Boxley Valley, AR's semi-truck problem

[ozarkman417]

Near zero temperatures and 4-5 inches of snow in the scenic Boston Mountains are uncommon phenomena. Pair the two together and you get a surreal landscape of snowy cliffs and frozen waterfalls.
One problem: As I was trying to get to some of these cliffs and waterfalls, several large semi-trucks became stuck on the steep grades heading in/out of Boxley Valley. Arkansas isn't exactly the first place you think of when it comes to needing to chain up a snowy mountain.

 

Picture 1: A semi spun out at the base of an 11% downhill grade on SB AR 21. Notice the other stalled truck in my mirror on the end of SB AR 43.
Picture 2: Two semis stall near the base of an 11% uphill grade on SB AR 21.
Not pictured: A spun-out semi on a pullout partway through an 11% grade on SB AR 43, and a stalled semi en route to the graveyard near Harrison.
Total semis impacted: 6

[ozarkman417]

Yes, I know I didn't have to detail every stalled semi and I know that it's during winter weather. However, it helps to highlight that these semis shouldn't be here in the first place. Even during normal driving conditions, this has been a GPS-induced problem that's been going on for years: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/jan/02/steep-drop-big-curves-at-ponca-stun-tru/

The article mentions Clarksville's Walmart distribution center being the common denominator. I've driven by it on the way to Mount Magazine, it's a hell of a facility. But notice how each trailer has a different brand. The article claims that Walmart can't say to each contractor to not take that route. Having driven both AR43/21 and AR7 through the Boston Mountains, I can say for sure that 7 is the safer option.
It comes down to each route's topography in the Buffalo River area. AR 7 has one 7% grade, featuring a runaway truck ramp. This is as opposed to two 11% grades with no such bailout options on 21/43.

[MikieTimT]

Arkansas needs to cull significantly in northern Arkansas the number of highways that trucks are allowed on due to this reason.  That area along with AR-23 is some of the most remote and craggiest terrain in the Boston Mountains, and trucks have little business there even when AR-7 is so nearby with better geometries and grades.

[Bobby5280]

I was under the impression big rig trucks weren't supposed to drive on routes with grades steeper than 6%.

[Sykotyk]

I was under the impression big rig trucks weren't supposed to drive on routes with grades steeper than 6%.

"weren't supposed to" and "not allowed" are two entirely different things. If they start out slow at the top it wouldn't be an issue. But no warning about % or length at the top can make them start too fast and burn up their brakes before they can get slow enough to handle the rest of the grade.

[Wayward Memphian]

Maybe making the area a National Park would help. Yeah, I said it and my Wife is going to inherit a substantial amount of acreage one day along and off of Ark 21right before you drop into the valley from the south. The locals will bitch as many drive trucks for lumber or area agri needs, I know I'm married into them. But they bitch about "those" truck all the time. Don't get me started in the National Park  angle.

[bwana39]

What really needs to happen is for ArDOT to put weight restrictions on the road. That should stop most of it.

[Road Hog]

Yes, I know I didn't have to detail every stalled semi and I know that it's during winter weather. However, it helps to highlight that these semis shouldn't be here in the first place. Even during normal driving conditions, this has been a GPS-induced problem that's been going on for years: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/jan/02/steep-drop-big-curves-at-ponca-stun-tru/

The article mentions Clarksville's Walmart distribution center being the common denominator. I've driven by it on the way to Mount Magazine, it's a hell of a facility. But notice how each trailer has a different brand. The article claims that Walmart can't say to each contractor to not take that route. Having driven both AR43/21 and AR7 through the Boston Mountains, I can say for sure that 7 is the safer option.
It comes down to each route's topography in the Buffalo River area. AR 7 has one 7% grade, featuring a runaway truck ramp. This is as opposed to two 11% grades with no such bailout options on 21/43.

Those may not be trucks shipping Walmart freight as much as trucks shipping wholesale freight to the DC and going back home empty. An empty truck has a lot less traction.

[ozarkman417]

"weren't supposed to" and "not allowed" are two entirely different things. If they start out slow at the top it wouldn't be an issue. But no warning about % or length at the top can make them start too fast and burn up their brakes before they can get slow enough to handle the rest of the grade.

Approaching from the north on AR 43, truckers are warned of the 11% grade roughly five miles in advance.

At some point between my previous visit to the area (around the time I made the OP) and my most recent one (this past weekend), ARDOT installed new signs on AR 43 SB which instructs trucks and other commercial vehicles to stop at a brake check area 1000 feet ahead. These signs have been around for years on the other two grades (on AR 21) going into Boxley Valley.

[Road Hog]

If I remember right, the DC was McLane before it became Walmart. In the 1990s when they built it, there was no choice for north-south connectivity other than Russellville via AR 7 (not great) or Conway via US 65 (a little better but not great either). Clarksville is fine for east-west, but north-south was bad from the get-go.