Interstate 630 (I-630) in
Arkansas is an east–west connector within
Little Rock. It is also known as the Wilbur D. Mills Freeway and starts at
I-30,
U.S. Highway 65 (US 65),
US 67, and
US 167, traveling west through downtown Little Rock to
I-430
Interstate 430 (I-430) is a Interstate highway in Pulaski County, Arkansas, that bypasses the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock. I-430 begins at an interchange southwest of Downtown Little Rock with I-30, U.S. Highway 67 (U ...
and Chenal Parkway.
History
The project was first conceived in the 1930s and was first planned by the Pulaski County Planning Board in their 1941 report. After having many higher powers deny their plans, construction was started by the city of Little Rock in the 1960s as the east–west Expressway or 8th Street Expressway and was not originally an
Interstate or an
Arkansas state highway.
In the 1970s, US Rep.
Wilbur D. Mills
Wilbur Daigh Mills (May 24, 1909 – May 2, 1992) was an American Democratic politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1939 until his retirement in 1977. As chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee from ...
was responsible for the route's addition to the Interstate System by rounding down the mileage allocations of all other states, then adding the rounding differences to Arkansas's total; this kept the total nationwide allocation within the original limit of .
After it was added to the Interstate System, Little Rock initially renamed it for Mills; however, when the
Arkansas State 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 en ...
(AHTD) formally brought it into the state highway system as required by Arkansas law, they removed the name, as their policy at the time prohibited the naming of state highways after individuals. AHTD later changed its policy and readopted the Mills name early in the new millennium. As of autumn 2019, the highway is now named "Gold Star Families Memorial Highway".
The highway connects burgeoning West Little Rock to the downtown core.
It feeds into I-430, a north–south route which serves western Little Rock.
Exit list
References
{{3di, 30
6
30-6
30-6
Transportation in Pulaski County, Arkansas
Transportation in Little Rock, Arkansas