U.S. Senate passes provision allowing Arkansas to designate portion of U.S. 67 ‘Future I-57’
by May 19, 2016 5:21 pm 198 views
U.S. Sen.John Boozman, R-Ark., on Thursday (May 19) applauded Senate passage of the Fiscal Year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill that includes a provision enabling Arkansas to designate a portion of Highway 67 from North Little Rock to Walnut Ridge as “Future I-57.”
“Arkansas has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to make Highway 67 an interstate-quality road, and this brings our state one step closer to calling it what it is, Future Interstate 57,” Boozman, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said. “The provision would also give Arkansas the ability to request that any segment of the road that is built to interstate standards be officially added to the federal interstate system as “I-57.”
The bill also fully funds the highway programs authorized under the recently-passed long-term highway bill, provides funding for the modernization of air traffic control, provides funding for air traffic control towers in Arkansas, will support aircraft certification that is key for aircraft manufacturers in Arkansas and supports locally-controlled programs – such as the Community Development Block Grants – that assist with housing and community development needs in rural states like Arkansas.