Highway 78 (AR 78, Ark. 78, and Hwy. 78) is a designation for two

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 ...

s in the

Arkansas Delta The Arkansas Delta is one of the six natural regions of the state of Arkansas. Willard B. Gatewood Jr., author of ''The Arkansas Delta: Land of Paradox'', says that rich cotton lands of the Arkansas Delta make that area "The Deepest of the Deep ...

. One route of begins at Highway 306 near

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and runs southeast to US Highway 79 (US 79). A second route of begins at Highway 121 and runs west to a junction with Lee County Route 132 (CR 132) and CR 173. A short

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the s ...

in Moro, Highway 78 Spur connects the parent route to Highway 238. All routes are maintained by the

Arkansas State Highway and Transportation 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 en ...

(AHTD). Both segments of Highway 78 serve the Arkansas Delta, an extremely rural part of the state. Passing through only a few small towns, the highway's setting is a flat agricultural landscape in cultivation crossed by drainage ditches, swamps, and

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

s. One of the original Arkansas state highways, Highway 78 was slowly extended in the middle of the 20th century during a period of rapid growth in the

Arkansas Highway System The Arkansas Highway System is made up of all the highways designated as Interstates, U.S. Highways and State Highways in the US state of Arkansas. The system is maintained by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT), known as the Arkansas ...

. The Aubrey-Big Creek route was created in 1973, marking the last change for the highway designation until the addition of Highway 78 Spur in 2001. The entire route between Hunter and US 79 is designated as an Arkansas Heritage Trail, a route used by John S. Marmaduke's Confederate Missouri cavalry prior to the

Battle of Helena The Battle of Helena was fought on July 4, 1863, near Helena, Arkansas, as part of the American Civil War. Union troops had captured the city in July 1862, and had been using it as a base of operations. Over 7,500 Confederate troops led by Li ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Route description

Hunter to US 79

The route begins in southeastern Woodruff County at Highway 306 near

. Running south as a

section line road In many jurisdictions in the United States, roads run along every section line, giving access to previously remote areas and serving in many instances as firebreaks. A road or arterial in which the centerline is laid out along a section line bound ...

, the highway enters St. Francis County, passing through Posey before entering

Wheatley Wheatley may refer to: Places * Wheatley (crater), on Venus * Wheatley, Ontario, Canada * Wheatley, Hampshire, England * Wheatley, Oxfordshire, England ** Wheatley railway station * Wheatley, South Yorkshire, England * Wheatley, now Ben Rhydding, ...

. Highway 78 intersects two national east-west routes in Wheatley,

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

in the north part of the city, and US 70 in the southern portion. Following this intersection, Highway 78 takes a southeasterly turn and angles into Lee County. Entering from the county's sparsely populated northwest corner, Highway 78 passes through Nash Corner before a brief overlap with Highway 259 at

South Plains The South Plains is a region in northwest Texas, consisting of 24 counties. The main crop is cotton. Counties The South Plains region includes 24 counties: The northernmost four (Parmer, Castro, Swisher, and Briscoe) are also considered to be p ...

. Now turning due south, Highway 78 enters the small town of Moro. Highway 78 Spur in downtown Moro offers access to Highway 238, leading toward

Brinkley Brinkley may refer to: People * Brinkley (surname) Places * Brinkley, Arkansas, USA * Brinkley, Nottinghamshire, England * Brinkley, Cambridgeshire, England Fictional places * Brinkley Court The following is a list of recurring or notable fict ...

. Following this intersection, Highway 78 exits Moro to the southeast, intersecting US 79, where it terminates.

Aubrey to Big Creek

Highway 78 begins at Highway 121 in

Aubrey Aubrey is traditionally a male English given name. The name is from the French derivation Aubry of the Germanic given name Alberic / Old High German given name Alberich, which consists of the elements ALF "elf" and RIK "king", from Proto-Germani ...

in southern Lee County. The route runs due west as a section line road until crossing into the

riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

for Big Creek. Highway 78 crosses McNulty Lake, created by a slow moving portion of Big Creek, on an open deck steel bridge. Shortly after this bridge, the highway terminates at an intersection of gravel county routes.

History

Highway 78 was designated as one of the original state highways on April 1, 1926. Running between US 70 in Wheatley and State Road 3., the route remained unchanged for almost 50 years. An extension north to I-40 on February 28, 1968 was part of a program to connect newly built Interstate highways with the US highways they paralleled. On July 29, 1970, the highway was extended by the

Arkansas State Highway Commission 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 en ...

(ASHC) to the current northern terminus at Highway 306. A second segment of Highway 78 was created between Aubrey and a county road intersection near Big Creek on March 28, 1973 pursuant to Act 9 of 1973 by the

Arkansas General Assembly The General Assembly of Arkansas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Arkansas Senate with 35 members, and the lower Arkansas House of Representatives with 100 ...

.. The act directed

county judge The term county judge is applied as a descriptor, sometimes as a title, for a person who presides over a county court. In most cases, such as in Northern Ireland and the Victorian County Courts, a county judge is a judicial officer with civil ...

s and legislators to designate up to of county roads as state highways in each county.

Major intersections

Spur route

Highway 78 Spur (AR 78S, Ark. 78S, and Hwy. 78S) is a spur route of in Moro. Route description
The route begins at Highway 78 in downtown Moro and runs southwest for one block to Highway 238. History
Formerly under city maintenance, the one block connecting Highway 78 and Highway 238 was added to the state highway network by the ASHC on February 21, 2001. Major intersections

Notes

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Arkansas Highway 78 078 Transportation in Woodruff County, Arkansas Transportation in St. Francis County, Arkansas Transportation in Lee County, Arkansas