The interstate highways were primarily designed for cross-country travel. I-40 doesn't go through downtown Russellville, Conway, or Little Rock either. To avoid taking expensive downtown property, the highway was routed at the edge of the developed areas in the early 1960s; highway businesses later drew the cities closer to I-40. In the case of Ft. Smith, a routing through the historic downtown would have required two expensive new bridges across the Arkansas River.