U.S. Route 271 (US 271, US-271) is a north–south

United States highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

. Never a long highway, it went from bi-state route (

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

) to a tri-state route (Arkansas, Oklahoma and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

). Its southern terminus is in

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

, at an intersection with State Highway 31 and SH 155. The highway's northern terminus is in

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

, at an intersection with Business

U.S. Route 71 U.S. Route 71 or U.S. Highway 71 (US 71) is a major north–south United States highway that extends for over 1500 miles (2500 km) in the central United States. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstat ...

and Highway 255. It enters

from

as a

controlled-access highway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

, but the highway continues as Interstate 540 when US 271 exits toward downtown after in Arkansas.

Route description

Texas

US 271 begins in Tyler at an intersection with SH 31 (Front Street) and SH 155, and thus runs northward concurrent with SH 155. At 1 mile, there is an intersection with Spur 147 which runs across the north side of the city to connect with Broadway and then US 69. At 3.2 miles is the intersection with Loop 323. The site of Camp Ford, a Confederate POW camp during the Civil War, is encompassed by a former TxDOT picnic area now maintained by Smith County at this junction. The SH 155 concurrency ends at 8 miles, near the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. SH 155 goes to Gilmer via Winona and Big Sandy. The easier route between Tyler and Gilmer is US 271. At 12.7 miles is the interchange with Interstate 20, signed for Dallas (west) and Longview (east). North of the interstate, US 271 passes through Gladewater where there are junctions with SH 135 and US 80. Trucks are required to use Loop 485, a bypass around the east side of town, if they are following US 271 through the area or if they want to turn onto US 80. North of Gladewater, US 271 passes through Gilmer, where there are junctions with SH 300 and SH 154. There is also another concurrency (only 1.5 miles) with SH 155 which then veers to the northeast toward Linden. North of Gilmer is Pittsburg, where US 271 intersects with SH 11. Then the highway crosses Big Cypress Creek just below the dam that forms Lake Bob Sandlin. In Mount Pleasant, there are junctions with SH 49 and US 67 and then the interchange with Interstate 30. Beyond IH 30 are the small towns of Talco, Bogata (junction with SH 37), Deport, and Pattonville. In Paris, US 271 runs concurrently with Loop 286 and US 82 around the east and northeast sides of the city. After splitting northward from the loop, US 271 is a four-lane divided highway into Oklahoma, crossing the Red River 15 miles north of Paris and 10 miles south of Hugo.

Oklahoma

North of the Red River, US 271 continues as a four-lane highway. The Choctaw Nation operates a casino on the west side of the highway where US 271 is concurrent with SH 109. North of the junction with SH 109 west is the intersection with SH 271A, the only lettered spur along US 271, which runs westward to the Goodland Academy. From

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...

westward eight miles, US 271 runs in a concurrency with U.S. 70. The southern terminus of the Indian Nation Turnpike is an interchange on this concurrency. The ODOT roadside park at the west end of the concurrency is the only one on the entire route of US 271 in Oklahoma. Northward, US 271 is a two-lane road. It goes under the turnpike without an interchange before entering

Antlers Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on male ...

, where there is a concurrency with SH 3 through town. Leaving Antlers, US 271 crosses the

Kiamichi River The Kiamichi River is a river in southeastern Oklahoma, United States of America. A tributary of the Red River of the South, its headwaters rise on Pine Mountain in the Ouachita Mountains near the Arkansas border. From its source in Polk County, ...

. The road to Clayton is sinuous and scenic, passing through hilly woodlands. The route passes through the communities of

Snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

and Finley, followed by the western terminus of SH 144 before passing the Clayton Lake State Park and then crossing the Kiamichi again. There are weight limits of 15 tons (depending on vehicle length) posted between SH 144 and Clayton. In Clayton, there is a concurrency with SH 2, which to the south is the better through travel route from Antlers. The town has a monument that indicates that the highway was built by convict labor in 1925. From Clayton, US 271 takes on an easterly trajectory, passing

Tuskahoma Tuskahoma is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in northern Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States, four miles east of Clayton. It was the former seat of the Choctaw Nation government prior to Oklahoma statehood. The popu ...

and

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...

, before turning northward prior to Talihina. In Talihina, there is a brief concurrency with SH 63. From Talihina eastward eight miles, US 271 runs concurrently with SH 1 until the beginning of the Talimena Scenic Drive. North and south of this intersection there are scenic overlooks. US 271 thus continues northward for another 15 miles to a T intersection with US 270, with which it runs concurrently for six miles into Wister. From Wister, US 271 runs northeasterly to Poteau. From Poteau via

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

to SH 9, the highway is co-signed with U.S. 59. Then, US 271 runs concurrently with SH 9 through Spiro to the

line near Pocola. Almost all of the route between Poteau and the state line is four-lane divided highway.

Arkansas

The route runs for in

, all within Fort Smith. Its northern terminus is at Business U.S. 71 and Highway 255 in Fort Smith.

History

In 1926, US 271 was commissioned between

, and

Mena, Arkansas Mena ( ) is a city in Polk County, Arkansas, United States. It is also the county seat of Polk County. The population was 5,558 as of the 2020 census. Mena is included in the Ark-La-Tex socio-economic region. Surrounded by the Ouachita National F ...

, by way of Spiro and

Poteau, Oklahoma Poteau ( ) is a city in, and county seat of, Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 8,520 as of the 2010 census. History In 1719, Bernard de la Harpe led a group of French explorers through this area and gave the river its ...

, but the route south of Poteau was turned over to U.S. Route 270 (and later, U.S. Route 59) in 1930. US 271 was then re-routed through Talihina and

Hugo, Oklahoma Hugo is a city in and the county seat of Choctaw County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in southeastern Oklahoma, approximately north of the Texas state line. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,310. The city was founded i ...

, as well as

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

, towards

Beaumont Beaumont may refer to: Places Canada * Beaumont, Alberta * Beaumont, Quebec England * Beaumont, Cumbria * Beaumont, Essex ** Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s * Beaumont Street, Oxford France (communes) * Beaumont, Ardèche * ...

near the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

. The Tyler-to-Beaumont leg was taken over by U.S. Route 69 in 1934. US 271's original northern terminus was at an intersection with

U.S. Route 64 U.S. Route 64 (US 64) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,326 miles (3,743 km) from Nags Head in eastern North Carolina to just southwest of the Four Corners in northeast Arizona. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 1 ...

and

in Fort Smith. It has since been realigned twice: once beginning at U.S. 71 and Y Street then crossing into Oklahoma at Arkoma, the second time to its current terminus in southern Fort Smith. 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 ...

ordered for US 271 to be extended along Highway 59 to the

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

state line (pending AASHTO approval) in 1960. Approval was not given by the national organization.

Special routes

Major intersections

References

External links