ArDOT maintains both segments of AR 308 as part of the state highway system. ArDOT estimates the traffic level for a segment of roadway was highest near the western terminus in Marked Tree, estimated at 930 vehicles per day in 2021, on average. It drops to 220 VPD north of the Marked Tree Municipal Airport. The Mississippi County segment is highest near Whitton at 120 VPD.[4] For reference, roads under 400 VPD are classified as "very low volume local road" by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).[5]
No segment of AR 308 is part of the National Highway System (NHS),[6] a network of roads important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility.[7]
Marked Tree to Spear Lake
First Highway 308 reassurance marker west of Spear Lake
Highway 308 begins at Highway 149 (10th Street / Frisco Street) in Marked Tree, a small town within the Arkansas Delta, a flat and fertile agricultural region. The route passes under the BNSF Railway tracks and curves past an industrial area before turning due north. Now forming the western boundary of the Marked Tree Municipal Airport, the route serves as the western terminus of Highway 308 Spur. Continuing north, Highway 308 serves as the eastern terminus of Highway 308 Business (Elm Street), which runs into the Marked Tree Business District before exiting the city eastbound. Highway 308 runs east through an agricultural area to an intersection with Highway 135 at the unincorporated community of Spear Lake, where it terminates.[8]
Whitton to Frenchman's Bayou
A second segment of Highway 308 runs in a rural part of Northeast Arkansas. The highway begins at a junction with Highway 118 at the unincorporated community of Whitton in Mississippi County northeast of the small town of Tyronza. AR 308 runs south to the small town of Birdsong before meeting AR 77 at Dimple. The two routes run north together in a concurrency to Denwood. AR 308 turns east, running as a section line road to Interstate 55 (I-55), where it turns south similar to a frontage road along the southbound lanes before crossing over I-55 (no access) to a junction with US 61 in Frenchman's Bayou, where it terminates.[9]
History
The segment between Marked Tree and Highway 135 was adopted as a state highway by the Arkansas State Highway Commission on April 24, 1963.[1] It was rerouted in Marked Tree on October 27, 1965,[10] the former segment remains as a city street named "Old 308 Highway".[11]
The highway between Highway 118 and Birdsong was designated a state highway on April 25, 1973,[12] with an extension to Frenchman's Bayou on February 27, 1974.[13]
Highway 308B begins at Highway 308 at the northern city limits of Marked Tree. It runs southwest as Elm Street, paralleling the Left Hand Chute of the Little River through a residential neighborhood. The highway turns onto Broadway Street and terminates at an intersection with AR 14/AR 75 (Nathan Street) and AR 14/AR 140.[8]
History
The business route designation was created by the Arkansas State Highway Commission on March 28, 1973.[15]
^System Information & Research Division (2019). Annual Average Daily Traffic Estimates (Map). Arkansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
^American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (2019). Guidelines for Geometric Design of Low-Volume Roads (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. pp. 2–8. ISBN978-1-56051-726-9. OCLC1140203768.
^Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (2015). "Arkansas Road Log Database"(MDB). Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
^ abcTransportation Planning and Policy Division (March 21, 2016) [November 28, 2005]. General Highway Map, Poinsett County, Arkansas(PDF) (Map) (Revised ed.). 1:62,500. Little Rock: Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. OCLC917911195. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
^Transportation Planning and Policy Division (April 1, 2022) [May 3, 2006]. General Highway Map, Mississippi County, Arkansas(PDF) (Map) (Revised ed.). 1:62,500. Little Rock: Arkansas Department of Transportation. OCLC914805629. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
