New I-44 OK-66 interchange in Tulsa area (Catoosa)

[bugo]

Fuck that. Why do you think they should tear up the pavement? It isn't hurting anybody. It is an amazing relic, and I don't understand why somebody who claims to like roads would want this road removed. It would cost a lot of money and would provide no benefits to anybody. Buzzkill.

I was happy when old PA61 was finally dirted over. I might have felt differently if it hadn't been completely graffitied all to shite, but that road had long since jumped the shark.

I can't see how a road enthusiast wanting things to be more boring than they already are. It would be like a bridge enthusiast cheering on the demolition of a historic truss. As far as the Catoosa highway, it's not in bad shape and makes a good hiking trail. It's part of the past that has been (temporarily, at least) preserved in time. I hope they never remove it.

[Plutonic Panda]

This project will begin construction soon:

Commissioners awarded several contracts, among them an interchange improvement project for I-44 at SH-66 in Catoosa. The $42 million project will straighten a significant curve on I-44, allow for added capacity, higher speeds and provide better access to the area. A $16 million project will resurface and add shoulders to 6 miles of US-281 at US-412, near Chester in Major County in Northwestern Oklahoma.

- https://oklahoma.gov/odot/about-us/newsroom/2024/-august-commission-meeting-wrap-up--us-70-roosevelt-bridge-and-i.html

[Bobby5280]

I'm surprised ODOT has taken this long to start to do anything with the I-44/OK-66 interchange in Catoosa. I was just in that area this past weekend (sign industry regional convention at the Hard Rock Hotel). The way they've widened I-44 leading up to the intersection with 193rd East Avenue is pretty nice. But going thru that exit I-44 drops from 4x4 lanes down to just 2x2. It's a bottleneck. Plus there's a left exit for OK-66 on the EB I-44 lanes. The widening work on I-44 in that area was completed around 2011. The I-44/OK-66 interchange has remained in its condition ever since.

At least they got that other I-44/OK-66 interchange fixed on the Southwest side of Tulsa. Man I hated that thing. It was so easy mess up and end up on OK-66 due to the 2-lane left exit.

Other random observation, construction crews are getting after it on the Turner Turnpike widening project from the current end of the 3x3 lanes setup to Exit 196 in Bristow. It's about 6 miles of work. The stuff that has been completed extending Southwest from Tulsa is so much nicer than the existing 2x2 road. The 3x3 road has ample shoulders, lights installed on the Jersey barrier and a lot of clean green terrain extending out from the road. The older 2x2 highway seems really cramped by comparison, especially with all the heavy trucks on the road. When it opens up to 3x3 the highway suddenly has a lot more breathing room.

In OKC: even though Google Maps is showing I-335 on the Kickapoo Turnpike, I-344 on the Kilpatrick and I-240 extended over Airport Road, none of those new Interstates have been signed in the field just yet. But there is quite a mixed bag of good and bad on new signage in various project areas.

Anyway, when they finally get the work done on the I-44/OK-66 interchange in Catoosa hopefully the main lanes will be no less than 3x3 thru the interchange. Obviously the left exit is going to be remedied.

[rte66man]

The stretch of I44 wasn't completed until the interchange at 161st East Ave was finished in 2020. The part around the 191st East Av interchange was still 2x2 at that time.

[Bobby5280]

The I-44 road bed going by the Hard Rock Hotel was widened over a decade ago. It was striped as 2x2 lanes initially in 2011 and then 3x3 by 2012. It stayed striped 3x3 until the end of the 2010's as progress on the I-44 widening project moved farther West towards the I-244 interchange.

[rte66man]

According to the Google Earth shot from March 2020,there were only 2 WB lanes open. EB had 2 thru lanes and 2 marked exit only (different chicken scratch lines).

[swake]

This $42 million project starts construction on Monday.

https://www.news9.com/story/67490b3987cff277bceabeb5/42m-construction-project-for-i-44-route-66-interchange-starts-in-dec-2