Isolated stretch of 4 lane highway on Arkansas 5

[bugo]

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=ROMANCE,+AR&hl=en&ll=35.244529,-92.068974&spn=0.002081,0.004812&sll=36.090964,-95.963896&sspn=0.008236,0.019248&hnear=Romance,+White,+Arkansas&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=35.244529,-92.068974&panoid=k50vgOI9hTEXQMT38CVRtQ&cbp=12,173.4,,0,8.13

There's a short stretch of 4 lane highway out in the middle of nowhere.  Does anybody know why it was widened?  The area is too flat for climbing lanes.  And there are no plans that I'm aware of to make AR 5 a 4 lane south of here.

[Road Hog]

AHTD has been slowly improving AR 5 over the years. It's been designated as a primary highway by the state and it carries a lot of traffic between Little Rock and Greers Ferry Lake. It also funnels heavy commuter traffic from the west side of Cabot.

It's now four-lane divided for a stretch north of U.S. 67, and about 15 years ago they straightened a bunch of curves south of Rose Bud and installed traffic lights at the U.S. 64 intersection. From what I've seen, the long-range plan (10 to 20 years) is to make it four-lane all the way to Heber Springs.

[US71]

AHTD has been slowly improving AR 5 over the years. It's been designated as a primary highway by the state and it carries a lot of traffic between Little Rock and Greers Ferry Lake. It also funnels heavy commuter traffic from the west side of Cabot.

It's now four-lane divided for a stretch north of U.S. 67, and about 15 years ago they straightened a bunch of curves south of Rose Bud and installed traffic lights at the U.S. 64 intersection. From what I've seen, the long-range plan (10 to 20 years) is to make it four-lane all the way to Heber Springs.

US 64/AR 5 near El Paso, is a 4-Way Stop, actually. I was widened a couple years ago to just north of AR 89. It wouldn't surprise me if it is widened further, but the US 64 intersection will be a royal pain with businesses right up against 5.

As far as Romance goes, if you look at streetview at 5/34, the road appears to have somewhat wide shoulders. My best guess, without actually investigating in person, is maybe it's to better accommodate fracking vehicles?