Both segments of Highway 157 are two-lane undivided highways. No segment of Highway 157 has been listed as part of the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility.
Judsonia to Oil Trough
Highway 157 begins in Judsonia at Highway 367 on the edge of the Central Arkansas region. The highway runs north as Sunny Dale Road, exiting the city limits and passing over a full interchange with US Highway 64, which is concurrent with US 67 and US 167. This freeway was designated part of Future Interstate 57 in 2017. Highway 157 continues northbound through a rural agricultural area, dotted with historic farmhouses like the 1905 Capt. Larned House, Morris Hartsell Farmstead, and the Hilger Homestead, all listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The highway becomes a section line road and junctions several minor state highways: Highway 13, Highway 385 at Plainview, and Highway 258 south of Providence. In northern White County, Highway 157 begins to wind and curve, intersecting Highway 124 at Sunnyside before entering Independence County. . Entering Pleasant Plains, a small town in southern Independence County, Highway 157 passes through downtown before an intersection with Highway 87. Highway 87 continues westward to Floral, and Highway 157 turns east as Blackland Road. Highway 157 intersects US 167 along the eastern city limits of Pleasant Plains before turning northeast. The route runs becomes Blackland Road and runs towards Oil Trough, where it terminates at Highway 14. The ArDOT maintains Highway 157 like all other parts of the state highway system. As a part of these responsibilities, the department tracks the volume of traffic using its roads in surveys using a metric called average annual daily traffic. ArDOT estimates the traffic level for a segment of roadway for any average day of the year in these surveys. For 2016, the highest traffic levels were estimated in downtown Pleasant Plains, with 7,600 vehicles per day. The highest estimated traffic outside city limits was between Fairview and Providence, with 2,600 VPD. The lowest AADT levels were the 830 VPD near the northern terminus.
Diaz
Highway 157 begins at Highway 17/Highway 18 in northern Diaz, a small town in the rural Arkansas Delta. Known as Tucker Road, the highway runs due east as a section line road through an agricultural industrial area until intersecting Highway 367, where it terminates. As of 2016, the route had an annual average daily traffic of 1,900 vehicles per day.
History
Highway 157 first appears on the 1937 state highway map. It ran from US 67 to Providence in northern White County. It was extended north to the Independence County line in 1945, and to Highway 11 in Pleasant Plains in 1953. Following Act 9 of 1973, the highway was extended to the current northern terminus near Oil Trough. However, Act 9 of 1973 permitted a maximum of 12 miles to be added to the state highway system per county, leaving the extension 0.47 miles short of Highway 14. The gap was added to the system on February 27, 1974. Following a new alignment of US 167 in Pleasant Plains, Highway 157 was also rerouted in November 14, 2000. The Diaz segment was created on January 29, 1976. It was realigned in 1994 at the request of the mayor of Diaz.
