Transportation Secretary Slater Cites Efforts To Gain National Recognition for Crowley’s Ridge Parkway

Topics:  Rodney E. Slater

Federal Highway Administration
February 27, 1999

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, February 27, 1999
Contact: Jim Pinkelman
Telephone: 202-366-0660
FHWA 14-99

JONESBORO, Ark.—U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater today said that Federal Highway Administration discretionary grant funds being provided this year will enrichen understanding and appreciation of Crowley’s Ridge Parkway in northeastern Arkansas.

"In his State of the Union address, President Clinton spoke of the need to preserve places of natural beauty all across America," Secretary Slater said. "National Scenic Byways like the Crowley’s Ridge Parkway celebrate the pride and the diversity of our communities and help preserve the stunning landscapes that have been so much a part of our lives."

Arkansas has received $1.047 million in fiscal year 1999 scenic byways discretionary grant funds to develop educational and promotional material for Crowley’s Ridge Parkway, which was designated as a National Scenic Byway in June 1998; develop a visitor-interpretive center in Piggott, Ark., at the Hemingway-Pfieffer Museum and Education Center; establish a student internship and service learning program in association with the management of the parkway; and develop a hiking-biking trail and an African-American Tour along the parkway.

Crowley’s Ridge Parkway is 198 miles (319 kilometers) of roads along Crowley’s Ridge, a geographical phenomenon which rises to 200 feet above the flat Delta landscape surrounding it. The parkway is one of 53 roads across the nation that the Secretary of Transportation has designated over the last three years as National Scenic Byways or All-American Roads.