Redesignating US 63

[US71]

ARDOT in their infinite wisdom is wanting to move US 63 off I-555 and move it to (and replace) US 49 from Jonesboro to Brinkley.

They should just end 63 at Jonesboro. South of I-40, change it back to AR 11.

[edwaleni]

ARDOT in their infinite wisdom is wanting to move US 63 off I-555 and move it to (and replace) US 49 from Jonesboro to Brinkley.

They should just end 63 at Jonesboro. South of I-40, change it back to AR 11.

Didn't US63 end in West Memphis until they extended it in 1996?  After that it takes a rather odd route back west then south.

Word was they want to remove the West Memphis routing and take it straight south from Jonesboro.

[cjk374]

US 63 was AR 15 from El Dorado north to somewhere north of Pine Bluff. Was it AR 11 closer to northeast AR?

Also...as discussed before...what use does US 63 even serve south of Jonesboro? There is no need to replace 49. Leave it alone.

[usends]

I didn't see where the linked article said they wanted to replace US 49.  (And they really couldn't, since that would leave two disconnected segments of US 49.)  I interpret it to mean 49 and 63 would simply be overlapped from Jonesboro to Brinkley.

[US71]

US 63 was AR 15 from El Dorado north to somewhere north of Pine Bluff. Was it AR 11 closer to northeast AR?

Also...as discussed before...what use does US 63 even serve south of Jonesboro? There is no need to replace 49. Leave it alone.

South of Hazen (I-40) it was AR 11. I'm not sure where the switch to 15 was... Pine Bluff?  Just renumber it as 11 to Stuttgart, 15 south from Pine Bluff to ElDorado, then call it good. No sense, IMO, keeping it to Ruston.

[cjk374]

US 63 was AR 15 from El Dorado north to somewhere north of Pine Bluff. Was it AR 11 closer to northeast AR?

Also...as discussed before...what use does US 63 even serve south of Jonesboro? There is no need to replace 49. Leave it alone.

South of Hazen (I-40) it was AR 11. I'm not sure where the switch to 15 was... Pine Bluff?  Just renumber it as 11 to Stuttgart, 15 south from Pine Bluff to ElDorado, then call it good. No sense, IMO, keeping it to Ruston.

AMEN!

[Anthony_JK]

US 63 was AR 15 from El Dorado north to somewhere north of Pine Bluff. Was it AR 11 closer to northeast AR?

Also...as discussed before...what use does US 63 even serve south of Jonesboro? There is no need to replace 49. Leave it alone.

South of Hazen (I-40) it was AR 11. I'm not sure where the switch to 15 was... Pine Bluff?  Just renumber it as 11 to Stuttgart, 15 south from Pine Bluff to ElDorado, then call it good. No sense, IMO, keeping it to Ruston.

AMEN!

How about the opposite approach: keeping US 63 as is, but extending/cosigning with US 167 to Alexandria, then LA 1 to New Roads, then LA 10 to St. Francisville to cross the Mississippi River using the John James Audobon Bridge to end at US 61 north of Baton Rouge?

Or...simply overlay/replace US 167 all to way to Abbeville and Ester?

[Henry]

I agree, truncate it in Jonesboro and call it a day, now that I-555 is here.

[jbnv]

How about the opposite approach: keeping US 63 as is, but extending/cosigning with US 167 to Alexandria, then LA 1 to New Roads, then LA 10 to St. Francisville to cross the Mississippi River using the John James Audobon Bridge to end at US 61 north of Baton Rouge?

Or...simply overlay/replace US 167 all to way to Abbeville and Ester?

Second Anthony's route except that routing it over the Audubon bridge, I'd extend it all the way to Boutte via LA 415, LA 1, and LA 3127.

But if Arkansas wants to end it within their borders, that's fine with me. It currently doesn't serve Louisiana any purpose. And the US 63 I just proposed could easily be a reroute of US 71.

I don't see much benefit in replacing US 167 with US 63 past Pineville. I'd truncate US 167/63 at Pineville.

[KamKam]

Agreed U.S. 63 Southern Terminus should end in Jonesboro.

