Rumble Strips

Because Arkansas was the first state to complete its original allotment of interstate highway miles, the Arkansas Highway Commission and AHTD faced the problem of needingto rehabilitate some of the oldest interstate highways in the United States. Designed to accommodate the country’s revived commerce in the post-World War II era, Arkansas interstate construction began in the early 1950s and was completed in the mid-1970s. More than 30 years of wear and tear resulted in one of the roughest interstate systems in the country.

Finding a solution to the funding problem presented the first and most challenging obstacle. The cost for the state’s original 542-mile (872-kilometer) interstate system was $837 million, with much of the funding supplied by the federal government. The estimate for repairing about 60 percent of those miles in today’s market was $950 million.

As in most states, Arkansas had used the “pay-as-you-go” method of regular road maintenance and rehabilitation, and the state repaired only what they could afford in each annual budget. But with a program of this size, this method just wasn’t an option.

By conducting research into past and present methods, the department identified several previously successful concepts, developed a few new ones, and built an innovative program for Arkansas. Critical issues involved overcoming financial constraints, determining what rehabilitative methods would be used, addressing work schedules, and communicating with the public.

For the Arkansas program, the innovation is in the mix or combination of previously established processes and procedures. By combining these “best practices” into a single program, Arkansas’ IRP has become a model program.

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