HELENA -WEST HELENA -- The mayor said it will take years to make the improvements he believes the region needs on the U.S. 49 corridor that winds its way from Interstate 40 at Brinkley to his town on the Mississippi River, across the river and over to Interstate 55 in Mississippi.
One of those improvements, he said, is a new river crossing with four lanes.
Kevin Smith said the preliminary work to make that project happen should begin now -- and it will after the Arkansas Highway Commission last week gave the go-ahead to study whether any improvements in the corridor, including the bridge, are warranted.
"That made my day," Smith said.
The effort is 20 years old and counting.
The study comes eight years after a similar study concluded that the cost of those improvements to the corridor "would exceed the associated positive economic impacts," according to an order the commission approved in 2012.
That study, which began in 2007, was part of an initiative championed by the Delta Regional Authority, which argued that the route would allow truckers going through Memphis to bypass the city.
That, the authority reasoned, would not only reduce congestion near the second-busiest route for truck traffic in the United States to bypass the city but also would reduce transportation times and costs. It also would open a large swath of land for development on each side of the river and allow Arkansas to finally land the large automobile manufacturing plant that its fellow Southern states already have.
Agency officials also argued that a beefed-up U.S. 49 corridor in Arkansas and Mississippi could serve as an alternate route if an earthquake along the New Madrid Fault knocked out one or both interstate river crossings at Memphis.
Phillips County leaders welcomed the Delta Regional Authority's backing of the initiative that they said they began in 2000.
"It's not a new idea," Smith said.
Such ideas can take years to develop, says John Edward, a former state representative who oversees day-to-day operations at the Port of Helena, which has a slackwater harbor, 4,000 acres in its industrial park and a rejuvenated short-line rail line operated by the Arkansas Midland Railroad.
"I know things take time, but you've got to plan for the future," he said. "I appreciate the opportunity for some attention to get paid to this matter."
He also hopes the study will look at creative ways to get a four-lane crossing. Edwards points to the Mississippi River crossing at Natchez, Miss. The original crossing was a bridge similar in design to the Helena bridge. Instead of tearing it down, an identical two-lane bridge was built next to it, he said.
A new bridge will handle more traffic, along with improving the U.S. 49 corridor. That means more customers for people like Harvey Williams Jr., a Phillips County farmer and businessman.
Among other endeavors, Williams is opening a craft distillery in downtown Helena. Delta Dirt Distillery will produce spirits such as Sweet Potato Vodka and Tall Cotton Gin, all from sweet potatoes and grains grown on his family farm.
Williams would like to see a new bridge that would eventually use a four-lane in Mississippi to tie into the future I-69 near Clarksdale, Miss.
"My interest is getting more traffic into and out of Helena," he said. "The bridge is a key component of making that happen."
But it isn't happening now. About 4,400 vehicles a day crossed the bridge in 2019, according to Arkansas Department of Transportation data. Ten years earlier, the average daily traffic count was 5,9oo.
The cantilever bridge might be the last two-lane bridge on the Lower Mississippi River, says John Edwards, who is legal counsel for the Port of Helena and runs its day-to-day operations.
It also is a hazard to navigation, according to Smith, who estimates barges have struck the bridge eight to 10 times in the roughly year and a half he has been in office. "Any pilot will tell you it's a navigational challenge when you go downriver."
Built in 1961 as a toll bridge, it opened with great fanfare, according to the August 1961 volume of Arkansas Highways, a periodical published by the state Highway Department.
The governors of Arkansas and Mississippi, Orval Faubus and Ross Barnett, respectively, were among those in attendance. So too were Arkansas' two senators, J.W. Fulbright and John L. McClellan. Featured guests included Miss Arkansas, Frances Jane Anderson of Pine Bluff, and Miss Mississippi, Pat McRaney of McComb.
As soon as the bridge opened, the old way to cross the Mississippi at Helena -- by ferry -- ceased operation. The first 18 hours after the bridge was opened, no tolls were charged. A total of 10,838 cars and 120 trucks crossed, according to Arkansas Highways.
The cost to cross the bridge varied depending on the class of vehicle and the number of axles. A car or pickup with two axles and four tires was charged $1. A vehicle with five axles was charged $4.50. The tolls were in place for the first 12 years of the bridge's existence. It cost $7.6 million to build.
A two-lane bridge beats a ferry, but a four-lane bridge beats a two-lane bridge when it comes to economic development. Helena has a four-lane system to points west but not to Mississippi.
Major industry sectors that Helena-West Helena could attract -- anything from a federal prison to new chemical manufacturers -- require four-lane access, Smith said.
"On numerous occasions, the issue of a four-lane highway comes up," Edwards said. "It's vital to the economic health of the community. Having the bridge become a four-lane bridge I think will be a significant piece of the puzzle."