Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, has announced the approval of more than $735,000 in funding for twelve county-level infrastructure projects through the Arkansas Unpaved Roads Program (AURP).
The funding will be used to improve unpaved county roads while protecting water quality, enhancing stormwater management, and ensuring long-term infrastructure resilience. The AURP works directly with county judges and road crews to implement environmentally sound practices that reduce sediment runoff into local waterways and address drainage and erosion issues.
“The vast majority of county roads in Arkansas are unpaved,” said Judge Rusty McMillon, President of the County Judges’ Association of Arkansas. “This program provides much-needed funding for improving sections of gravel roads that are sometimes left impassable due to significant erosion during rainfall and water runoff. The State’s partnership with us through this program by providing Best Management Practices for this type of work helps us to improve certain areas of transportation infrastructure. This makes our driving surfaces safer and more reliable.”
The twelve counties receiving funding and the scope of their projects are:
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Benton County – $75,000 to elevate one mile of roadway, install cable mats, and enlarge culverts for improved stormwater management.
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Calhoun County – $75,000 to raise an existing bridge by two feet and install both box and round culverts to enhance drainage.
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Dallas County – $54,198 to elevate 1,056 feet of road and upgrade drainage with a double box culvert and six cross pipes.
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Fulton County – $37,352 to stabilize eroded sections of a two-mile stretch, improve ditches and turnouts, and install two cross pipes.
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Hot Spring County – $60,000 to replace a round culvert with two bottomless arch culverts to improve water flow.
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Independence County – $56,109 to raise 2,700 feet of road, reshape ditches, add ditch checks, and install seven cross pipes to manage runoff.
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Lawrence County – $45,680 to relocate 1,830 feet of road away from a riverbank, build a new section on top of a levee, and create a riparian buffer zone.
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Lincoln County – $74,894 to raise and widen 1,800 feet of road, replace undersized culverts with triple box culverts, and install twelve cross pipes.
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Scott County – $57,446 to raise and lengthen a free-span bridge and add headwalls, wing walls, and three relief culverts.
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Sebastian County – $49,459 to replace a deteriorated metal pipe with reinforced concrete culverts and enhance water flow with headwalls and wing walls.
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Sevier County – $75,000 to improve drainage, raise the roadbed along 500 feet, replace culverts, and install additional stormwater management pipes.
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Woodruff County – $74,867 to raise one mile of road and install fourteen culverts to manage water runoff.
The Arkansas Unpaved Roads Program emphasizes environmentally responsible and cost-effective solutions to infrastructure challenges in rural counties, many of which rely on gravel roads for daily transportation and commerce.
To learn more about the Arkansas Unpaved Roads Program, visit the official announcement and project details.
