The $40-million INFRA grant will be used to complete improvements to U.S. Highway 67 between the Main Street interchange in Jacksonville and the Highway 89 interchange in Cabot. This includes widening from four to six lanes, constructing an overpass, converting the frontage roads to one-way operation, and reconstructing interchanges.
“Our ultimate goal has been to widen U.S. Highway 67 up to Highway 89 but we’ve not had the funding needed to go that full distance,” said Lorie Tudor, ARDOT Director. “The current completed or planned widening ends at Highway 5 on the south side of Cabot, but this grant will allow us to extend the six-lane widening to Highway 89.”
“I want to thank our Congressional delegation for their support and efforts in pursuing this grant,” said Arkansas Highway Commission Chairman Robert S. Moore, Jr. “The delegation has been very attentive to our needs here in Arkansas, and this is a great example of the success we can achieve when leaders at all levels of government work together towards a common goal.”
The newest member of the Highway Commission, Marie Holder of Little Rock, said she is very familiar with the congestion issues drivers face on U.S. Highway 67.
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“I may be new to the commission, but I’m not new to Central Arkansas and I know the problems we face on that corridor,” Holder said. “The economic growth we’ve seen along Highway 67 has been tremendous, and improvements to the infrastructure are needed to support this growth.”
ARDOT officials say the grant will allow all the remaining U.S. Highway 67 improvements to be undertaken in one project instead of two.
“Our plan now is to award one project in late 2021 for all the work between Main Street and Vandenberg Boulevard in Jacksonville, and the work from Highway 5 to Highway 89 in Cabot,” Tudor said. “That will save money, and it will decrease the overall impact to the motoring public. This grant is providing multiple benefits.”
