Highway 296 (AR 296, Ark. 296, and Hwy. 296) is an east–west state highway in Miller County. The route begins at US Highway 59 (US 59) and US 71 in Texarkana (State Line Avenue) and runs east to US 82 in the eastern part of the county. Highway 296 serves as an arterial street in Texarkana west of US 67, but is decidedly rural in its length east of US 67, passing through sparsely populated wooded areas typical of the Arkansas Timberlands. The highway was created on April 24, 1963, but was extended throughout the 1960s and 1970s during a period which Arkansas's state highway system grew greatly. Highway 296 is maintained by the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD).

Highway 296 marker
Highway 296
Map
Route information
Maintained by ArDOT
Length25.68 mi[2] (41.33 km)
ExistedApril 24, 1963[1]–present
Major junctions
West end US 59 / US 71 in Texarkana
Major intersections US 67 near Texarkana
East end US 82
Location
CountryUnited States
StateArkansas
CountiesMiller
Highway system
AR 295 AR 297

Route description

edit
 
First Highway 296 reassurance marker east of the junction with Four States Fair Parkway in Texarkana

Highway 296 begins at US 59/US 71 in Texarkana (State Line Avenue) just east of the Texas state line. It travels east as Sugar Hill Road through low-density residential area, crossing under Interstate 49 (I-49) and over I-30 without connections to either. Just east of the Texarkana city limits, Highway 296 intersects US 67, beginning a concurrency south.[3]

The pair reenters Texarkana, running south as Broad Street toward the Texarkana Regional Airport. Just north of the airport, Highway 296 ends the overlap with US 67 and turns east with Highway 237. After a short, 0.09 miles (0.14 km) overlap with Highway 237 east as Rondo Lane,[2] Highway 296 turns northeast, following railroad tracks. The highway continues northeast for approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) before running due east as a section line road. Once east of the Texarkana city limits, Highway 296 begins to wind east through the Arkansas Timberlands countryside, roughly following Finn Bayou east to Hervey. Now very near the Red River and the Lafayette county line, the highway turns due south and intersects US 82 four miles (6.4 km) northwest of Garland, where it terminates.[3]

History

edit

Highway 296 was created by the Arkansas State Highway Commission (ASHC) on April 24, 1963, by adopting a county road between US 67 at Mandeville and Hervey to the state highway system.[1] On February 22, 1967, the ASHC authorized the AHTD to prepare plans for construction of an interchange between I-30 and Sugar Hill Road in Texarkana.[4] On February 28, 1968, the ASHC extended Highway 296 to run between US 67 and I-30 as part of a program to connect newly built Interstate highways with the US highways they paralleled, despite the interchange requested to be studied in 1967 never coming to fruition.[5] The highway was extended west to US 59/US 71 and east to US 82 in accordance with Act 9 of 1973 by the Arkansas General Assembly on June 28, 1973.[6] The act directed county judges and legislators to designate up to 12 miles (19 km) of county roads as state highways in each county.[7]

Major intersections

edit

Mile markers reset at some concurrencies. The entire route is in Miller County.

Locationmi[2]kmDestinationsNotes
Texarkana0.000.00   US 59 / US 71 (State Line Avenue) – Ashdown, TexarkanaWestern terminus
4.647.47 
 
US 67 north – Hope
Begin US 67 overlap
See US 67 and AR 237
Texarkana0.000.00 
 
AR 237 south (Rondo Lane)
End AR 237 overlap
21.0433.86  US 82 – Texarkana, LewisvilleEastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

edit

References

edit
KML is from Wikidata
  1. ^ a b "Minutes" (1953–69), p. 916.
  2. ^ a b c System Information and Research Division (2014). "Arkansas Road Log Database". Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. Archived from the original (MDB) on August 29, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Transportation Planning and Policy Division (February 17, 2015). General Highway Map, Miller County, Arkansas (PDF) (Map). 1:62500. Little Rock: Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  4. ^ "Minutes" (1953–69), p. 279.
  5. ^ "Minutes" (1953–69), p. 130.
  6. ^ "Minutes" (1970–79), p. 1194.
  7. ^ Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department: Planning and Research Division, Policy Analysis Section (2010). "Development of Highway and Transportation Legislation in Arkansas: A Review of the Acts Relative to Administering and Financing Highways and Transportation in Arkansas" (PDF). Little Rock: Arkansas Department of Transportation. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 6, 2020.