State Road 2 (AR 2, Ark. 2, and Hwy. 2) is a former east–west

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the

Arkansas Timberlands The Arkansas Timberlands (sometimes also called Southern Arkansas or Southwest Arkansas) is a region of the U.S. state of Arkansas generally encompassing the area south of the Ouachita Mountains, south of Central Arkansas and west of the Arkansa ...

and Lower Arkansas Delta. The route was approximately , and ran from

US Route 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues so ...

(US 67) in Texarkana east to cross the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

near Lake Village, continuing as Mississippi Highway 10. On July 1, 1931, the route was entirely replaced by US Highway 82 (US 82) by the

American Association of State Highway Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United St ...

(AASHTO). The route was maintained by the

Arkansas Highway Department The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT), formerly the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, is a government department in the U.S. state of Arkansas. Its mission is to provide a safe, efficient, aesthetically pleasing and e ...

(AHD), now known as the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT). Except near cities, the current US 82 closely follows the original 1926 routing. One section of State Road 2 original pavement, known as the Old Arkansas 2-Mayton Segment, survives north of

Garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on May 16, 2008.

Route description

The route served the southern tier of counties in Arkansas, connecting several cities of regional importance. State Road 2 connected six

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

s and included three toll bridges. State Road 2 also provided an important connection between the Arkansas Timberlands, approximately the western half of its Arkansas alignment, and the Arkansas Delta on the eastern half of the state.

History

Several bypasses have been built since the original 1926 routing following the growth of the cities it passes through. *

was bypassed in the 1980s by a new bridge over the Red River; the western part of old Highway 2 (from modern U.S. 82 into Garland) is now Highway 134. * North of Garland, an S-shaped section of the highway was replaced with a new alignment in 1948, smoothing out the sharp curves. The old alignment, now part of County Roads 122 and 123, and one of the drivable sections of AR 2's original pavement, was listed on the

as "Old Arkansas 2-Mayton Segment" in 2008. * East of Lake Village, U.S. 82 (Highway 2) turned northeast along

Lake Chicot Lake Chicot ( ) is a lake adjacent to the Mississippi River. The lake is located on the east side of Lake Village, Arkansas in Chicot County. It is not only the largest oxbow lake in North America, but the largest natural lake in Arkansas, form ...

to the old ferry crossing near

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 34,400 at the 2010 census. It is located in the area of historic cotton plantations and culture known as the Mississippi Delta. Hi ...

; that alignment is now Highway 144 from Lake Village past

Lake Chicot State Park Lake Chicot State Park is a Arkansas state park in Chicot County, Arkansas within the Arkansas delta. The park is located along Lake Chicot, a oxbow lake that was formerly the main channel of the Mississippi River. The lake, formerly a pollu ...

to its end at the

levee. U.S. 82 was rerouted south of Lake Chicot when the Benjamin G. Humphreys Bridge opened in 1940, and retained most of that alignment for the current

Greenville Bridge The Greenville Bridge, or the Jesse Brent Memorial Bridge, is a cable-stayed bridge over the Mississippi River, in the United States, carrying US 82 and US 278 between Refuge, Mississippi, and Shives, Arkansas. When it opened in 2010, it was the ...

Major intersections

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Arkansas Highway 2

002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to: Fiction *002, fictional British 00 Agent *''002 Operazione Luna'', *1965 Italian film *Zero Two, a ''Darling in the Franxx'' character Airports *0O2, Baker Airport *O02, Nervino Airport Astronomy *1996 ...

Arkansas 002 Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas Transportation in Miller County, Arkansas Transportation in Lafayette County, Arkansas Transportation in Columbia County, Arkansas Transportation in Union County, Arkansas Transportation in Ashley County, Arkansas Transportation in Chicot County, Arkansas Texarkana metropolitan area National Register of Historic Places in Miller County, Arkansas

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links