Future I-57/US 67

[bjrush]

Mill down concrete??

[capt.ron]

Grind it down w/ diamond grinders. I read from somewhere the term is called "milling"

[Road Hog]

Before Huckabee's big bond issue, milling was a big program on the old, (I presume) original concrete sections of the interstates. It made a huge difference in the smoothness of the ride before and after, especially on I-40 in and around Morrilton where every joint made a huge bump.

[I-39]

Does anyone know the status on the transportation bill that US 67 becoming I-57 was added to? I can't find anything online.

[rte66man]

Grind it down w/ diamond grinders. I read from somewhere the term is called "milling"

You are correct.  It is usually combined with a process called a "dowel bar retrofit".  Slots are cut at a 90 degree angle to the seam, titanium rods are inserted into the slots, then the slots are covered with concrete.  This is supposed to keep the slabs from "floating" which is the thump-thump sound you hear on older concrete surfaces.  Once the surface is milled, you are left with a smooth surface.

[mgk920]

Grind it down w/ diamond grinders. I read from somewhere the term is called "milling"

You are correct.  It is usually combined with a process called a "dowel bar retrofit".  Slots are cut at a 90 degree angle to the seam, titanium rods are inserted into the slots, then the slots are covered with concrete.  This is supposed to keep the slabs from "floating" which is the thump-thump sound you hear on older concrete surfaces.  Once the surface is milled, you are left with a smooth surface.

Titanium?  I thought that they were just typical rebar steel.

Mike

[qguy]

This is supposed to keep the slabs from "floating" which is the thump-thump sound you hear on older concrete surfaces. 

It also keeps the ends of the slabs from warping, which is extremely annoying and potentially dangerous (especially for tractor-trailers). The PA Turnpike has chronically had problems with this on the 1940-vintage portions of the highway.

[SteveG1988]

This is supposed to keep the slabs from "floating" which is the thump-thump sound you hear on older concrete surfaces. 

It also keeps the ends of the slabs from warping, which is extremely annoying and potentially dangerous (especially for tractor-trailers). The PA Turnpike has chronically had problems with this on the 1940-vintage portions of the highway.

That section has a different length of the concrete slabs. That is what makes it that bad

[US71]

Before Huckabee's big bond issue, milling was a big program on the old, (I presume) original concrete sections of the interstates. It made a huge difference in the smoothness of the ride before and after, especially on I-40 in and around Morrilton where every joint made a huge bump.

But they ran out of money when they got to Clarksville on I40

SGH-I337

[I-39]

Getting back on track, any status on the following?

1. The opening of the new US 67 freeway segment between AR 226 and Hoxie?

2. The status of the new route from Walnut Ridge to the state line?

3. The status of the bill that designated this route I-57?

[The Ghostbuster]

I hope there are updates to these questions in the near future. These can't happen soon enough for my liking.

[US71]

Getting back on track, any status on the following?

1. The opening of the new US 67 freeway segment between AR 226 and Hoxie?

2. The status of the new route from Walnut Ridge to the state line?

3. The status of the bill that designated this route I-57?

#1 I'm expecting this Fall. I drove by there a couple months ago and it appeared all but finished except the ramps at US 63.

#2, #3 I've heard no news.

[The Ghostbuster]

That means it likely won't happen for a long time.

[qguy]

This is supposed to keep the slabs from "floating" which is the thump-thump sound you hear on older concrete surfaces. 

It also keeps the ends of the slabs from warping, which is extremely annoying and potentially dangerous (especially for tractor-trailers). The PA Turnpike has chronically had problems with this on the 1940-vintage portions of the highway.

That section has a different length of the concrete slabs. That is what makes it that bad

Also because the concrete was laid directly on (slightly) compacted soil, with virtually no subgrade.

[US71]

Next section of US 67 opens in August

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/111757/work-to-expand-arkansas-226-us-67-speeds-toward-august-finish

[Road Hog]

Next section of US 67 opens in August

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/111757/work-to-expand-arkansas-226-us-67-speeds-toward-august-finish

Found this paragraph odd:

U.S. 67 is a major thoroughfare for trucks moving goods from Chicago to New Orleans. The added lanes and higher traffic speeds will allow commerce to flow at a more efficient rate, McMillan said.

