Best Route from Jacksonville to Little Rock? (1 Viewer)

[Johnny Angell]

We will be driving from Jax, FL to Little Rock, AR this Sunday. Anyone want to make suggestions on the best driving route? By best, I mean quickest. This is a long drive and we're doing it in one day, it won't be a sightseeing trip.

Here's what we're thinking of:
1)HW 10 W to Mobile, AL
2)98 to Hattiesburg,Miss
3)49 to Jackson, Miss
4)55 to Mempthis, TN
5)40 to LR, AR

What concerns us is any construction on 10 through Mobile.

As always, your thoughts are appreciated.

 

[DonnyD]

Sounds like a pretty good route to me. You'll run into construction just about any route you take. An alternative is 75(?) to Atlanta, On to Chattanooga, 24 to Nashville then 40 to Memphis , 40 to Lr. Wave as you go by!!!!!

 

[Johnny Angell]

What I'm most concerned about is construction, particularly on 10. Will it be brief slowing in traffic or extended delays?

 

[Kyle McCabe]

I would take 10 all the way to Tallulah, LA where you should meet up with 65N. 65N will meet up with 530 and that will take you all the way to Little Rock (home, sweet home, btw! ). I'll admit, though... It's been a while since I've made that trek, so I don't know about construction, but it seems like it would be a heck of a lot faster than going all the way up to Memphis.

What brings you to Little Rock, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Johnny Angell]

According to my map, 10 doesn't go thru Tallulah, 20 does. I'll have to investigate this further in the morning when my head isn't so fuzzy.

I don't mind the question. We lived in LR for about 12-13 years, left for a year, and will be moving back soon. This is a house-hunting trip.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I went to AAA today and had them look a the different routes. According to them, the quickest (but not the shortest) route is the one I outlined in my first post.

I did have them look at the one that ends up on 530, and it was longer, time wise. I think that's because our original route iis on more divided highway than the 530 route.

 

[Robert_J]

As one familiar with both routes, take the one through Tallulah. Jackson > Vicksburg > Tullulah > Eudora, AR (don't stop whatever you do) > Lake Village (go north on highway 65). It's divided highway to at least McGehee. I think it goes back to 2 lane from McGehee to either Gould or Grady. Take the I-530 bypass around Pine Bluff and you can figure the rest out.

On the trip, if you stop at Subway in Lake Village and see a fat guy in his mid 30's, that's one of my old college roommates.

The route through Memphis will have construction in Southaven, MS (my wife drives through it every weekday), Memphis, TN and West Memphis, AR. Depending on the time of day it will add 10 minutes to 2 hours to your trip. Once you are past the construction, it's pretty clear LR. I'm not sure how accurate AAA is but from exit 287 on I-55 in Southaven, it's 2.5 hours to the LR city limits with no stops.

-Robert

 

[Johnny Angell]

I received another suggestion offline:
1) 10W to Marianna, FL
2) 231N to Montgomery
3) 65N to Birmingham
4) 78N to Memphis
5) 40W to LR

This one looks the most promising. We should skip a lot of consturction this way.

 

[Kyle McCabe]

Sorry... Like I said, it's been so long since I've driven that route.

Hey, if you need any resources to aid you in your house-hunting, I'll be glad to help any way that I can. I have a house in Point West, but I would suggest looking a little further west out in the Chenal/LaMarche/Margeaux areas. Good luck!

 

[Robert_J]

Exit 78N at Shelby Drive (turn left) in Memphis. If not you will run into the biggest construction project in Memphis at the 40/240 interchange re-build. Take Shelby to I-55N (10 minute drive). Take I-55N towards St. Louis/Little Rock. It will join I-40 in West Memphis.

-Robert

 

[Robert_J]

I lived in Cherry Creek about 5 years ago. From what I've heard from my friends in the area, the 'hood has gone downhill.

-Robert

 

[Johnny Angell]

Do you think this is worth doing, even on a Sunday? What about the return trip? What would be the detour instructions for that?

Thanks for the pointers.

Things always go wrong at the worst time. Last night, we had some power and lightening and my desktop is dead. Won't be able to get it fixed till we return. I'm using my wife's laptop at the moment.

I can't check any of my email, since my passwords are on the dead pc.

Robert, when you say the 'hood as gone donehill, are you referring to Cherry Creek?

