U.S. 63 enters into Arkansas from Louisiana concurrent with US 167 in Junction City. Just a few miles into the state, the two highways run on the eastern edge of El Dorado as an expressway. US 167 splits here, traveling towards Hampton. US 63 bypasses the town of Warren, crossing US 270. US 63 passes through the rural Cleveland County, then enters into Jefferson County.
US 63 at the southern terminus of I-530 in Pine Bluff
In Jefferson County, US 63 serves the city of Pine Bluff. US 63 bypasses the city, running on the last 3 miles of I-530. Also in Pine Bluff, the highway overlaps with US 65 and US 79. US 63 runs northeast with US 79 until Stuttgart, where the highway runs north to Hazen. Just north of Hazen, US 63 overlaps with I-40 to Brinkley. In Brinkley, US63 begins an overlap with US49 north to Jonesboro. US63 leaves US49 and follows I-555 until I-555 terminates, together serving as a bypass for southern Jonesboro. In Hoxie, US 63 intersects with I-57/US 67. Northwest of here near Portia the highway overlaps with US 412.
Portions of U.S. 63 in northern Arkansas have their origins in the work of the Ozark Trails Association, which established a network of roads in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri beginning in the 1910s. A portion of roadway was mapped out in Arkansas between Mammoth Spring and Memphis, Tennessee, and built c. 1918-22. This roadway was eventually designated Highway A-7, and was later designated U.S. 63. Some of the original infrastructure of this early construction has survived the 1927 Mississippi flood and the realignment of U.S. 63 in 1967. Northwest of Tyronza, Old U.S. 63 runs for about 1-1/4 miles of original concrete pavement;[1] it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.[2] Four bridges built in the 1920s (three before the 1927 flood and one after, are also on the National Register; three southeast of Marked Tree, and one southeast of Tyronza.[3][4]
On March 11, 2016, Interstate 555 (I-555) was dedicated after a new resolution passed in December 2015 allowing farm equipment to use the roadway when it became an interstate.
In April 2019, ArDOT submitted an application to AASHTO to reroute US63 concurrent with US49 between Brinkley and Jonesboro, eliminating the concurrencies with I-55 and I-555, and part of the concurrency with I-40.[5] The rerouting took effect in 2021.[6] However, a small section of US 63 in Jonesboro was redesignated as I-555 on November 23 of the same year, making US 63 partly concurrent with I-555 again.[7]
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US 63 / US 167 at the Louisiana state line
