LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in conjunction with the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, today announced more than $735,000 in funding for twelve county projects through the Arkansas Unpaved Roads Program (AURP).
 
Each of the twelve projects receiving funding aim to protect water quality, enhance stormwater management, and improve drainage along Arkansas’ county roads.

“Today’s announcement guarantees hardworking Arkansans in rural communities throughout the Natural State will have access to safe and reliable roads,” said Governor Sanders. “Thank you to the Arkansas Unpaved Roads Technical Committee and Secretary Ward for spearheading this important effort to improve our state’s critical infrastructure.”
 
“Arkansas is a rural state and county roads are critical to our way of life,” said Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward. “Today’s announcement by Governor Sanders highlights the important partnership between state and county government and serves as a great example of what can be accomplished when multiple agencies and organizations work together for the benefit of our state.”
 
“The vast majority of county roads in Arkansas are unpaved,” said County Judges’ Association of Arkansas President Judge Rusty McMillon. “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 projects receiving funding are below:

• Benton County – $75,000 to elevate one mile of roadway, install cable mats, and enlarge culverts for better stormwater management
• Calhoun County – $75,000 to raise an existing bridge by two feet and install box and round culverts for improved drainage
• Dallas County – $54,198 to elevate 1,056 feet of road and upgrade drainage with a double box culvert and six cross pipes
• Fulton County – $37,352 to improve ditches and turnouts, stabilize eroded roadbed sections, and install two cross pipes along a two-mile stretch
• Hot Spring County – $60,000 to replace a round culvert with two bottomless arch culverts to improve water flow
• Independence County – $56,109 to improve drainage by raising 2,700 feet of road, reshaping ditches, adding ditch checks to slow water flow, and installing seven cross pipes
• Lawrence County – $45,680 to relocate 1,830 feet of road away from a riverbank, construct the new section on top of a levee, and establish a riparian buffer
• 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
• Scott County – $57,446 to raise and lengthen a free-span bridge, adding headwalls, wing walls, and three relief culverts
• Sebastian County – $49,459 to replace a deteriorated metal pipe with reinforced concrete culverts and improve water flow with headwalls and wingwalls
• Sevier County – $75,000 to improve drainage and raise the roadbed along 500 feet, including culvert replacement and additional pipe installation to manage stormwater
• Woodruff County – $74,867 to raise one mile of road and install fourteen culverts to manage runoff

Established in 2015, the AURP – managed by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture – works closely with county judges and road crews to improve unpaved county roads and reduce sediment flowing into Arkansas’ water sources. The program receives $300,000 annually in state appropriations and is supplemented by federal grants.
 
The Arkansas Unpaved Roads Technical Committee – composed of representatives from federal, state, and local agencies – reviews and recommends all projects.
 
Learn more about the Arkansas Unpaved Roads Program here.

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