If that's how they're getting between Chicago and New Orleans, they must be either padding miles or really hate Mississippi.

[US71]

Next section of US 67 opens in August

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/111757/work-to-expand-arkansas-226-us-67-spee

[US71]

Next section of US 67 opens in August

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/111757/work-to-expand-arkansas-226-us-67-speeds-toward-august-finish

Found this paragraph odd:

U.S. 67 is a major thoroughfare for trucks moving goods from Chicago to New Orleans. The added lanes and higher traffic speeds will allow commerce to flow at a more efficient rate, McMillan said.

If that's how they're getting between Chicago and New Orleans, they must be either padding miles or really hate Mississippi.

I-49 goes from New Orleans to Canada.I guess it makes better press that to say 49 goes to Kansas, then 29 or 35 to Canada.

67 crosses I-55 which can give you Chicago and I-49 which can give you NOLA.

[Anthony_JK]

Nope...I-49 currently only goes from Lafayette to Texarkana, from Alma to Fayetteville, and from Pineville to I-435 in Kansas City. The plans are to expand I-49 to from New Orleans to Kansas City. No plans to renumber I-29 or I-35 from KC to the Canadian border (or Duluth), IFAIK.

[sparker]

The only way 67 is part of the commercial route from Chicago to New Orleans is if truckers regularly missed the 57-55 loop at Sikeston and just kept going (oopsie!). 

[Road Hog]

Perhaps the writer meant from Chicago to Dallas, which would be correct.

[sparker]

McMillan's reference to New Orleans is likely just a misspeaking incident; if one had a dollar for every time a local official gets an obvious fact wrong, they could probably finance/build the missing freeway link from Hoxie to Poplar Bluff. 

[SteveG1988]

I came down US67 from Poplar Bluff. Some notes

1: On the connection between the northern section of 67 at Walnut Ridge to US63 at Hoxie, you will see an exit number for US63, i did not venture down that far on it, as i exited onto 63 west instead of 63 east.

2: All along US 67 between Hoxie and Swifton you will see the State route marker covered by the US67 shield, for easy transformation once the freeway is done.

3: Black River Truss Bridge on US67 at Pocahontas is closed. All traffic diverted to the 1986 girder span. 40 ton weight limit both directions now.

[capt.ron]

I came down US67 from Poplar Bluff. Some notes

1: On the connection between the northern section of 67 at Walnut Ridge to US63 at Hoxie, you will see an exit number for US63, i did not venture down that far on it, as i exited onto 63 west instead of 63 east.

2: All along US 67 between Hoxie and Swifton you will see the State route marker covered by the US67 shield, for easy transformation once the freeway is done.

3: Black River Truss Bridge on US67 at Pocahontas is closed. All traffic diverted to the 1986 girder span. 40 ton weight limit both directions now.

Should be open within another month. The 67 shields will then reveal the AR 367 shield. One of these days, I'll drive 67 to the state line and back.

[RBBrittain]

3: Black River Truss Bridge on US67 at Pocahontas is closed. All traffic diverted to the 1986 girder span. 40 ton weight limit both directions now.

I believe AHTD is replacing the truss bridge. Still only tangential to this discussion; even if Future I-30/57 is routed thru the Pocahontas area it definitely won't be over these bridges. They might be used for an upgraded, non-freeway US 67, but if bypassed completely Pocahontas will still need that replacement bridge to maintain four-lane access to Walnut Ridge.

IMO, environmental considerations will likely force any new-location replacement for US 67 (freeway or not) to bypass Pocahontas, unless its political pull overwhelms both that and Corning's preference for the other route. Any new route near Pocahontas would require either a separate crossing of the Current River (and possibly other streams) as well as the Black River, or else a Black River crossing much closer to Dave Donaldson/Black River WMA than Pocahontas itself; any one of those crossings could raise serious wetlands and/or floodplain issues. A route paralleling the railroad thru Knobel to Corning would only have to cross the Black River, most likely close to the existing railroad bridge with minimal wetlands or floodplain issues. (Those issues likely influenced the routing of US 67 from Bald Knob to Newport, which crosses the White River in southern Jackson County to avoid the huge floodplain west of Newport that AR 367 still crosses.)