Interstate 530

Interstate 530
Route information
Maintained by AHTD
Length:	46.65 mi[1] (75.08 km)
Existed:	August 2, 1999[2] – present
Major junctions
From:	I-30/I-440/US 65/US 67/US 70/US 167, Little Rock
	U.S. 270 / Hwy. 365S in White Hall U.S. 167
To:	US 63/US 65/US 65B/US 79/US 425/AR 190 in Pine Bluff, AR
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Arkansas Highway System Interstates US State Business Spurs Scenic Heritage Trails ← Hwy. 463 I-540 →

Interstate 530 (abbreviated I-530) in Arkansas is a spur route of the Interstate highway system, traveling 46.65 miles (75.08 km) from Little Rock at the junction of Interstate 30 and Interstate 440 in the northwest, to Pine Bluff in the southeast.^[3]

Route description

I-530/US 167 in Pulaski County

The route begins at a high volume intersection with I-30/I-440/US 65/US 67/US 70/US 167 in southeast Little Rock.^[4] This intersection handles over 100,000 vehicles per day on average.^[5] I-530 runs south with US 65 and US 167 through marshland, entering Saline County briefly to split with US 167 south.^[6] Returning to Pulaski County, I-530 has an exit at Hensley (which also connects to Highway 365) before entering Jefferson County.^[4]

Interstate 530 continues south, passing through forested land and clear cut areas, also running parallal to AR 365. I-530 intersects Highway 46 in Redfield before entering White Hall.^[7] After an intersection with Arkansas Highway 256, the route runs south to serve as the eastern terminus for US 270. This exit also contains Arkansas Highway 365 Spur eastbound to White Hall. Continuing south to Pine Bluff, I-530 serves as a beltway around the city. I-530 skirts the city to the southwest, including exits for West 19th Street, US 79B, and US 63B.

The Interstate ends at a very large junction with US 63/US 65/US 65B/US 79/US 425/AR 190, after which the roadway continues south as US 65/US 425 toward Dumas.

US 167 intersection

The US Route 167 junction (Exit 10) can only be accessed by southbound I-530 but not northbound I-530. There existed a median crossover to access US 167 South from I-530 North, but this was removed due to numerous severe and fatal accidents at the crossover. Northbound I-530 traffic must now use the Bingham Road (Exit 9) exit and cross the overpass to I-530 South.^{[citation needed]}

I-530 State Scenic Byway

Interstate 530 is designated as one of ten Arkansas Scenic Byways for 15 miles (24 km) from AR 256 northwest of White Hall to U.S. Route 65 in southern Pine Bluff.^[8] The route passes over Bayou Bartholomew and the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. The southern portion was formerly a wetland preserve, but now the land is being developed.

Points of interest

• Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame
• Arkansas Railroad Museum
• Pine Bluff Commercial Historic District

History

The current route was formerly designated as U.S. Highway 65. Today, I-530 and US 65 run concurrent as a four-lane, limited-access spur route. The route formally gained the I-530 designation after a full interstate-grade bypass of Pine Bluff (known locally as the Wiley Branton Highway) replaced a segment of US 65 through Pine Bluff that contained at-grade intersections. This bypasses route is known locally as the Martha Mitchell Expressway, now U.S. 65B); U.S. 65 was moved to the bypass shortly before it became I-530.

Exit list

County	Location	Mile[3]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Pulaski	Little Rock			—	I-30 east / U.S. 65 north / U.S. 167 north – Downtown Little Rock	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				1A	I-440 east – Little Rock National Airport, Little Rock River Port, Memphis	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				1B	I-30 west – Hot Springs, Texarkana	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				3	Hwy. 338 (Dixon Rd)
				7	145th St, Pratt Rd
				9	Bingham Rd
Saline				10	U.S. 167 south – Sheridan, Fordyce, El Dorado	South end of US 167 concurrency, no northbound exit
				12	Woodson
Pulaski				15	Hensley
Jefferson				20	Hwy. 46 – Redfield
				24	Jefferson, National Center for Toxicological Research
				27	CR 4 (Gravel Pit Road)
				30	Hwy. 104
	White Hall			32	Hwy. 256 – White Hall, Pine Bluff Arsenal
				34	U.S. 270 west / Hwy. 365S east – White Hall, Sheridan	US 270 eastern terminus
				35	U.S. 65B south - Downtown
				36	Princeton Pike
				37	Hwy. 190 (W 13th St)
	Pine Bluff			39	U.S. 79 south / U.S. 79B north – Rison, Fordyce, Camden	North end of US 79 overlap
				41	Old Warren Rd
				42	Hazel St
				43	U.S. 63 south / U.S. 63B north – Warren, El Dorado	North end of US 63 overlap
				46	U.S. 63 north / U.S. 79 north / U.S. 65B north / Hwy. 190 – Stuttgart	South end of US 63/US 79 overlap, southbound exit and northbound entrance
				–	U.S. 65 south / U.S. 425 south – Dumas, McGehee, Lake Village	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

