WINSLOW -- Work to pave the last stretch of gravel highway in Arkansas will begin next month.
Arkansas 220 is a one-lane dirt highway with some gravel that goes through a remote section of the Ozark National Forest. The road was originally owned by the U.S. Forest Service before the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department acquired it in 1998.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the 3.87-mile project will include widening the Arkansas 220 to two lanes and building a bridge over Ellis Branch Creek.
The portion of this highway goes from Devil's Den State Park south about a mile into Crawford County. Monte Fuller, superintendent at Devil's Den State Park, said a paved Arkansas 220 will provide better access for people driving from points south.
"It's going to be a bygone era now that all the state highways are going to be paved," he said. "Growing up in Arkansas, I remember several state highways that weren't paved."
St. Louis-based Pace Construction Co. was awarded a contract to do the $7.7 million job.
Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department Randy Ort says the work is expected to be completed in 2017.
Conway-based Nabholz Construction Corp. began work last year to widen and grade a section of Arkansas 220 farther south in Crawford County on a $4.5 million contract. That work should be completed by early 2017.
Grants from the Federal Lands Access Program will pay $9.5 million of the construction costs for both projects.
State Desk on 01/26/2016