Interstate 540 (Arkansas) - History

History

The older portion of I-540, completed in the 1970s, connects Interstate 40 southwards to the Oklahoma state line, going through Van Buren and Fort Smith. This particular spur starts at Exit 7 on Interstate 40 (being seven miles (11 km) east of the state line with Oklahoma). That point marks mile zero on this spur, in spite of Interstate Highway rules to the contrary. The first three miles (5 km) are through Van Buren, before the bridge over the Arkansas River. The remainder, for a grand total of approximately 15 miles (24 km), travels through Fort Smith. Notably, the mile markers and exit numbers increase from north to south on this spur and they do exactly the opposite (increasing from south to north) on the newer spur (completed in early 1999), connecting Interstate 40 to Bentonville. Even more interesting, the mileage numbers and exit signs on the newer spur start at 20, as if the zero point were at the Oklahoma state line (the southwest end of the older spur) - this should have meant that all of the exits on the older spur should have been renumbered to match, but that has not occurred. The final exit when traveling northbound is similarly Exit 15.

The newer portion of I-540 was completed in the late 1990s and was opened to Mountainburg as AR 540. On January 8, 1999 the road was fully opened to traffic and was re-designated I-540 and also designated the "John Paul Hammerschmidt Highway" in honor of a former U.S. Representative from Arkansas. Having been planned since the early 1970s, it created a bypass for the older US Highway 71. It starts at I-40 Exit 12 (12 miles east of the Oklahoma state line, or one mile (1.6 km) west of Alma, Arkansas) and continues for over 65 miles (105 km), through Crawford County, Arkansas, Washington County, Arkansas and Benton County, Arkansas. Just north of the Crawford-Washington County line is the Bobby Hopper Tunnel, the only large highway tunnel in Arkansas; its namesake (from Springdale) was the chairman of the Arkansas Highway Commission during its construction. Notable cities along the route are Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville. From I-40 north to Fayetteville, I-540 runs roughly parallel to Highway 71. Just south of Fayetteville, I-540 combines with Highways 71 and 62, forming the major expressway through the Northwest Arkansas metro area (Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville). I-540 ends when Highway 62 exits just inside Bentonville; the expressway continues as Highway 71 to just north of Bentonville, where it then becomes the main street of Bella Vista several miles further to the Missouri border. US 71 (and US 62) are unsigned on the portions that are concurrent with I-540.

The state of Arkansas originally asked AASHTO to allow the Interstate segment between Fort Smith and Bentonville to be named Interstate 49, to emphasize plans to extend the route from Shreveport, Louisiana through Arkansas to Kansas City, Missouri. AASHTO refused, and the route opened in 1999 as a northern extension of I-540.

Another notable fact about I-540 in Arkansas is that the original I-540 spur running from I-540 to Oklahoma through Fort Smith was originally signed east–west, but with the construction of the new spur that runs north through the Northwest Arkansas metro area to Missouri the entire I-540 was resigned as a north–south road. It is one of the few that has changed this way.

The Interstate spurs both opened in phases. According to a 1970 road map of Fort Smith, exits 2-11 (Van Buren through the Zero Street exit) were opened, with later exits (12-14) and the roadway itself still under construction. Portions of the roadway that became I-540 around Fayetteville were built in the early 1970s, but upgraded and extended in the mid-1990s. The highway around Fayetteville originally received US 71 signage until the complete I-540 spur was opened.