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Oklahoma TAKE CARE OF YOUR ROADS

Started by texaskdog, February 20, 2017, 07:21:41 PM

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Scott5114

There was, in fact, a law passed by the Oklahoma legislature requiring I-35 to be built within a certain distance of US-77 in order to be eligible for state road funding. I have always seen it quoted as one mile, though the above measurements makes me wonder if that is the case (or if there is some sort of provision for topography considerations, or perhaps an average divergence of one mile over a certain distance). Also, as far as I know, the law only applied to southern Oklahoma (probably the segment south of I-40).

In any case, local interests in Wayne, Paoli, and Wynnewood were able to secure this legislation with the help of Governor Henry Bellmon. Bellmon at one point threatened to build a toll road rather than an I-35 that was too far away from US-77.

(Source for this is The Roads That Built America by Dan McNichol. I haven't looked up or read the original law.)
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J N Winkler

#26
Quote from: Bobby5280 on February 20, 2017, 09:50:36 PMSpeed limits in OK are up to 75mph on the turnpikes and if I recall correctly rural stretches of I-40 and I-35 get up to 75mph too. 65mph and 70mph are common on US/State routes.

I don't know about I-40, but I can verify that as of last February 13, I-35 had no sections signed for more than 70.

Quote from: Brian556 on February 21, 2017, 12:35:46 AMIt is interesting how Oklahoma has the gridded county roads, but here in North Texas, county roads are random and far between.

Oklahoma is a PLSS state, though surveyed on its own meridian (the Indian Meridian), which does not quite line up with the Sixth Principal Meridian that is used for Kansas, Nebraska, and much of several other states to the north and west.  Texas came into the United States already tentatively surveyed, though on a crazy patchwork quilt of rectilinear survey patterns tilted varying angles off true north to line up with riverbanks in various areas, so it is excluded from the PLSS.

Quote from: texaskdog on February 21, 2017, 10:09:07 AMI believe when the Interstate system started Oklahoma passed a law that it had to run within a mile of the US highway so the businesses wouldn't suffer.  Perhaps others know more about it than I do.

There was a decision, made comparatively early on, that I-35 would be routed closer to US 77 than to US 177, as is indeed the case the entire way south of the US 60 dogleg overlap between Tonkawa and Ponca City where US 77 and US 177 "change places."

Quote from: texaskdog on February 20, 2017, 07:21:41 PM
I-35 just north of OKC is so bad that last year we pulled over thinking we had a flat.  It still hasn't been fixed yet.

Which segment are you thinking of, exactly?  I-35 is pretty rough along the I-44 overlap, but the length between Guthrie and the Stillwater exit (which includes what I think is the longest gap between exits on the untolled Oklahoma freeway network) was repaved last year and is still in good condition.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

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Quote from: sparker on February 23, 2017, 03:54:49 PM
Unless there's a pressing need, railroads -- both national carriers and local servers -- aren't in any hurry to lay more new-alignment trackage; they're more prone to double-track existing lines if the traffic is there to support that expense. 

... and even to un-double-track existing lines if the traffic is not there to justify the maintenance costs.
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Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

texaskdog

Quote from: J N Winkler on February 23, 2017, 03:00:31 PM
Quote from: Bobby5280 on February 20, 2017, 09:50:36 PMSpeed limits in OK are up to 75mph on the turnpikes and if I recall correctly rural stretches of I-40 and I-35 get up to 75mph too. 65mph and 70mph are common on US/State routes.

I don't know about I-40, but I can verify that as of last February 13, I-35 had no sections signed for more than 70.

Quote from: Brian556 on February 21, 2017, 12:35:46 AMIt is interesting how Oklahoma has the gridded county roads, but here in North Texas, county roads are random and far between.

Oklahoma is a PLSS state, though surveyed on its own meridian (the Indian Meridian), which does not quite line up with the Sixth Principal Meridian that is used for Kansas, Nebraska, and much of several other states to the north and west.  Texas came into the United States already tentatively surveyed, though on a crazy patchwork quilt of rectilinear survey patterns tilted varying angles off true north to line up with riverbanks in various areas, so it is excluded from the PLSS.

Quote from: texaskdog on February 21, 2017, 10:09:07 AMI believe when the Interstate system started Oklahoma passed a law that it had to run within a mile of the US highway so the businesses wouldn't suffer.  Perhaps others know more about it than I do.

There was a decision, made comparatively early on, that I-35 would be routed closer to US 77 than to US 177, as is indeed the case the entire way south of the US 60 dogleg overlap between Tonkawa and Ponca City where US 77 and US 177 "change places."

Quote from: texaskdog on February 20, 2017, 07:21:41 PM
I-35 just north of OKC is so bad that last year we pulled over thinking we had a flat.  It still hasn't been fixed yet.

Which segment are you thinking of, exactly?  I-35 is pretty rough along the I-44 overlap, but the length between Guthrie and the Stillwater exit (which includes what I think is the longest gap between exits on the untolled Oklahoma freeway network) was repaved last year and is still in good condition.

The part of 35 just north of DT OKC and the split, northbound.  Atrocious.

Bobby5280

The stretch of I-35 in Oklahoma City between I-40 and I-44 is a very old road with lots of obsolete bridges that don't comply with modern Interstate design standards. The whole things needs a complete re-build.

J N Winkler

Quote from: Bobby5280 on February 24, 2017, 12:29:23 AMThe stretch of I-35 in Oklahoma City between I-40 and I-44 is a very old road with lots of obsolete bridges that don't comply with modern Interstate design standards. The whole things needs a complete re-build.

Actually, I had the impression he was talking about the I-44 overlap, which is the next segment north.  The part between I-40 and I-44 does have serious geometric inadequacies, but the asphalt overlay is still pretty smooth.  The I-44 overlap is Portland cement concrete with asphalt shoulders:  the concrete has bad spalling and D-cracking, while the right-hand shoulder has a more or less continuous pothole right at the fog line.

Both segments would benefit from reconstruction (certainly expansion between I-40 and I-44), but the traffic volumes are such that I think I would avoid OKC altogether for the two or three years it would take.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini



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