OKC - Outer Loop South (OK-4/OK-9)

[Bobby5280]

I'll start this out by saying I'm not aware of any plans whatsoever for the Kilpatrick Turnpike to be extended south of I-40 and on over to I-35 as some murky plans suggested a decade ago.

When the H.E. Bailey Turnpike extension was first built, I was under the strong impression it would eventually connect with I-35 near Norman and I-40 in Yukon. Some of this was based on additional right of way acquired & clearing done along OK-4 through the Bridge Creek area as well as the construction of the Interstate highway grade quality crossing over the Canadian River just South of Mustang. Back in 2001 it seemed like it wouldn't really take all that much additional work to connect the H.E. Bailey Turnpike Spur with the Western end of the Kilpatrick Turnpike at I-40. At the time it might have been even easier than upgrading OK-9 to Interstate quality standards from the US-62/277 intersection to I-35.

Now, any extension of the Kilpatrick Turnpike to the South is going to run into problems.

Around 2004 a new residential housing subdivision began construction about a mile South of the Kilpatrick Turnpike terminus, directly in the path of any extension to the South. That was a pretty stupid goof on the part of whoever approved that deal. The Turnpike Authority should have been taking whatever steps they could to secure an alignment to the South. Instead the road just dead-ends at SW 15th. As both Yukon and Mustang continue to grow it's going to make any long term efforts at extending the turnpike South ever more difficult.

I remember reading something about the Kilpatrick Turnpike possibly being extended South about 2 or 3 miles and then curving East to connect into the OK-152 Airport Road freeway. That wouldn't really work as an "outer loop" per se, but it would give I-240 a good chance to attach to I-40 at both ends. Still, the OTA would have to buy up at least a block or two on the East end that housing development (on the west side of Sara Rd.) right past the turnpike's current dead end.

Another sketchy proposal I saw mentioned had the Kilpatrick running farther south and then extending East along or near the Canadian River, hooking into I-35 near Indian Hills Road. Again, there is increasing development taking place in Moore, as well as all the other activity in Mustang and Yukon.

If the H.E. Bailey Turnpike Spur was actually extended up to I-40 that same housing development would be in the way, at least the Eastern edge of it. Then there's another housing development and what might be a church or something just South of SW 29th Street. Then there's scattered residences along Sara Rd. of varying quality. The intersection of Sara Rd and SW 74th Street would be one of the toughest issues. Walmart and Lowe's are on the East side of Sara Rd. More residential and commercial development is trying to box in the West side of the road.

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone in ODOT, the OTA, various cities & counties involved are thinking at all about any of this stuff. I realize funding for any kind of expansion of the Kilpatrick (much less anything being done with OK-9 and OK-4) is a really serious issue. At the same time the more these powers that be fart around and not have any sort of long term infrastructure plan in place the more it's going to cost them when they're finally forced to build out some of these routes.

I would have at least liked to see the OK-4 and OK-9 routes built as wide, divided streets with enough median in the center to build a future freeway. Or just get enough land. "Super 2" and "Super 4" the routes with at grade intersections, but with opposing directions taking the shape of exit ramps when meeting at grade intersections. They could have been doing either of those things to keep future alignments from being overrun by development they didn't foresee taking place.

[Scott5114]

Planning is not Oklahoma's strong suit.

That being said, OK-9 is an expressway, and it wouldn't be all that difficult to upgrade most of it to a freeway, even as far east as US-77 in Norman, except for the bit around the I-35 interchange where there is some substantial commercial development.

[Bobby5280]

That short stretch of OK-9 between 24th Avenue and the I-35 interchange would be tricky. The casino and other businesses flanking OK-9 are set back from the road a good distance. But it's not clear if there's nearly enough space to squeeze in four lanes of superhighway & frontage roads along side it. Building a new terrain route around that part of OK-9 to I-35 might be just as tricky. A few businesses are built on either side of I-35 next to the Canadian River.

