Arkansas_Highway_396
Arkansas Highway 396
State highway in Arkansas, United States
Highway 396 (AR 396 or Hwy. 396) is a former state highway near Burlington in Boone County. Between its designation as a state highway in 1973 and its decommissioning to the county road system in 2016, it was maintained by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT).
| Route information | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maintained by ArDOT | ||||
| Length | 2.6 mi[1] (4.2 km) | |||
| Existed | April 25, 1973[2]–November 30, 2016[3] | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end | Ursey Road | |||
| East end |  US 65 near Burlington | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Arkansas | |||
| Counties | Boone | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
The ArDOT maintained Highway 396 like all other parts of the state highway system. As a part of these responsibilities, the Department tracks the volume of traffic using its roads in surveys using a metric called average annual daily traffic (AADT). ArDOT estimates the traffic level for a segment of roadway for any average day of the year in these surveys. AADT was estimated at 180 vehicles per day at the eastern terminus in 2016.[4] For reference, roads under 400 VPD are classified as very low volume local road by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).[5]
No segment of Highway 396 was part of the National Highway System (NHS),[6] a network of roads important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility.[7]
Highway 396 ran in the Ozark Mountains, beginning at a junction with US Highway 65 (US 65) north of Burlington, an unincorporated community in northern Boone County 7 miles (11 km) south of the Missouri state line. Highway 396 ran west from this junction 2.6 miles (4.2 km) through a rural area of undulating hills to an intersection with Flint Hill School Road, where state maintenance ended. The roadway continued west under county maintenance as Ursey Road.[1][8]
In 1973, the Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 9 of 1973. The act directed county judges and legislators to designate up to 12 miles (19 km) of county roads as state highways in each county.[9] Pursuant to the act, the Arkansas State Highway Commission designated a county road in Boone County as Highway 396 on April 25, 1973.[2]
The highway was returned to local maintenance in November 2016. The Highway Commission utilized a policy that allows returning state highways to local control to offset the costs of non-reimbursable utility relocation where small water utilities do not have the necessary funds to relocate their lines along important highway projects.[10] Boone County assumed maintenance of Highway 396 following verification that the Valley Springs Water Association and the Western Grove Water Association would not be able to afford relocation of their water mains along US 65, which was widened under the Connecting Arkansas Program.[3]
The entire route is in Boone County.
| Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 0.0 | 0.0 | US 65 | Eastern terminus[lower-alpha 1] | |
| | 2.6 | 4.2 | End state maintenance, roadway continues as Ursey Road | Western terminus | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
- Although Arkansas highways normally run from south to north and from west to east, the order creating this highway says "beginning at the junction of U. S. 65 north of Burlington, thence running westerly"[2]
- Planning and Research Division (August 12, 2002). General Highway Map, Boone County, Arkansas (PDF) (Map). 1:62,500. Little Rock: Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. OCLC 51071806. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- "Minutes of the Meeting of the Arkansas State Highway Commission" (PDF). Little Rock: Arkansas State Highway Commission. 1970–1979. p. 1137. OCLC 21798861. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- "Minutes of the Meeting of the Arkansas State Highway Commission" (PDF). Little Rock: Arkansas State Highway Commission. November 30, 2016. pp. 4–5. OCLC 21798861. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
- System Information & Research Division (2016). Annual Average Daily Traffic Estimates (Map). Arkansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
- American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (2019). Guidelines for Geometric Design of Low-Volume Roads (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. p. 2-8. ISBN 978-1-56051-726-9. OCLC 1140203768.
- Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (2015). "Arkansas Road Log Database" (MDB). Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- Natzke, Stefan; Neathery, Mike & Adderly, Kevin (June 29, 2017). "What is the National Highway System?". National Highway System. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
- Arkansas Atlas & Gazetteer (Map) (Fifth ed.). 1:127,000. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2018. p. 18. ISBN 9781946494207. OCLC 1066245581.
- 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 State Highway and Transportation Department. p. 13. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help) - Oman, Noel E. (December 3, 2012). "Water Utilities Put a Kink in Road Projects: Small Companies Say They Can't Afford to Move Lines". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Little Rock: WEHCO Media. p. 7. ISSN 1060-4332. Retrieved April 26, 2020.