I-40 is closed at the White River bridge near Brinkley due to flooding.
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2011/05/04/flooding-woes-mount-i-40-blocked-in-e-ark
Detours : http://www.arkansashighways.com/news/2011/White_River_Bridge_Closed.pdf
The recommended detour routes look ridiculous. Assuming parallel US 70 is not also closed, I would take that.
Quote from: RoadWarrior56 on May 05, 2011, 12:16:29 PM
The recommended detour routes look ridiculous. Assuming parallel US 70 is not also closed, I would take that.
70 is in bad shape too. It's closed from Lonoke to Carlisle and again near DeVall's Bluff (where it crosses the White River)
Slow going on the detours. Traffic is stalled at Bald Knob where WB 64 hits SB 67/167.
Plus. I think thru traffic is blocked on 64 west of Beebe due to tornado damage in Vilonia.
Long-distance traffic would probably be best off taking US 67 and US 63 via Jonesboro. Unless I-55 is closed...
Quote from: NE2 on May 05, 2011, 05:44:12 PM
Long-distance traffic would probably be best off taking US 67 and US 63 via Jonesboro. Unless I-55 is closed...
That's even more out of the way than 49-64-67 (3 1/2-4 hours via Jonesboro vs. 3 hours via Brinkley as measured from the 40/55 junction to the 40/67 junction at Jacksonville)
A lot of the truckers are saying north on I-55 then west on 64 is easier than going to Brinkley... 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
But ALL those routes are under
ideal conditions.
Yes, it's more out of the way, but it's almost all freeway.
Quote from: NE2 on May 05, 2011, 07:49:00 PM
Yes, it's more out of the way, but it's almost all freeway.
Yes, but would you rather drive 4 hours on the freeway or 3 hours on 2-Lane? PLUS all the additional mileage.
Going all the way to 67 on 63 is
way out of the way and is an hour by itself. Taking AR 226 across to the new 4-Lane is out of the question for most large trucks.
With all the traffic from I-40, I'd rather be on a four-lane than a two-lane.
Here is a news story with accompanying video courtesy of KARK-TV, Channel 4 in Little Rock concerning the closure of I-40 and an explanation of the detours.
http://arkansasmatters.com/news-fulltext/?nxd_id=419197 (http://arkansasmatters.com/news-fulltext/?nxd_id=419197)
I-40 is being closed around M/M 202, between Hazen and Biscoe.
Floods? wow.. what happened?
Quote from: Buummu on May 05, 2011, 11:34:09 PM
Floods? wow.. what happened?
Record rainfall caused flooding along the White River. This is about 60 miles SE of Vilonia which had the bad tornado about a week ago.
Quote from: Buummu on May 05, 2011, 11:34:09 PM
Floods? wow.. what happened?
I'm actually quite surprised that these floods aren't huge national news. They're as bad as the ones in 1927 and 1937, breaking records from both of those Ohio/Mississippi River floods.
Quote from: Brandon on May 06, 2011, 09:20:31 AM
Quote from: Buummu on May 05, 2011, 11:34:09 PM
Floods? wow.. what happened?
I'm actually quite surprised that these floods aren't huge national news. They're as bad as the ones in 1927 and 1937, breaking records from both of those Ohio/Mississippi River floods.
Cairo got all the news last week. Memphis will be in the news as soon as the Mississippi River is over its banks.
Right now, the national news is too busy covering the melodrama of the guy who got shot in Pakistan. :thumbdown:
I stand corrected:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/06/uk-mississippi-floods-force-evacuations-idUSLNE74500U20110506
I thought I was imagining things when I saw more traffic down here on I-20. Now it makes sense.
UPDATED INFO:
EB I-40 detour (CARS ONLY) is US 63 at Hazen, south to US 79 at Stuttgart, then back to I-40 via US 49 to Brinkley
Truck Detour is US 63 to Stuttgart, then either US 79 to Pine Bluff or US 165 to Dumas then US 65 to Lake Village, US 82 to US 61 at Leland, then back to I-40 at Memphis. This change was necessitated by the closing of AR 1 at the White River due to flooding and the fact that US 79 is not built to handle massive truck traffic.
WB detour (all traffic) remains US 49 north at Brinkley to US 64, west on 64 to Bald Knob then 67/167 back to Little Rock. Last report is US 64 from Beebe to Conway is only open to "essential" traffic due to the Vilonia tornado.
The White River is down, but not enough to allow I-40 to reopen. Give the flooding of the Mississippi River (where the White River empties into), it could be weeks before the highway is reopened.
UPDATE 5-9-2011
Eastbound lanes have reopened. Westbound detour (via US 49, US 64, US 67) remains in place until at least Wednesday,
All lanes along I-40, both Eastbound and Westbound have reopened (!)
US 70 remains closed at the White River neat DeValls Bluff, as well as an 8 mile section west of Forrest City