Interstate 540 (Arkansas)

Interstate 540
Route information
Maintained by AHTD
Length:	80.72 mi[1] (129.91 km)
Existed:	1965 – present
Major junctions
South end:	U.S. 271 / Hwy. 253 near Fort Smith, Arkansas
	U.S. 71 in Fort Smith, Arkansas U.S. 64 in Van Buren, Arkansas I-40 in Van Buren, Arkansas U.S. 62 / Hwy. 180 in Fayetteville, Arkansas U.S. 412 in Springdale, Arkansas
North end:	U.S. 71 / U.S. 71B in Bentonville, Arkansas
Location
Counties:	Sebastian, Crawford, Washington, Benton
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Arkansas Highway System Interstates US State Business Spurs Scenic Heritage Trails ← I-530 Hwy. 549 →

Interstate 540 (I-540) is a long freeway spur route of Interstate 40 in the US state of Arkansas linking Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Springdale, and Bentonville. The total length is 80.72 miles (129.91 km).^[1] At first, Interstate 540 was a short spur connecting Fort Smith and Van Buren to I-40 as one of the original five Arkansas Interstates.^[2] The route ran just over 14 miles (23 km) to US 271 near the Oklahoma state line.^[3] The growing Northwest Arkansas area and the University of Arkansas needed an Interstate connection to Little Rock, and through traffic north to Kansas City had also outgrown the winding US 71 north from I-40. The route was extended north to Mountainburg in the late 1990s on an all-new alignment, with the route being completed to Bella Vista in January 1999.^[4] The Northwest Arkansas segment is proposed to become part of an expanded Interstate 49.^[5]

Route description

The older portion of I-540, completed in the 1970s, connects Interstate 40 southwards to the Oklahoma state line, going through Van Buren and Fort Smith. This particular spur starts at Exit 7 on Interstate 40 (being seven miles (11 km) east of the state line with Oklahoma). That point marks mile zero on this spur, in spite of Interstate Highway rules to the contrary. The first three miles (5 km) are through Van Buren, before the bridge over the Arkansas River. The remainder, for a grand total of approximately 15 miles (24 km), travels through Fort Smith. Notably, the mile markers and exit numbers increase from north to south on this spur and they do exactly the opposite (increasing from south to north) on the newer spur (completed in early 1999), connecting Interstate 40 to Bentonville. 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). AHTD bid a $79 million project in 2013 for I-540 rehabilitation in Fort Smith that includes re-signing the route and renumbering the exits.^[6]

Fort Smith route

Beginning at the I-540 and I-40 junction in Van Buren, the southern portion of the route begins southward along the eastern boundary of Van Buren, with exits numbered sequentially heading south. The segment is largely concurrent with US 71. The first exit along this segment of I-540/US 71 is with US 64 and US 71 Business (US 71B), which leads west into the Van Buren Historic District and east to Alma. Continuing south, I-540/US 71 passes over Highway 162 (Kibler Rd), with no access between the routes. An exit providing access to Highway 59, via Riggs Dr (southbound) or Twin Cir Dr (northbound), is just prior crossing the Arkansas River. After crossing the river, the highways enter Fort Smith and Sebastian County. I-540/US 71 run through a commercial area and has three exits with city collector roads before an exit for Phoenix Ave, which gives access to Fort Smith Regional Airport. However, this exit does not have any access to southbound I-540/US 71.

Now turning toward the southwest, I-540/US 71 have exits with Highway 45 (Greenwood Rd) and Highway 255 (Zero St). Following these intersections, US 71 departs I-540 southbound toward Texarkana, with US 71B terminating at the parent route at the exit. I-540 begins to pass through a residential area before its final exit at US 271 and Highway 253. Following this exit, the roadway continues but ceases to be I-540, becoming US 271 and entering Oklahoma.

History

U.S. Route 71 is concurrent with Interstate 540 in Northwest Arkansas.

Approaching the Bobby Hopper Tunnel southbound on Interstate 540.

The Interstate spurs both opened in phases. According to a 1970 road map of Fort Smith,^{[citation needed]} 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 1970s, 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.

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 and also designated the "John Paul Hammerschmidt Highway" in honor of a former U.S. Representative from Arkansas.^[7] 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 (1.6 km) west of Alma, Arkansas) and continues for over 65 miles (105 km), 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 large 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.

Two bridges carry I-540 over a valley in the Boston Mountains

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.^[8] AASHTO refused, and the route opened in 1999 as a northern extension of I-540.^[9] AHTD conducted a feasibility study of adding an interchange at Highway 162 in Van Buren in 1991, with the results adopted by the Arkansas State Highway Commission in 1992.^[10] The Arkansas State Highway Commission (ASHC) studied a designation for I-540 between Mountainburg and Fayetteville as an Arkansas Scenic Byway in a meeting on November 17, 1998. One of the requirements of designation is "an active organization composed of various private and governmental groups, businesses, and agencies who are interested in preservation, enhancement, marketing, and development of the route’s scenic, cultural, recreational, and historic qualities,". The ASHC deemed that since the highway was a new location route, it did not have sufficient businesses to satisfy the requirement, so the ASHC deemed itself a partner organization and proceeded with a designation study.^[11] The route was added to the scenic byway system the following year.^[12]

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 Northwest Arkansas to Missouri the entire I-540 was resigned as a north–south road. It is one of the few that has changed this way.

