Interstate 530 (abbreviated I-530) in Arkansas is a nearly 47 mile (76 km) long spur route from Little Rock at the junction of Interstate 30 and Interstate 440 in the northwest, to Pine Bluff in the southeast. The current route was formerly designated as U.S. Highway 65; that designation continues. It formally gained the I-530 designation after a full interstate-grade bypass of Pine Bluff (known locally as the Wiley Branton Highway) replaced a less-than-interstate segment of U.S. 65 through Pine Bluff (known locally as the Martha Mitchell Expressway, now U.S. 65B); U.S. 65 was moved to the bypass shortly before it became I-530.
A planned extension of the route (away from U.S. 65) continues it to U.S. Highway 278 in Wilmar, Arkansas; the first segment of it, from U.S. 278 north to Arkansas 35, opened as a two-lane freeway called Arkansas Highway 530 on June 6, 2006. [1] This extension is intended to connect to the proposed southern extension of Interstate 69; U.S. 278 at Wilmar also provides four-lane access to the future I-530 from the much larger cities of Warren and Monticello, thus allowing both cities to champion its completion.
Currently the I-530 interchange in Pine Bluff is under construction and is scheduled for completion in late 2010.[3] Also, a segment in the middle stretching from near the Pinebergen community (off U.S. 63 South) to 16 miles south of Pinebergen is under construction, with completion scheduled for 2010 also. The north and south segments between Pine Bluff and Monticello have an anticipated contract date of 2009.[4]
Route description
The US Highway 167 junction (Exit 10) can only be accessed by southbound I-530 but not northbound I-530. Until a few years ago there was a median crossover to access US 167 South from I-530 North, but this was removed due to numerous severe and fatal accidents at the crossover. Northbound I-530 traffic must now use the Bingham Road (Exit 9) exit and cross the overpass to I-530 South.[citation needed]
Exit list
| County |
Location |
# |
Destinations |
Notes |
| Pulaski |
Little Rock |
|
  I-30 east / U.S. 65 north / U.S. 167 north – Downtown Little Rock |
Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| 1A |
I-440 east – Little Rock National Airport, Little Rock River Port, Memphis |
Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| 1B |
I-30 west – Hot Springs, Texarkana |
Northbound exit and southbound entrance |
|
3 |
Hwy. 338 (Dixon Road) |
|
7 |
145th Street, Pratt Road |
|
9 |
Bingham Road |
| Saline |
|
10 |
U.S. 167 south – Sheridan, Fordyce, El Dorado |
South end of U.S. 167 overlap; no northbound exit |
|
12 |
Woodson |
| Pulaski |
|
15 |
Hensley |
| Jefferson |
|
20 |
Hwy. 46 – Redfield |
|
24 |
Jefferson, National Center for Toxicological Research |
|
27 |
Image:Jefferson County Route 4.svg CR 4 (Gravel Pit Road) |
|
30 |
Hwy. 104 |
| White Hall |
32 |
Hwy. 256 – White Hall, Pine Bluff Arsenal |
| 34 |
Image:Arkansas 365S.svg U.S. 270 / Hwy. 365S – White Hall, Sheridan |
| 35 |
Image:US 65B.svg U.S. 65B south - Downtown |
|
36 |
Princeton Pike |
|
37 |
Hwy. 190 (West 13th Street) |
| Pine Bluff |
39 |
Image:US 79B.svg U.S. 79 south / U.S. 79B north – Rison, Fordyce, Camden |
North end of U.S. 79 overlap |
| 41 |
Old Warren Road |
| 42 |
Hazel Street |
| 43 |
Image:US 63B.svg U.S. 63 south / U.S. 63B north – Warren, El Dorado |
North end of U.S. 63 overlap |
| 46 |
 Image:US 65B.svg U.S. 63 north / U.S. 79 north / U.S. 65B north / Hwy. 190 – Stuttgart |
South end of U.S. 63/U.S. 79 overlap; southbound exit and northbound entrance |
|
U.S. 65 south (U.S. 425 south) – Dumas, McGehee, Lake Village |
Southbound exit and northbound entrance |
References