Notice to Media

Ground Broken for Next Phase of Highway 167 Widening

LITTLE ROCK (11-23) -- Construction is set to begin on another project to upgrade Highway 167 between Bald Knob and Batesville to a four-lane facility.

Highway Commission Chairman Herby Branscum, Jr., Highway and Transportation Department Director Dan Flowers and several local officials conducted a groundbreaking ceremony along Highway 167 adjacent to the Batesville airport on Tuesday, November 23. Local representatives included Batesville Mayor Joe Biard, Independence County Judge David Wyatt, State Senator Jack Critcher, State Representative Chaney Taylor, AHTD District Engineer Lyndal Waits and Mark Lamberth of White River Materials, the contractor for the widening project.

The Highway Commission awarded a $6.6 million contract to White River Materials of Batesville in September for the work. The project will widen Highway 167 to four travel lanes with a continuous left-turn lane from Ramsey Hill to Southside, a distance of approximately 3.25 miles. It is expected that the project will be complete in mid-2001.

“With this project now underway, we only have two projects remaining to complete the four-laning of Highway 167 between Batesville and Bald Knob,” Branscum said. “And barring any unforeseen delays, we will award contracts for both these projects in the coming year.”

According to Branscum, the next contract will be for the 3.4-mile section of Highway 167 from Highway 14S at Southside southward to County Road 6 just south of Rocky Point. The final project will be the 5.5-mile section from County Road 6 to Pleasant Plains.

Seven contracts totaling slightly more than $41 million have been awarded to date on the widening of Highway 167 from Bald Knob to Batesville, Flowers noted. “When all the work is completed, we will have spent approximately $60 million on the entire project to upgrade Highway 167,” Flowers said.

As a summer employee for the Department in the late 1960’s, Flowers worked on the reconstruction of Highway 167 when it was improved as a two-lane road. “I am pleased to be a part of the four-laning of this route, although it has taken about 30 years to see it come to pass. Commissioner Branscum has been a strong advocate for this project and we look forward to the time when Batesville is connected to our state’s freeway system with a good four-lane highway,” Flowers concluded.

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