Exit list

County	Location	Mile[1]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Oklahoma–Arkansas state line		0.00	0.00	I-540 ends US-271 / SH-9 continue west into Oklahoma
Sebastian				14	U.S. 271 north / Hwy. 253 south
	Fort Smith			13	Jenny Lind Road
				12	U.S. 71 south – Texarkana	To Interstate 49;South end of U.S. 71 concurrency
				11	Hwy. 255 (Zero Street)
				10	Hwy. 45 (Greenwood Road), Phoenix Avenue
				9	Phoenix Avenue east, Leigh Avenue to Fort Smith Regional Airport	No southbound entrance
				8	Hwy. 22 (Rogers Avenue)	Signed as exits 8A (east) and 8B (west) southbound
				6	Grand Avenue
				5	Kelley Highway
Sebastian–Crawford	Fort Smith–Van Buren	11.24– 11.88	18.09– 19.12	Bridge over the Arkansas River
Crawford	Van Buren	11.92	19.18	3	Hwy. 59 – Van Buren
		14.20	22.85	2	U.S. 64 – Van Buren	Signed as exits 2A (east) and 2B (west)
		14.71	23.67	15	I-40 west – Oklahoma City, OK	South end of I-40 concurrency, I-40 exit 7
		19.23	30.95	20	I-40 east / U.S. 71 north – Little Rock, Alma	North end of I-40/U.S. 71 concurrency, I-40 exit 12
	Alma	20.31	32.69	21	Collum Lane	Future I-49 Between exits 21 and 93
		23.67	38.09	24	Hwy. 282 – Rudy
		29.10	46.83	29	Hwy. 282 – Mountainburg
		33.53	53.96	34	Hwy. 282 – Chester
Washington		41.14– 41.44	66.21– 66.69	Bobby Hopper Tunnel
		44.99	72.40	45	Hwy. 74 – Winslow
	West Fork	52.78	84.94	53	Hwy. 170 – West Fork
	Greenland	57.88	93.15	58	Greenland
	Fayetteville	60.50	97.37	60	U.S. 71 (Fulbright Expressway) / Hwy. 112 (Razorback Road) / Hwy. 265 (Cato Springs Road)	South end of U.S. 71 concurrency, northbound access to U.S. 71 and southbound access from U.S. 71 via Hwy. 112, northbound access from Hwy. 112 or Hwy. 265 via U.S. 71
		61.98	99.75	62	U.S. 62 west / Hwy. 180 east (Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard)	South end of U.S. 62/Hwy. 16 concurrency
		63.79	102.66	64	Hwy. 16 west / Hwy. 112S (Wedington Drive)	North end of Hwy. 16 concurrency
				65	Porter Road
		66.01	106.23	66	Hwy. 112 (Garland Avenue)
		66.48	106.99	67	U.S. 71B – Fayetteville Business District
	Johnson	68.93	110.93	69	Greathouse Springs Road – Johnson
	Springdale			70	Don Tyson Parkway	Proposed Interchange with Future I-49
		71.50	115.07	72	U.S. 412 (Sunset Avenue)
		72.91	117.34	73	Elm Springs Road
Benton				76	Wagon Wheel Road
	Lowell			78	Hwy. 264 (W Monroe Avenue)
	Rogers			81	Pleasant Grove Road
				82	Promenade Boulevard
				83	Pinnacle Hills Pkwy
	Bentonville			85	U.S. 71B (SE Walton Boulevard) / Hwy. 12 west / W Walnut Street	South end of Hwy. 12 concurrency
				86	U.S. 62 east / Hwy. 12 west (SE 14th Street) / Hwy. 102 (Hudson Road)	North end of U.S. 62/Hwy. 12 concurrency
				88	Hwy. 72 east (Central Avenue)
				93	U.S. 71B (Walton Boulevard)	Proposed Interchange with Future I-49
				I-540 ends U.S. 71 continues north
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Unopened

Arkansas Highway 540

Highway 540 (AR 540, Ark. 540, and Hwy. 540) was a temporary designation for what would later become Interstate 540 between Alma and Mountainburg in the U.S. state of Arkansas. Traveling a distance of approximately 12 miles,^{[citation needed]} its southern terminus was at Interstate 40 west of Alma and its northern terminus at US 71 in Mountainburg.^[13]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate 540 (Arkansas).

• Benton County : Bypass exit locations debated - more in depth news regarding the final segments of the future I-49

v t e Auxiliary routes of Interstate 40 Oklahoma 240 Arkansas 440 540 Tennessee 140 240 440 640 North Carolina 140 240 440 540 840

v t e Roads of Northwest Arkansas Interstate Highways I-540 I-49 (future) U.S. Highways US 62 US 71 US 71B US 412 US 412B (Hindsville) US 412B (Huntsville) Arkansas State Highways AR 12 AR 16 AR 21 AR 37 AR 43 AR 45 AR 59 AR 59B AR 59S AR 72 AR 74 AR 94 AR 94S AR 102 AR 112 (Razorback Rd.) AR 127 AR 127S AR 143 AR 156 AR 170 AR 180 (Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) AR 220 AR 221 AR 244 AR 264 AR 265 AR 279 AR 295 AR 303 AR 340 (Lancashire Blvd.) AR 600 AR 812 AR 873 AR 890 AR 980 (Airport Rd.) Missouri Routes Route 43 Route 59 Route 76 Route 90 City Streets Dickson Street (Fayetteville)

v t e Roads of Fort Smith Interstate Highways I-40 I-49 (future) I-540 U.S. Routes US 59 US 64 US 71 US 270 US 271 US 71B Arkansas Highways AR 10 AR 22 AR 23 AR 41 AR 45 AR 59 AR 60 AR 96 AR 162 AR 179 AR 186 AR 215 AR 217 AR 219 AR 220 AR 252 AR 253 AR 255 (Zero St.) AR 282 AR 288 AR 309 AR 348 AR 352 AR 378 AR 398 AR 917 AR 980 Oklahoma State Highways SH 9 SH 9A SH 83 SH 101 SH 112