U.S. Route 67 (US 67) is a

U.S. 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 h ...

running from Presidio, Texas northeast to Sabula, Iowa. In the U.S. state of Arkansas, the route runs from the Texas border in Texarkana northeast to the Missouri border near Corning. The route passes through several cities and towns, including

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

Benton Benton may refer to: Places Canada *Benton, a local service district south of Woodstock, New Brunswick *Benton, Newfoundland and Labrador United Kingdom * Benton, Devon, near Bratton Fleming * Benton, Tyne and Wear United States *Benton, Alabam ...

, Little Rock, Jacksonville,

Cabot Cabot may refer to: Businesses * Cabot Corporation, an American chemicals company * Cabot Creamery, an American dairy cooperative Fictional characters * Alexandra Cabot, in the ''Law & Order'' universe * Leigh Cabot, from Stephen King's 1983 no ...

, Beebe, Walnut Ridge, and Pocahontas.

Route description

US 67 enters Arkansas from Texas in Texarkana, concurrent with US 82, along the one-way 7th Street; the other half of the one-way couplet, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, carries traffic toward Texarkana, Texas. Upon crossing

State Line Avenue State Line Avenue is a north–south arterial road in Texarkana, United States. It follows approximately of the Texas-Arkansas state line, and divides the cities. The street's centerline does not follow the state boundary precisely, but the ...

, the two routes share a brief concurrency with US 71 before that route turns to the south along Hickory Street. Past this intersection, the one-way couplet merges onto 9th Street. Shortly thereafter, US 67 separates from US 82 and travels to the northeast along Broad Street, crossing Interstate 49 and passing

Texarkana Regional Airport Texarkana Regional Airport , also known as Webb Field, is a public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) northeast of the central business district of Texarkana, a city in Miller County, Arkansas, United States. It is owned ...

. US 67 then runs parallel to Interstate 30, passing through cities such as

, Prescott, Arkadelphia, and

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

. Near

, US 67 merges with I-30. The two routes run concurrently to Little Rock, where the freeway also picks up US 65 and US 167. In

North Little Rock North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, across the Arkansas from Little Rock in the central part of the state. The population was 64,591 at the 2020 census. In 2019 the estimated population was 65,903, making it the seventh-mo ...

, US 67 and US 167 turn to the east, concurrent with Interstate 40 for about , before branching off to the northeast as a freeway. In Beebe, the two routes begin a concurrency with U.S. 64. The three routes part ways in

Bald Knob Bald Knob is the highest summit of Back Allegheny Mountain in Pocahontas County, West Virginia and is part of Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. At an altitude of above sea level, Bald Knob is the third-highest point in West Virginia and the Alle ...

, with US 67 continuing as a freeway to the northeast. Just north of US 412 in Walnut Ridge, the freeway ends at a large, partially-complete interchange, and US 67 becomes a five-lane undivided highway north to Pocahontas. From Pocahontas, the road turns northeasterly and then easterly as a two-lane highway concurrent with US 62. In Corning, US 62 continues to the east while US 67 turns northward again before crossing the Missouri state line.

History

The southwest-northeast bisector of Arkansas has always been an integral motor route. Prior to designation as US 67, the route was known as the Southwest Trail, an old military road around 1803. The Southwest Trail connected

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

with Texas by

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

in Fulton, Arkansas. The main railroad was built along the Southwest Trail, which developed many towns along the route. President Andrew Jackson appropriated money for the route in 1831, and designated it as a National Road. Although the route shifted slightly, it always has followed the natural break between the Ozark Mountains and the Ouachita Mountains and the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. Money for road maintenance was raised individually by county in the early 20th century, which hindered development of the route. In the 1920s, federal money became available, and the route was designated U.S. Route 67. The routing followed the

Lakes to Gulf Highway A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

and the

Bankhead Highway The Bankhead Highway was a United States cross-country automobile highway connecting Washington, D.C., and San Diego. The Bankhead Highway's beginnings can be traced back to 1916 when the Bankhead Highway Association was organized to promote the h ...

. Federal designation brought paving to the route, which grew the small towns along the route. In early 2009, the

Arkansas legislature 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 ...

passed a bill naming the portion of US-67 from the Missouri state line to Jackson County "Rock n' Roll U.S. 67" as a tribute to the route that many musicians of the 1950s and 1960s took as they traveled. Governor Mike Beebe stated that he had hopes that the naming would bring tourism to northeast Arkansas. Portions of the route, and also Arkansas Highway 7 between

and

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

frequently used by Bill Clinton is designated The Highway of Hope by Arkansas Code § 27-67-220.

National Register of Historic Places

Several portions of the original late 1920s alignment of US 67 have survived, some of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One listed segment is in Lawrence County, which is about in length, and runs north from

Alicia Alicia may refer to: People * Alicia (given name), list of people with this name * Alisha (singer) (born 1968), US pop singer * Melinda Padovano (born 1987), a professional wrestler, known by her ring name, Alicia Places * Alicia, Bohol, Phi ...

Hoxie Hoxie may refer to: Places ;United States * Hoxie, Arkansas, a city in Lawrence County * Hoxie, Kansas, a city in Sheridan County ** the Hoxie meteorite landed near Hoxie, Kansas (see meteorite falls) Ships * SS ''Hoxie'', American cargo sh ...

, most of this being sandwiched between the present

Arkansas Highway 367 Arkansas Highway 367 (AR 367 or Hwy. 367) is a designation for two north–south List of Arkansas state highways, state highways in Arkansas. A southern route of travels north from U.S. Route 167 in Arkansas, U.S. Route 167 (U ...

and US 67, and the adjacent railroad tracks. Near the village of Village Creek Relief it briefly turns west, crossing Village Creek, and then rejoining the railroad tracks near the town of Relief. A second listed segment, also about in length, extends from Biggers in central eastern Randolph County, northeast to Datto in

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Flor ...

, and then straight north to a junction with

Arkansas Highway 211 Arkansas Highway 211 (AR 211 and Hwy. 211) is a north–south state highway in Clay County, Arkansas. The route of runs from US 62/US 67 (Future I-57) near Datto north through Success to the Missouri state line. Route description AR 211 begin ...

Mandeville

Listed on the NRHP as Old US 67, Mandeville, a historic roadway section of US 67 is preserved in Miller County, Arkansas. It travels parallel to railroad tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad for from an

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...

with Highway 237, just north of the

Texarkana Airport Texarkana Regional Airport , also known as Webb Field, is a public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) northeast of the central business district of Texarkana, a city in Miller County, Arkansas, United States. It is owned ...

, northeast to Miller County Road 63. The southern portion of this road is called Mandeville Road, and is designated Arkansas Highway 296. It is eventually redesignated Miller County Road 138, and is an unnamed side road of the current alignment of U.S. Route 67 (US 67) in its northernmost stretch. Built in 1929 out of concrete, it is the longest stretch of original pavement on the Old US 67 alignment in Miller County. The roadway was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Future

Arkansas is upgrading US 67 to

Interstate standards Standards for Interstate Highways in the United States are defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in the publication ''A Policy on Design Standards: Interstate System''. For a certain highway to ...

from Little Rock to the Missouri state line, and the corridor is slated to become an extension of Interstate 57. The freeway currently runs from Little Rock to Walnut Ridge, but it is unknown when and where the freeway north of there to the state line will be constructed.

Major intersections

References