Arkansas and U.S. 70

People living at Brinkley and at Brasfield on the Cache River are delighted to know that in August the section of U.S. 70 through the Cache River and Bayou DeView bottoms will have been shored up and repaved. Some folks remain on Interstate 40 despite the heavy truck traffic to avoid the rough and bumpy stretch of 70 through the bottoms.

U.S. 70, one of the first cross-country roads built in the United States. was first called the Bankhead Highway. It was named for good-roads promoter and Alabama’s U.S. Sen. John Hollis Bankhead (Tallulah’s grandfather), who was responsible for getting the Federal Aid Road Act 1916 passed by the U.S. Congress.

In 1919 the proposed route for 70 through DeValls Bluff was approved. The first road through the bottoms was entirely too low and was subject to flooding during high water. In 1931, the present roadbed through the bottoms was opened to the public, exactly 90 years ago. The concrete bridge of the old highway can be seen from the present roadway.

BILL SAYGER

Biscoe