Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – For newly appointed Arkansas Highway Commissioner Jerry Halsey, roads aren’t simply about getting from one place to another. They are the foundation for economic growth, safer travel, stronger communities, and the long-term future of Northeast Arkansas.

Appearing on Arkansas State University’s The A-State Advantage podcast with host Heather Nelson, the Jonesboro businessman and developer offered one of his most detailed public discussions yet about his vision for the region since being appointed to a 10-year term on the Arkansas Highway Commission.

Halsey believes Northeast Arkansas must stop thinking of its communities as separate competitors and instead function as one connected region.

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“We’ve got to work together,” Halsey said. “When we move, we move as one.”

He envisions a transportation network that better connects Jonesboro, Blytheville, Osceola, Paragould, Marked Tree, Manila, Monette, Caraway, Lepanto, Tyronza, and numerous smaller communities through additional four-lane, divided highways.

His goal isn’t simply shorter drives.

He believes improved connectivity would allow residents to live in smaller communities while commuting efficiently to jobs, schools and healthcare facilities throughout the region.

“If you’re able to get to Jonesboro or Osceola or Blytheville within a 20- to 30-minute timeframe,” he said, “that’s quality of life.”

One of Halsey’s most ambitious concepts is what Congressman Rick Crawford dubbed the “Steel Beltway.”

The idea would create a modern highway loop linking Interstate 40, Interstate 55, Big River Steel, Nucor, Blytheville, Jonesboro and surrounding communities while improving access throughout the state’s rapidly expanding steel corridor.

Halsey described improved routes connecting communities from Lake City through Caraway, Monette, Manila and Leachville while also strengthening access to major industrial employers.

He believes those transportation improvements would spark growth well beyond the highways themselves.

“Think about housing starts, insurance companies, small business,” Halsey said. “It just multiplies on itself.”

He compares the opportunity to what occurred decades ago in Northwest Arkansas as improved highway infrastructure connected communities and fueled explosive economic development.

While Northeast Arkansas may not have Walmart as its economic anchor, Halsey believes the region’s steel industry can serve a similar role if supported by the right transportation network.

Halsey cautioned that infrastructure projects require patience.

Using Interstate 57 as an example, he noted that planning and construction have stretched across nearly five decades.

His objective during his 10-year commission term is to move major projects through environmental studies, route selection, and planning so that future commissioners can continue building them.

“If during my 10 years we can do the study, get a route, get some things lined out so that we know where it’s going to go, and all we’ve got to do is start funding it,” Halsey said, “then it’s going to be on the commissioners after me.”

While Halsey spoke enthusiastically about future projects, he was equally candid about the challenges facing the Arkansas Department of Transportation.

He noted that construction costs continue to climb while revenue remains relatively flat.

“When income is flat, and expenses go up,” he said, “that’s fewer dollars that we have to do projects that are important to Arkansas.”

Because of that reality, Halsey said Arkansas must continue to explore new funding sources and public-private partnerships involving federal, state, local, and private investment.

He encouraged residents to keep an open mind when transportation funding proposals arise.

Rather than immediately rejecting proposals, Halsey said Arkansans should view infrastructure spending as an investment.

“Think about it being not a tax, but an investment in their community, in their future—not just their future, but their kids’ and grandkids’ future.”

Halsey also praised the recently established Arkansas Department of Transportation office in Jonesboro.

Having engineers who live and work in Northeast Arkansas gives the region advocates who experience local traffic issues firsthand and can help communicate those needs within the department, he said.

“They live it every day,” Halsey said. “And that is huge.”

Serving on the Arkansas Highway Commission fulfills a goal Halsey has carried since he was a teenager.

He recalled first learning about the commission while riding with family members near Monette.

“They said, ‘That’s where the roads go,'” Halsey remembered. “I remember thinking, ‘Hey, that’s cool. I’d like to do that.'”

Today, Halsey says his focus is on building upon the work of previous commissioners while positioning Northeast Arkansas for decades of continued growth through strategic investment in highways and infrastructure.

His message throughout the interview remained consistent: transportation isn’t simply about pavement—it’s about creating opportunities for the next generation across the entire region.

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