Highway 369 (AR 369 and Hwy. 369) is a designation for three north–south state highways in Arkansas. All are maintained by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT). One segment provides connectivity in the Ouachita Mountains, with the other two serving as short industrial access roads. The longest segment was designated in 1966 and extended thrice, with the two industrial access roads created in 1978 and 1980. All three segments are maintained by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT).
Route description
The ArDOT maintains Highway 369 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. As of 2019, AADT was estimated at 1,200 vehicles per day (VPD) near the southern terminus, with all other segments below 1,000 VPD and shrinking as it travels north. The Nashville segment was estimated at 2,700 VPD.[5] No segment of Highway 369 has been listed as part of the National Highway System,[6] a network of roads important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility.[7]
Nashville
The Highway 369 designation begins in Nashville, the small-town county seat of Howard County in Southwest Arkansas. The highway begins at a junction with Highway 27 in the southwest part of the city and runs northwest as Mission Drive, beginning as a divided highway but quickly becoming a two-lane roadway through an industrial park. State maintenance ends near a crossing of the Arkansas Southern Railroad, with the roadway continuing under local maintenance.[8][9]
Highway 369 begins at Highway 22 in Paris, one of two county seats of Logan County.[12] The highway runs south to an industrial area, where it terminates.[a 1]
History
The Arkansas State Highway Commission created Highway 369 on January 12, 1966, between Highway 26 and Highway 70.[1] It was extended ten months later to Langley.[14] 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.[15] Under this act, Highway 369 was extended from Langley to the Montgomery-Pike county line.[16] The industrial access roads were created in 1978 (Paris segment to the Arkansas Charcoal Manufacturing Plant)[17] and 1980 (Nashville segment to the Tyson Foodsfeed mill).[18] The AHTD and the US Forest Service decided to improve Montgomery County Road 4 (CR 4) and Forest Service Road 143 near Albert Pike in August 1987 to benefit the tourism industry.[19] Following construction, the Highway 369 supplanted CR 4 to Albert Pike on January 9, 1991.[20]
^ Although Arkansas highways normally run from south to north and from west to east, the Logan County Route and Sections Map[13] indicates that Highway 369 begins at Highway 22 and runs south.
^System Information & Research Division (2017). Annual Average Daily Traffic Estimates(GIS Map) (Map). Arkansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
^System Information and Research Division (2015). "Arkansas Road Log Database"(MDB). Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
^ abPlanning and Research Division (May 12, 2009) [June 9, 2000]. General Highway Map, Howard County, Arkansas(PDF) (Map) (Revised ed.). 1:62,500. Little Rock: Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. OCLC912912927. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
^Transportation Planning and Policy Division (May 2016). Map of Nashville, Howard County, Arkansas(PDF) (Map). 1:12,000. Little Rock: Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. § E2. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
^Planning and Research Division (November 15, 2011). General Highway Map, Pike County, Arkansas(PDF) (Map). 1:62,500. Little Rock: Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. OCLC917613374. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
^Planning and Research Division (September 11, 2002). General Highway Map, Logan County, Arkansas(PDF) (Map). 1:62,500. Little Rock: Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. OCLC914233699. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
^Transportation Planning and Policy Division (September 17, 2021). State Highway Route and Section Map, Logan County(PDF) (Map). Cartography by GIS Section. Little Rock: Arkansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 3, 2021.