Yahoo Message Number: 70759 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/70759)
I-40 Arkansas traffic taking wide detours
The flooding that has closed a portion of Interstate 40 between Memphis and Little Rock has added several hours and dozens of miles to Arkansas travelers' routes.
The busy interstate is closed for 23 miles between Hazen and Brinkley and is expected to remain closed until at least next week as the White River continues to break high-water records.
Cars and trucks traveling from Little Rock to Memphis and vice versa are being redirected down country highways not accustomed to tractor trailers. Many are two-lane highways, and traffic has been backing up.
Eastbound cars are diverted a couple dozen miles out of the way to U.S. 63 and 79, while eastbound trucks have to detour farther south toward the Louisiana border -- crossing the Mississippi River at Greenville, Miss. -- to make it north to Memphis. That detour adds more than 200 miles for truckers.
Cars and trucks heading from Memphis to Little Rock are being sent along the same detour route, north of I-40 to U.S. 64 through Bald Knob, then on U.S. 67 to Little Rock. That detour adds about 55 miles to the trip.
Chuck B
SOB