 

[Kyle McCabe]

Cherry Creek isn't what it used to be. Same thing with Point West (almost the same neighborhoods). But neither are run-down by any stretch of the imagination. They're mostly occupied by younger families these days, which is not necessarily a bad demographic.

Everything is just growing further west. Highway 10/Cantrell is turning into a freaking amusement park. There's a new EVERYTHING out there. I'm sure a mall will erect there before too long.

If I buy another house in Central Arkansas, it will probably be out past Lake Maumelle in a little more rural setting. The city is growing too fast, and the traffic in my area is getting worse.

 

[Robert_J]

Yes, avoid this construction on a Sunday. That's the day when they ususally stop lanes to do extra work. Return trip - In West Memphis, take I-55 south towards Jackson, MS. It's easy to see where the interstate splits. Just over the bridge, take the 2nd exit. It's about 100 yards from the bridge so it's easy to miss. If you do, turn around immediately. Roll up your windows and lock your doors. Don't make eye contact with the locals. As you travel on I-55 in Memphis, you will have to exit the interstate to stay on I-55. Keep looking for Jackson, MS. After taking the Jackson exit, you will take the Shelby Drive/Capleville exit west (the east exit is first). After you get past the airport, highway 78 (aka Lamar Ave.) is the third stop light. Take a right and head towards Olive Branch, Mississippi. If you happen to miss the Shelby Dr. exit, it's not a big deal to keep heading south and take the Goodman road exit in Southaven. Head west on Goodman and you will run into 78 in Olive Branch. If you miss Goodman, take the Church Road exit and go west. When Church ends take a left and go north for .25 miles. The on-ramp for 78 is on your right. If you make it to Church, stop by for a break.

And yes, I was referring to Cherry Creek. In the 3 years we lived there, there was a break-in and an attempted break-in within walking distance from the house. Since we've left, a lot of the neighbors I still keep in touch with have moved. As far as I know, the my only remaining friend is my old vet, Dr. Bob Hale.

-Robert

 

[Johnny Angell]

Well, we got back from our trip to LR last Sat (6/10) and I just got my computer up and running yesterday.

The route we took from Jax to LR (and to return) was
10W
231 N to Montgomery
65 N to Birmingham
78 W to Memphis
40 W to Little Rock

We liked this route and will use it again on our final drive to Little Rock when we move.

I used AAA's web driving instructions to produce an online trip-tick which worked very well for the trip out. It has an option to reverse the route for the trip back and I tried that also. It produced some bizare results. The instructions had us exiting 65 S to take 65 N, exiting 65 N to take 65 S. It has us backtrack for no reason at all.

The trip took us 14 1/2 hours (which included stopping for gas and about an hour for a non-driving lunch. The mileage to LR was 861.2.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Well, the movers arrive today to begin packing us and Tuesday we drive away from our house in FL for the last time. I am dreading the experience and looking forward to getting it done.

The movers just called to say they'll be late. We kinda expected that.

We got lucky and found a pet transportation company in Jax. They will transport all but 3 of our cats in an a/c van with roomy cages. They will drive them all the way to AR for less than what it would have cost us to do a 1-way rental of a van. That is, if we could have found a 1-way rental.

Computer time could get dicey from here on out.

 

[Johnny Angell]

We drove from Orange Park to Maumelle, AR last Tuesday. We arrived around 10pm and we were beat. The Waggin Wheels pet transporter did a great job with our cats. They didn't just arrive and unload but helped us situate them in the house and overall did some heavy lifting for us. They were great.

We slept on a blowup bed that had a slow leak in it starting Sunday night when the movers took our bed and didn't have our real bed back until Thursday night when the movers arrived.

A good friend of ours had already setup all our litter boxes before we got here. When you have as many cats as we do, that saves a lot of effort. She even had a small table and two chairs for us, which was wonderful, as there was no furniture for a couple of days. Oh, and a bottle of wine (but no corkscrew).

So now we start the never-ending process of unpacking. My computer wasn't up and running until yesterday. Lots of work left to do, but the worst is over.

 

[Kyle McCabe]

Good to see you getting settled in, Johnny. Welcome back to Arkansas! I wouldn't trade this place for the world.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Thank you, we're glad to be back, though we wish it wasn't quite so hot.

In our yard in FL we had a view of a water tank, now we have a view of deer. It's an improvment.