Editing Interstate 630

{{short description|Highway in Arkansas}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox road
|state=AR
|route=630
|type=I
|map={{maplink-road |from=Interstate 630.map }}
|map_custom=yes
|map_notes=I-630 highlighted in red
|length_mi=7.40
|length_round=3
|length_ref=<ref name="db">{{cite web|url=http://www.arkansashighways.com/planning_research/technical_services/databases/Road%20Log%20Database.zip |title=Arkansas Road Log Database |author=Planning and Research Division |year=2010 |publisher=Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department |format=Database |access-date=June 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623010127/http://arkansashighways.com/planning_research/technical_services/databases/Road%20Log%20Database.zip |archive-date=June 23, 2011 }}</ref>
|established=September 30, 1985<ref name="wm" >{{cite journal |journal=Arkansas Highways |publisher=Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department |volume=31 |editor=Bill Stanton |date=Winter 1985 |title=Final Section of I-630 opens in Little Rock |page=8 |location=Little Rock, Arkansas |url=http://www.arkansashighways.com/historic_bridge/Early%20Arkansas%20Highway%20Magazines/1980-89%20Volumes%2026-35%20pdfs/Volume%2031%20%E2%80%93%201985/Vol.%2031,%20Winter%201985,%20No.%204.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111013054933/http://www.arkansashighways.com/historic_bridge/Early%20Arkansas%20Highway%20Magazines/1980-89%20Volumes%2026-35%20pdfs/Volume%2031%20%E2%80%93%201985/Vol.%2031,%20Winter%201985,%20No.%204.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 13, 2011 |access-date=October 24, 2011 }}</ref>
|spur_type=I
|spur_of=30
|direction_a=West
|terminus_a={{jct|state=AR|I|430|road|Chenal Parkway / Shackleford Road}} in [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]]
|junction={{plainlist|
*{{jct|state=AR|US|70|AR|365}} in Little Rock
}}
|direction_b=East
|terminus_b={{Jct|state=AR|I|30|US|65|US|67|US|167}} in Little Rock
|counties=[[Pulaski County, Arkansas|Pulaski]]
|previous_type=AR
|previous_route=612
|next_type=AR
|next_route=657
|browse=
}}
'''Interstate&nbsp;630''' ('''I-630''') in [[Arkansas]] is an east&ndash;west connector within [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]]. It is also known as the '''Wilbur D. Mills Freeway''' and starts at [[Interstate 430|I-430]] and Shackleford Road as a continuation of Chenal Parkway, traveling east into downtown Little Rock to [[Interstate 30 in Arkansas|I-30]].<ref name="wm"/><ref name="supp">{{Cite map |publisher=Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department |title=Route and Section Map, Pulaski County Supplemental Sheet |url=http://www.arkansashighways.com/Maps/Counties/County%20RAS/RAS%20Maps%20PDF/mpula_minset_ras.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208170532/http://www.arkansashighways.com/Maps/Counties/County%20RAS/RAS%20Maps%20PDF/mpula_minset_ras.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 8, 2011 |cartography=Planning and Research Division |format=PDF |access-date=October 24, 2011 }}</ref>

==Route description==
The highway connects burgeoning West Little Rock to the downtown core.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://arktimes.com/news/cover-stories/2011/01/26/wilbur-mills-wall |title = Wilbur Mills' wall - Arkansas Times| date=26 January 2011 }}</ref> It feeds into I-430, a north&ndash;south route which serves western Little Rock.<ref name="wm" />

==History==
The project was first conceived in the 1930s and was first planned by the Pulaski County Planning Board in their 1941 report.<ref>{{cite book |title=Arkansas Highways |publisher=Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department |volume=31 |editor=Bill Stanton |edition=Winter |year=1985 |chapter=I-630 History: "A dream becomes a reality" |page=10 |location=Little Rock, Arkansas |url=http://www.arkansashighways.com/historic_bridge/Early%20Arkansas%20Highway%20Magazines/1980-89%20Volumes%2026-35%20pdfs/Volume%2031%20%E2%80%93%201985/Vol.%2031,%20Winter%201985,%20No.%204.pdf |access-date=October 24, 2011 |archive-date=October 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111013054933/http://www.arkansashighways.com/historic_bridge/Early%20Arkansas%20Highway%20Magazines/1980-89%20Volumes%2026-35%20pdfs/Volume%2031%20%E2%80%93%201985/Vol.%2031%2C%20Winter%201985%2C%20No.%204.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> After having many higher powers deny their plans, construction was started by the city of Little Rock in the 1960s as the '''East&ndash;West Expressway''' or '''8th&nbsp;Street Expressway''' and was not originally an [[Interstate Highway System|Interstate]] or an [[List of Arkansas state highways|Arkansas state highway]].<ref name="wm" /> In the 1970s, US Rep. [[Wilbur D. Mills]] was responsible for the route's addition to the Interstate System by rounding down the mileage allocations of all other states, then adding the rounding differences to Arkansas's total; this kept the total nationwide allocation within the original limit of {{convert|42500|mi|km}}.<ref name="wm" />

