Scale is approximately 1 km per UTM grid square. I-30 comes in from the west and heads out the north towards downtown Little Rock, I-440 goes to the east and US 65/167 comes in from the south and goes north with I-30. I-530 will be added to US 65/167 to the south in the near future.
This cool interchange shows all of the classic signs of being designed and built at different times. The original interchange was built in early 1960s as a classic 'New England 'Y'' design with I-30 and US 65/167 meeting here. Later on, I-440 entered the picture. I-440 is a developing beltline around the Little Rock area, with the first part from I-30 here to I-40 on the east edge of the area in North Little Rock opening about 1980. The rest of the I-440 beltline (to I-40 west around the north side of Camp Joseph T Robinson on the north edge of the metro area) is currently under development.
What is interesting here is that I-30 (to the west) and I-440 both run in a fairly deep river (Fourche Creek) valley, and local environmental concerns would not allow for a conventional design of I-440. The result is that I-440 from I-30 eastward for several km is completely elevated over the creek and its floodplain. That bridging includes all of the I-440 ramps at the I-30/(I-530)/US 65/167 interchange AND the ramps for the AR 365 interchange about 1 km to the east (AR 365 is the routing of US 65 before the freeway was completed, and an INTERESTING drive, too). The ramp from northbound (I-530)/US 65/167 to westbound I-30 was rerouted to connect to I-30 on the right side at that time, too. The resulting main interchange here is a massive tangle of ramp bridging, including a very impressive fly-over ramp from eastbound I-30 to eastbound I-440. Also, two of the eastbound I-440 ramps are built over a lake in a wide spot of Fourche Creek.
Well worth the visit.
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This page © Michael G. Koerner |
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