[bassoon1986]

With US 63 in Louisiana, I always liked the idea of sending it SW from the state line rather than to Ruston. Let it use LA 9 to Homer, then with US 79 to Minden and down LA 531 to I-20. It would make directions from Shreveport to ElDorado simpler than multiple route numbers.


iPhone

[sparker]

Better idea:  Truncate US 167 at I-530/US 65; replace the segment of 167 from Hardy south to US 67 at Bald Knob with US 63, then multiplex it south with US 67 to AR 11, and replace AR 11 until it hits the present US 63 (extension) at I-40.  At Pine Bluff, reroute US 63 south and replace the entirety of US 425 with it.  The current US 63 between Walnut Ridge and Jonesboro would become AR 555 (SH extension of you-know-what); current US 63 between Pine Bluff and El Dorado reverts to AR 15; of course the multiplex with US 167 into LA is eliminated.  Gets rid of the US 425 designation (which is, IMO, a good thing!); lets US 63 merge/terminate at US 61 like it did before madness set in -- but this time down at Natchez, and basically retains the trajectory of US 63 north of the MO/AR line. 

[MikieTimT]

Better idea:  Truncate US 167 at I-530/US 65; replace the segment of 167 from Hardy south to US 67 at Bald Knob with US 63, then multiplex it south with US 67 to AR 11, and replace AR 11 until it hits the present US 63 (extension) at I-40.  At Pine Bluff, reroute US 63 south and replace the entirety of US 425 with it.  The current US 63 between Walnut Ridge and Jonesboro would become AR 555 (SH extension of you-know-what); current US 63 between Pine Bluff and El Dorado reverts to AR 15; of course the multiplex with US 167 into LA is eliminated.  Gets rid of the US 425 designation (which is, IMO, a good thing!); lets US 63 merge/terminate at US 61 like it did before madness set in -- but this time down at Natchez, and basically retains the trajectory of US 63 north of the MO/AR line.

Like this plan.  US-425 is just a pipe dream anyway as a placeholder for an eventual 4-lane between Natchez and Pine Bluff.  The area is just too broke and depopulated south of Monticello to ever justify a rural 4-lane anyway.

[sparker]

Better idea:  Truncate US 167 at I-530/US 65; replace the segment of 167 from Hardy south to US 67 at Bald Knob with US 63, then multiplex it south with US 67 to AR 11, and replace AR 11 until it hits the present US 63 (extension) at I-40.  At Pine Bluff, reroute US 63 south and replace the entirety of US 425 with it.  The current US 63 between Walnut Ridge and Jonesboro would become AR 555 (SH extension of you-know-what); current US 63 between Pine Bluff and El Dorado reverts to AR 15; of course the multiplex with US 167 into LA is eliminated.  Gets rid of the US 425 designation (which is, IMO, a good thing!); lets US 63 merge/terminate at US 61 like it did before madness set in -- but this time down at Natchez, and basically retains the trajectory of US 63 north of the MO/AR line.

Like this plan.  US-425 is just a pipe dream anyway as a placeholder for an eventual 4-lane between Natchez and Pine Bluff.  The area is just too broke and depopulated south of Monticello to ever justify a rural 4-lane anyway.

And north of Monticello the expressway/freeway role will be filled by AR 530 (future I-530 -- or as some have speculated, a I-57 southern extension), part of the I-69 funding (or what passes for such) family.  ARDOT and LADOT seem to be engaging in the practice of slapping US highway numbers on state routes (and apparently AASHTO's going along with it! -- e.g. US 425, US 371, US 278).  Obviously done for political and/or speculative purposes, the whole exercise seems, in practical terms, pointless.  I suppose that in these days of scarce funds, the relatively cheap process of re-signing an existing facility is proving to be sufficient to stave off the clamoring of needy local voices.  I agree that US 63 really doesn't need to be in either AR or LA -- but if folks in those states want its extension, it may as well be on a reasonably rational alignment.

[jbnv]

US-425 is just a pipe dream anyway as a placeholder for an eventual 4-lane between Natchez and Pine Bluff.  The area is just too broke and depopulated south of Monticello to ever justify a rural 4-lane anyway.

425 is already four-laned from Natchez to Rayville and from Bastrop to the state line. US 165 is also four-laned from Bastrop all the way to Lake Charles. So we have two established corridors from Little Rock south into Louisiana--one to the southwest corner (and, by extension, Texas) and one to Natchez (and, by extension, Baton Rouge and the lower Mississippi River).

Yes, there is an expressway gap in 425 between Bastrop and Rayville. Yes, it is very rural and not heavily travelled (I drove 530 and 425 from Pine Bluff all the way to Natchez just a few weeks ago). May there ever be a complete expressway between Pine Bluff and Natchez? I don't know, but I prefer to think big and remain optimistic.

