Interstate 540 (Arkansas)

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Interstate 540
Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Length: 80.72 mi[1] (129.91 km)
Formed: 1970
South end: US 271/Highway 253 near Fort Smith, AR
Major
junctions:		 US 71 in Fort Smith, AR
US 64 in Van Buren, AR
I-40 in Van Buren, AR
US 62 in Fayetteville, AR
US 412 in Springdale, AR
North end: US 62/US 71/Highway 102 in Bentonville, AR
Highways in Arkansas

Interstate 540 (abbreviated I-540) in Arkansas is a spur to Fort Smith, Arkansas and Bentonville, Arkansas of Interstate 40; the Bentonville spur is proposed to become part of an expanded Interstate 49.

Contents

[edit] History

The older portion of I-540, completed in the 1970s, connects Interstate 40 to the Oklahoma State Line with Arkansas, going through Van Buren and Fort Smith. This particular spur starts at Exit 7 on Interstate 40 (being seven miles east of the state line with Oklahoma). That point marks mile zero on this spur. The first three miles are through Van Buren, before the bridge over the Arkansas River. The remainder, for a grand total of approximately 15 miles, travels through Fort Smith. What is notable about this is that the mile markers and exit numbers increase from north to south on this spur, and do exactly the opposite, increasing from south to north, on the newer spur (completed in 1998), connecting Interstate 40 up through Bentonville. Even more interesting, the mileage numbers and exit signs on the newer spur start at 20, as if the zero point were at the Oklahoma state line (the southwest end of the older spur) - this should have meant that all of the exits on the older spur should have been renumbered to match, but this has not occurred. The final exit when travelling northbound is similarly Exit 15.

The newer portion of I-540 was completed in the late 1990s and was opened to Mountainburg as AR 540. On January 8, 1999 the road was fully opened to traffic and was re-designated I-540. Having been planned since the early 1970s, it created a bypass for the older US Highway 71. It starts at I-40 Exit 12 (12 miles east of the Oklahoma state line, or one mile west of Alma, Arkansas) and continues for over 65 miles, through Crawford County, Arkansas, Washington County, Arkansas and Benton County, Arkansas. Just north of the Crawford-Washington County line is the Bobby Hopper Tunnel, the only highway tunnel in Arkansas; its namesake (from Springdale) was the chairman of the Arkansas Highway Commission during its construction. Notable cities along the route are Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville. From I-40 north to Fayetteville, I-540 runs roughly parallel to Highway 71. Just south of Fayetteville, I-540 combines with Highways 71 and 62, forming the major expressway through the Northwest Arkansas metro area (Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville). I-540 ends when Highway 62 exits just inside Bentonville; the expressway continues as Highway 71 to just north of Bentonville, where it then becomes the main street of Bella Vista several miles further to the Missouri border. US 71 (and US 62) are unsigned on the portions that are concurrent with I-540.

The state of Arkansas originally asked AASHTO to allow the Interstate segment between Fort Smith and Bentonville to be named Interstate 49, to emphasize plans to extend the route from Shreveport, Louisiana through Arkansas to Kansas City, Missouri. AASHTO refused, and the route opened in 1999 as a northern extension of I-540.

Another notable fact about I-540 in Arkansas is that the original I-540 spur running from I-540 to Oklahoma through Fort Smith was originally signed east-west, but with the construction of the new spur that runs north through the Northwest Arkansas metro area to Missouri the entire I-540 was resigned as a north-south road. It is one of the few that has changed this way.

The Interstate spurs both opened in phases. According to a 1970 road map of Fort Smith, exits 2-11 (Van Buren through the Zero Street exit) were opened, with later exits (12-14), and the roadway itself, still under construction. Portions of the roadway that became I-540 around Fayetteville were built in the early 1970's, but upgraded and extended in the mid-1990s. The highway around Fayetteville originally received US 71 signage until the complete I-540 spur was opened.

[edit] Exit list

# Destinations Notes
14 U.S. 271 north / Hwy. 253 south
13 Jenny Lind Road
12 U.S. 71 south – Texarkana South end of U.S. 71 overlap
11 Hwy. 255 (Zero Street)
10 Hwy. 45 (Greenwood Road) / Phoenix Avenue
9 Phoenix Avenue east, Leigh Avenue - Fort Smith Regional Airport No southbound entrance
8 Hwy. 22 (Rogers Avenue) Signed as exits 8A (west) and 8B (east) southbound
6 Grand Avenue
5 Kelley Highway
3 Hwy. 59 – Van Buren
2 U.S. 64 – Van Buren Signed as exits 2A (west) and 2B (east)
15 I-40 west - Oklahoma City
I-40 overlap
20 I-40 east (U.S. 71 north) – Alma, Little Rock North end of U.S. 71 overlap
21 Collum Lane
24 Hwy. 282 – Rudy
29 Hwy. 282 – Mountainburg
34 Hwy. 282 – Chester
45 Hwy. 74 – Winslow
53 Hwy. 170 – West Fork
58 Greenland
60 Hwy. 112 (Razorback Road) / Hwy. 265 (Cato Springs Road)
61 Image:US 71B.svg To U.S. 71B (School Avenue, U.S. 71 south) South end of U.S. 71 overlap; southbound exit and northbound entrance
62 U.S. 62 west / Hwy. 16 east / Hwy. 180 east – Univerity of Arkansas, Farmington South end of U.S. 62/Hwy. 16 overlap
64 Hwy. 16 west / Hwy. 112S – Siloam Springs North end of Hwy. 16 overlap
65 Porter Road
66 Hwy. 112
67 Image:US 71B.svg To U.S. 71B – Fayetteville Business District
69 Johnson
72 U.S. 412 – Tontitown, Siloam Springs, Springdale
73 Elm Springs Road
76 Wagon Wheel Road
78 Hwy. 264 – Lowell, Cave Springs, Rogers
81 Pleasant Grove Road
82 Promenade Blvd
83 Hwy. 94 east (New Hope Road) / Pinnacle Hills Pkwy
85 Image:US 71B.svg U.S. 71B / Hwy. 12 – Bentonville, Rogers
86 U.S. 62 east / Hwy. 102 – Bentonville, Rogers North end of I-540; north end of U.S. 62 overlap
88 Hwy. 72 – Bentonville, Pea Ridge
93 Image:US 71B.svg U.S. 71B south – Bentonville

[edit] References

  1. ^ Oglesby, Scott. Interstate 540. Kurumi. URL accessed 3 March 2006.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Auxiliary routes of Interstate 40
Oklahoma: 240 — Arkansas: 440 • 540 — Tennessee: 140 • 240 • 440 • 640 — North Carolina: 140 • 240 • 440 • 540 • 840 (future)