After it was added to the Interstate System, Little Rock initially renamed it for Mills; however, when the [[Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department|Arkansas State Highway Department]] (AHTD) formally brought it into the state highway system as required by Arkansas law, they removed the name, as their policy at the time prohibited the naming of state highways after individuals.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}} AHTD later changed its policy and readopted the Mills name early in the new millennium. As of autumn&nbsp;2019, the highway is now named "Gold Star Families Memorial Highway".{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}

==Exit list==
{{jcttop|exit|length_ref=<ref name="db" /> |state=AR |county=Pulaski |location=Little Rock }}
{{ARint|exit
|exit=–
|mile=7.40
|road=Chenal Parkway
|notes=Continuation west
}}
{{ARint|exit
|exit=8C
|type=incomplete
|road={{jct|state=AR|I|430|dir1=south|road|Shackleford Road to Markham Street / Kanis Road}}
|notes=Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; exit 6A on I-430
}}
{{ARint|exit
|type=incomplete
|mile=7.3
|exit=8B-A
|road={{jct|state=AR|I|430}}
|notes=Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 8B (north) and 8A (south); exit 6A on I-430
}}
{{ARint|exit
|exit=7
|type=incomplete
|mile=6.82
|road={{jct|extra=hospital}} Baptist Health Drive
|notes=No eastbound exit; access to Baptist Health Medical Center – Little Rock
}}
{{ARint|exit
|exit=6B
|mile=6.25
|road=Barrow Road
}}
{{ARint|exit
|exit=6A
|mile=5.80
|road=Mississippi Street / Rodney Parham Road
|notes=Mississippi Street signed as Mississippi Avenue
}}
{{ARint|exit
|exit=5
|mile=5.48
|road=University Avenue
|notes=Signed as exits 5B (south) and 5A (north) westbound
}}
{{ARint|exit
|exit=4
|mile=5.00
|road=Fair Park Boulevard
}}
{{ARint|exit
|exit=3B
|mile=3.80
|road=Cedar Street / UAMS Boulevard to Pine Street
}}
{{ARint|exit
|exit=3A
|mile=2.43
|road=Woodrow Street
}}
{{ARint|exit
|exit=2B
|mile=1.45
|road=Marshall Street / Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
|notes=No eastbound access to Marshall Street
|type=incomplete
}}
{{ARint|exit
|exit=2A
|mile=1.10
|road=Chester Street
}}
{{ARint|exit
|exit=1B
|mile=0.74
|road=Center Street / Broadway ([[U.S. Route 70 in Arkansas|US 70]] / [[Arkansas Highway 365|AR 365]])
|notes=Center Street not signed eastbound
}}
{{ARint|exit
|exit=1A
|mile=0.46
|road=Center Street / Main Street
|notes=Center Street not signed westbound
}}
{{ARint|exit
|type=incomplete
|mile=0.1
|exit=1
|road=15th Street
|notes=Eastbound left exit and westbound entrance
}}
{{ARint|exit
|mile=0.00
|exit=139
|road={{jct|state=AR|I|30|name1={{jct|state=AR|US|65|US|67|US|167|noshield=yes}}|city1=North Little Rock|city2=Texarkana|location3=[[Little Rock, Arkansas|Downtown Little Rock]]}}
|notes=Eastern terminus; signed as exits 139B (west) and 139A (east); exit nos. correspond to I-30; exit 139B on I-30
}}
{{Jctbtm|keys=incomplete}}

==References==
{{AttachedKML|display=title,inline}}
{{reflist}}

{{3di|30}}

[[Category:Interstate 30|6]]
[[Category:Auxiliary Interstate Highways|30-6]]
[[Category:Interstate Highways in Arkansas|30-6]]
[[Category:Transportation in Pulaski County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Transportation in Little Rock, Arkansas]]