I-40 passes through six major cities in Arkansas: Fort Smith and Russellville on the western side, Conway and North Little Rock in the center, and Brinkley and West Memphis on the eastern side. It is a major thoroughfare for commerce as it is currently the only west/east interstate in Arkansas. In addition to this traffic, I-30's eastbound termination and merger with I-40 in North Little Rock cause the east side of the state to be inundated with more commercial traffic than the west side.