As for numbers, I like the idea of routing 63 down 425. Take 65 and put it on the 425-165 corridor down to Lake Charles. The current US 65 can become LA 265 or whatever.

[MikieTimT]

US-425 is just a pipe dream anyway as a placeholder for an eventual 4-lane between Natchez and Pine Bluff.  The area is just too broke and depopulated south of Monticello to ever justify a rural 4-lane anyway.

425 is already four-laned from Natchez to Rayville and from Bastrop to the state line. US 165 is also four-laned from Bastrop all the way to Lake Charles. So we have two established corridors from Little Rock south into Louisiana--one to the southwest corner (and, by extension, Texas) and one to Natchez (and, by extension, Baton Rouge and the lower Mississippi River).

Yes, there is an expressway gap in 425 between Bastrop and Rayville. Yes, it is very rural and not heavily travelled (I drove 530 and 425 from Pine Bluff all the way to Natchez just a few weeks ago). May there ever be a complete expressway between Pine Bluff and Natchez? I don't know, but I prefer to think big and remain optimistic.

As for numbers, I like the idea of routing 63 down 425. Take 65 and put it on the 425-165 corridor down to Lake Charles. The current US 65 can become LA 265 or whatever.

I was down that stretch back early summer, and I didn't notice much traffic at all compared to what I'm used to in NWA.  I know the road surface down close to the state line was attrocious, but it does look like they're going to widen it between US-82 and the Louisiana border.  Looks like a $44M job, so I'd assume by widen they mean to make it 4 lanes.

https://connectingarkansasprogram.com/press-releases/highway-82-425-ashley-county/547/arkansas-highway-commission-approves-bid-nbspfor-improvements-in-ashley-county-ca0201/

So, maybe your optimism will be rewarded!

[The Ghostbuster]

I don't see US 63 being redesignated or rerouted in Arkansas. If it was going to happen, it likely would have happened in 1999, when US 63 was extended to Ruston, Louisiana. Not that I disagree that US 63's extension without being substantially rerouted isn't stark-raving bonkers.

[NE2]

I don't

So don't.

[Highway63]

Oh look, a bat signal.

First, Arkansas is one of if not THE worst states in signing any US highways on interstate multiplexes. Unfortunately, many of the highways that go through Iowa are victims of this.

I have been on record as being against 63's extension basically since when it was created because of that, because the extension was so unnatural for the overall route, and because there was so much overlap with other routes. Even before the extension its south end was unclear, as it officially existed down to West Memphis but vanished once it met I-55.

But now that I-555 is created, it looks like 63 went poof from that route too. (Business 63 at Marked Tree, according to Street View, ends only at I-555 and its parent is not seen.) Given that, I would approve of any plan that marked US 63 for a greater distance again, if only because Arkansas has abused it so much things can't get worse. (Famous last words.)

Frankly, it would make more sense to route 63 down AR 1, cutting the proposed 49 overlap and also sending a US highway through two more county seats. Then double up 63 onto US 70 in between, rather than being invisible on I-40.

I'd also be in favor of 63 replacing US 425, but unless AR 15 remains signed south of Pine Bluff that would be much harder to do.

No matter what happens, I would like the future route to be set so I only have to do my clinch of the route once.

[bugo]

If they reroute US 63 south of Jonesboro will they move US 49 over to AR 1?

Nexus 5X

[cjk374]

I'd also be in favor of 63 replacing US 425, but unless AR 15 remains signed south of Pine Bluff that would be much harder to do.

AR 15 hasn't been signed between Pine Bluff & El Dorado since 2001. The only stretch of AR 15 left runs from US 82 to the Louisiana state line.

[US71]

I wonder what would become of 63B in Jonesboro and Marked Tree?

[NE2]

I wonder what would become of 63B in Jonesboro and Marked Tree?

Nothing. Because Arkansas.

[paulthemapguy]

There really needs to be a more direct north-south route from Searcy to Hazen.  Then call that US63.  Duplex US63 from Searcy to Hardy.  Then you have a continuous US63.  The old segment from Jonesboro to Hardy can be SR-555 or something.

[US71]

There really needs to be a more direct north-south route from Searcy to Hazen.  Then call that US63.  Duplex US63 from Searcy to Hardy.  Then you have a continuous US63.  The old segment from Jonesboro to Hardy can be SR-555 or something.

Extend AR 463 (old US 63) north of Jonesboro