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		151.91	244.48	152A	AR 176 – Levy	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		152.70	245.75	153A	AR 107 north (JFK Boulevard)	No eastbound entrance from northbound JFK Boulevard; southern terminus of AR 107
		153.02	246.26	153B	I-30 west / US 65 south / US 67 south / US 167 south – Little Rock	Eastern terminus of I-30; eastern end of US 65 concurrency; western end of US 67/US 167 concurrency; I-30 exits 143A-B; left exit westbound.
		154.11	248.02	154	Lakewood	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		154.61	248.82	155	Future I-57 north / US 67 north / US 167 north – Little Rock AFB, Jacksonville	Eastern end of US 67/US 167 concurrency; future southern terminus of I-57
		155.55	250.33	156	Springhill Drive — Baptist Health Medical Center-NLR
		156.32	251.57	157	AR 161 – Prothro Junction
		158.73	255.45	159	I-440 west / AR 440 east – Jacksonville, Texarkana	I-440 exits 11A-B.
		160.60	258.46	161	AR 391 – Galloway
Lonoke		164.58	264.87	165	Kerr Road
		168.35	270.93	169	AR 15 (Remington Road)
	Lonoke	172.87	278.21	173	AR 89 – Lonoke
	Lonoke	174.35	280.59	175	AR 31 – Lonoke, Beebe
	Carlisle	182.25	293.30	183	AR 13 – Carlisle
Prairie	Hazen	192.93	310.49	193	US 63 south / AR 11 – Hazen, Des Arc	Western end of US 63 concurrency
Prairie		201.91	324.94	202	AR 33 – Biscoe, De Valls Bluff
Monroe	Brinkley	215.42	346.68	216	US 49 to AR 17 – Brinkley, Cotton Plant
St. Francis	Wheatley	220.70	355.18	221	AR 78 – Wheatley, Marianna
	Palestine	232.88	374.78	233	AR 261 – Palestine
		238.72	384.18	239	AR 1 – Wynne, Marianna
	Forrest City	240.40	386.89	241	AR 1B – Forrest City, Wynne	Signed as exits 241A (south) and 241B (north)
	Forrest City	241.42	388.53	242	AR 284 (Crowley's Ridge Road)
		246.70	397.03	247	AR 38 east – Hughes, Widener
		255.86	411.77	256	AR 75 – Parkin
		259.51	417.64	260	AR 149 – Earle
Crittenden	Jennette	264.67	425.95	265	AR 218 to US 79 – Jennette, Hughes
	West Memphis	270.78	435.78	271	AR 147 – LeHi, Horseshoe Lake
		274.81	442.26	275	AR 118 (College Boulevard)
		276.14	444.40	276	To AR 77 (Missouri Street) / Rich Road	Eastbound exit only
		276.70	445.31	277	I-55 / US 61 / US 63 north / US 64 west – Blytheville, Jonesboro, St. Louis	Eastern end of US 63 concurrency; western end of I-55/US 61/US 64 concurrency, south exit 8
		277.22	446.14	278	AR 77 (Missouri Street) / AR 191 (7th Street)
		279.11	449.18	5	Ingram Boulevard	Exit number follows I-55; provides access for motorists merging onto I-40 from I-55
		279.37	449.60	279B	I-55 / US 61 south / US 64 east – Memphis, Jackson MS	Eastern end of I-55/US 61/US 64 concurrency, north exit 5; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		278.97	448.96	279A	Ingram Boulevard
		280.18	450.91	280	Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Drive
		280.68	451.71	281	AR 131 (Mound City Road)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		284.03	457.10		I-40 – Memphis, Nashville	Hernando de Soto Bridge crossing; Tennessee state line
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Interstate 40
Previous state: Oklahoma	Arkansas	Next state: Tennessee

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Interstate 40 in Arkansas Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.