I think OK-4 is an even tougher situation as far as any road upgrade is concerned. However, it's not unheard of for road upgrades or expansion to buy up and demolish a lot of homes and businesses next to the existing road. There's some of that going on along I-35 in Texas between DFW and Austin.

[rte66man]

Scott is right, it wouldn't be hard to upgrade OK9 to a full freeway.  Assuming the Chickasaws would sell some of their casino land, the connection to I35 wouldn't be hard either.  Just move the main lanes farther south and there is plenty of room for service roads (we Okies don't use the term "frontage road".  Th belongs to Baja Oklahoma).

rte66man

[bugo]

We call them "frontage roads" in Tulsa.  I've never heard "service road".

[Scott5114]

Scott is right, it wouldn't be hard to upgrade OK9 to a full freeway.  Assuming the Chickasaws would sell some of their casino land, the connection to I35 wouldn't be hard either.  Just move the main lanes farther south and there is plenty of room for service roads (we Okies don't use the term "frontage road".  Th belongs to Baja Oklahoma).

rte66man

This has the potential to get quite expensive fairly quickly, since the casino sits on "trust land" which I believe has some sort of special legal status that would make it difficult to transfer to the state. It would also probably be difficult to get the tribe to agree to transfer the land, since it is difficult to get land put into trust in the first place and they always have some plans for expanding the casino (which never materialize, but that's neither here nor there).

Getting into fictional highways territory here, the easiest way to do it from a ROW point of view would probably be to build a new construction freeway from the point where Highway 9 goes undivided and angle it northeast to a new river crossing. From there, proceed down the north bank of the river to link back up with Highway 9 at Exit 108A. This would be much more expensive from a pure construction point of view but would lower ROW costs, so whether it would come out cheaper or not is anyone's guess.

[rte66man]

Scott is right, it wouldn't be hard to upgrade OK9 to a full freeway.  Assuming the Chickasaws would sell some of their casino land, the connection to I35 wouldn't be hard either.  Just move the main lanes farther south and there is plenty of room for service roads (we Okies don't use the term "frontage road".  Th belongs to Baja Oklahoma).

rte66man

This has the potential to get quite expensive fairly quickly, since the casino sits on "trust land" which I believe has some sort of special legal status that would make it difficult to transfer to the state. It would also probably be difficult to get the tribe to agree to transfer the land, since it is difficult to get land put into trust in the first place and they always have some plans for expanding the casino (which never materialize, but that's neither here nor there).

Getting into fictional highways territory here, the easiest way to do it from a ROW point of view would probably be to build a new construction freeway from the point where Highway 9 goes undivided and angle it northeast to a new river crossing. From there, proceed down the north bank of the river to link back up with Highway 9 at Exit 108A. This would be much more expensive from a pure construction point of view but would lower ROW costs, so whether it would come out cheaper or not is anyone's guess.

That's not a bad idea, especially as it would provide a relief route for casino and football traffic. Of course that also means it will never happen....

rte66man

[Bobby5280]

The cost of building a new, Interstate quality crossing over the Canadian River might be considerably more expensive than paying to relocate Love's, Sonic, P&K Equipment, First American Bank and any other business close to the North side of OK-9 a hundred or so feet farther back from the road.

If I was an executive for Riverwind Casino able to make some huge decisions, I certainly would't mind giving up around 50' of space on the South edge of OK-9 in front of the casino for highway expansion. Being at the corner of two Interstate quality highways would be a pretty big deal. Add to that the possible jealousy factor with road upgrades that have happened elsewhere in the state within the vicinity of a big casino (namely the improvement of I-44 next to the Hard Rock Hotel outside Tulsa).

[bugo]

I-44 was improved at the 193rd East Avenue interchange but the road on either side is still the old 4 lane narrow Skelly Drive that dates from the '50s.  It will eventually be six lanes from turnpike to turnpike, but that is likely many years away.