Future

A planned extension of the route pushes the Interstate south to U.S. Route 278 in Wilmar. The first segment of the extension from US 278 north to Arkansas 35, opened as a two-lane expressway designated Arkansas Highway 530 on June 6, 2006. ^[9] This extension is intended to connect to the proposed southern extension of Interstate 69; U.S. 278 at Wilmar also provides four-lane access to the future I-530 from the larger cities of Warren and Monticello, thus allowing both to champion its completion. Though sufficient right-of-way was provided and grading done for interchanges at both ends as well as two additional lanes, this segment presently has stop signs at both ends and an intersection with Bradley County Road 96/Barkada Road; it is otherwise a two-lane expressway in between.

The second segment of the extension opened in September 2013. It connects the Interstate 530 interchange in Pine Bluff with State Highway 114 in Lincoln County and is 18 miles in length. Currently the segment is 2 lanes until further funding is available.^[10]

The remaining segments between AR 35 and Pine Bluff will also be built as a partial two-lane freeway, similar to the existing AR 35-U.S. 278 segment and Pine Bluff intersection to Hwy 114 segment. Initially, the only full interchange will be with the present I-530 at Pine Bluff; grade crossings will be built at other planned interchanges, but the stretches between grade crossings will be true two-lane expressways with grade separations and service roads where needed. The route includes sufficient right-of-way to build interchanges and two additional lanes later; the Pine Bluff interchange will be a full freeway-to-freeway facility designed for the future four-lane freeway. As of November 2013, construction is in progress for the next segment - Hwy 114 to Hwy 11. Scheduled completion for the segment is 2014.^[11] Eventually, the route will connect Pine Bluff and Little Rock to Interstate 69 in Arkansas.

References

v t e Auxiliary routes of Interstate 30 Arkansas 1301 430 530 630 1Future

v t e Roads of Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Interstate Highways I-30 I-40 I-430 I-440 (East Belt Freeway) I-530 Scenic Byway I-630 (Wilbur Mills Freeway) U.S. Routes US 64 US 65 US 67 US 70 US 165 US 167 US 270 US 65 Business US 70 Business State Highways AR 5 AR 7 AR 9 AR 10 AR 13 AR 15 AR 25 AR 31 AR 35 AR 36 AR 38 AR 46 AR 60 AR 88 AR 89 AR 100 AR 107 AR 111 AR 113 AR 124 AR 155 AR 161 AR 176 AR 183 AR 190 AR 216 AR 222 AR 225 AR 229 AR 232 AR 236 AR 247 AR 256 AR 266 AR 285 AR 286 AR 287 AR 291 AR 294 AR 298 AR 300 AR 305 AR 310 AR 314 AR 319 AR 321 AR 324 AR 338 AR 365 AR 367 AR 381 AR 386 AR 391 AR 600 AR 801 AR 809 AR 825 AR 830 AR 834 AR 835 AR 839 AR 841 AR 842 AR 845 AR 846 AR 873 AR 876 AR 879 AR 880 AR 885 AR 886 AR 943 AR 980

v t e Roads of Pine Bluff Interstate Highways I-69 (Future) I-530 Scenic Byway U.S. Highways US 63 US 65 US 79 US 167 US 425 US 63B US 65B US 79B Arkansas State Highways AR 8 AR 11 AR 13 AR 15 AR 31 AR 35 AR 46 AR 54 AR 81 AR 83 AR 88 AR 97 AR 104 AR 114 AR 133 AR 189 AR 190 AR 199 AR 212 AR 256 AR 293 AR 365 AR 365 spur AR 388 AR 600 AR 831 AR 832 AR 833 AR 878 AR 884 AR 935 AR 980