Tulsa to Dallas?

[bugo]

I'm going to Dallas in a couple of weeks to see BT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Transeau).  The obvious route is US 75 south to the Indian Nation Turnpike south to US 69 south to US 75 south.  Google Maps shows an alternate that is US 75 south to the Indian Nation Turnpike south to US 271 south to TX 24 south to I-30 west.  Google Maps shows the route through Sherman being 254 miles while the route through Paris being 290 miles.  Has anyone taken this alternate?  Would the extra 36 miles be worth it to bypass all those little towns on US 69?  I'm going to the House of Blues which is near the I-35E/TX 366 interchange.  I may end up going one way and coming back the other...

[Alps]

You know if it were me I'd just take US 75 south the whole way and not pay the toll.

[corco]

I've never done the Indian Nation, but I can say that 75 the whole way (what I did for the Tulsa meet) works well- there's not much traffic on 75 between 69 and I-40, and it's actually kind of a fun, scenic drive. The slowdowns in towns are fairly limited. I doubt it's faster, but I also doubt it adds more than 20 or 30 minutes. I can't see how that would be possible

[Sykotyk]

US-75 the whole way isn't bad. US-69 is actually very fast moving. Only the town of Atoka will be the pain. The rest is relatively high speed.

Sykotyk

[corco]

You have to go through Atoka no matter what though- that hellhole of a town is right where 69 and 75 join

[Sykotyk]

Oklahoma desperately needs to put a freeway bypass around that town.

Sykotyk

[corco]

The best way to do that would be to evict every man, woman, and child, demolish every building in the town, build a new freeway over the existing town, and then if there's demand for businesses there they will come back. I guess given its location it's prime to be a "drifter town" which I think is what makes it so sketchy, but newer buildings and roads without potholes would at least make it feel nicer