Tulsa Metro Highways | Small projects and construction

[Great Lakes Roads]

A $57 million project starts Monday to completely rebuild five miles of I-244 in west Tulsa from the I-44 split north to the Arkansas River bridge going into downtown.

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/interstate-244-west-of-downtown-is-going-to-be-a-much-smoother-ride-but-it/article_65233880-c07c-11ee-a9e0-b350fe939177.html

About time! 

[Plutonic Panda]

Too bad they're not going to remove the left exit at US 75.

[bugo]

Too bad they're not going to remove the left exit at US 75.

It's signed as a left exit, but it's actually a major split.

[Plutonic Panda]

Too bad they're not going to remove the left exit at US 75.

It's signed as a left exit, but it's actually a major split.

Assuming this becomes I-45 one day maybe they should keep US-75 in together and have I-244 exit onto it or vice versa.

[swake]

Too bad they're not going to remove the left exit at US 75.

It's signed as a left exit, but it's actually a major split.

Assuming this becomes I-45 one day maybe they should keep US-75 in together and have I-244 exit onto it or vice versa.

The plan is to widen US-75 to six/eight lanes from the I-244 split to 151st over the next several years. It will become the much larger highway. I don't see a need to ever widen I-244 to move than four lanes south of the US-75 split. Next year is going to be a very tough year to drive US-75

Starting this fall widening to six lanes from 41st to I-44
Starting this fall completion of the I-44 interchange
Starting this fall widening to 6-8 lanes from I-44 to 65th St
Starting this fall the 61st St interchange to be rebuilt
Starting late next year the 81st interchange will be rebuilt including widening from 75th St to past 81st St
Starting next year rebuilt bridges over Bird Creek (at about 101st ST)
Starting this summer building a new interchange with service roads at 141st ST

[Plutonic Panda]

^^^cool! Lots of good projects happening. Not sure if I've ever been on US-75 in the Tulsa area. Sounds like a lot of stuff is overdue though.

[Bobby5280]

It's good to hear they're going to widen US-75 going South out of Tulsa down to Glenpool. But if there is any long term desire to install Interstate shields on this corridor from Tulsa to Dallas ODOT has to start laying the groundwork for freeway upgrades South of Glenpool.

It's going to be pretty odd if they widen US-75 to a 3x3 configuration down to the interchange with OK-67 but then have US-75 start hitting at-grade intersections immediately South of that exit, starting with E 156th Street.

[swake]

It's good to hear they're going to widen US-75 going South out of Tulsa down to Glenpool. But if there is any long term desire to install Interstate shields on this corridor from Tulsa to Dallas ODOT has to start laying the groundwork for freeway upgrades South of Glenpool.

It's going to be pretty odd if they widen US-75 to a 3x3 configuration down to the interchange with OK-67 but then have US-75 start hitting at-grade intersections immediately South of that exit, starting with E 156th Street.

They do plan to widen US-75 to 6/8 lanes fully interstate quality from OK-67/151st ST north to downtown within the next decade or so. It will be weird to go from a rural style 4 lane divided highway at 156th St with curb cuts and at grade intersections to suddenly a 6+ lane major urban highway with service roads at 151st St. That's Oklahoma.

[Bobby5280]

I'm talking about the situation South of Glenpool -going South of the intersection with E 151st Street toward Olkmulgee. They're probably going to need to add continuous frontage roads outside of the main lanes. Doing that is going to be a tight squeeze in more than a few locations. If they copy some of the design ideas used in Indiana on the I-69 upgrade of IN-37 they might be able to make it work. They'll have to sandwich frontage roads to the main lanes and separate them using a concrete Jersey barrier. That will save a good amount of space. 

[swake]

I'm talking about the situation South of Glenpool -going South of the intersection with E 151st Street toward Olkmulgee. They're probably going to need to add continuous frontage roads outside of the main lanes. Doing that is going to be a tight squeeze in more than a few locations. If they copy some of the design ideas used in Indiana on the I-69 upgrade of IN-37 they might be able to make it work. They'll have to sandwich frontage roads to the main lanes and separate them using a concrete Jersey barrier. That will save a good amount of space.

The state is slated over the next few years to purchase the needed ROW on US-75 all the way south to 211th St, which is the Tulsa County line.

South of there to Okmulgee there really aren't that many at grade intersections. There's an interchange now at Beggs (OK-16) and one under construction at Preston. Upgrading US-75 to limited access to Okmulgee wouldn't be that big a job. Building something around Okmulgee would be very big and expensive. It would be good to do, all those semis going through the heart of Okmulgee hitting a dozen or so stop lights is pretty dangerous and stupid.

[Bobby5280]

It's good news they're starting to build an interchange on US-75 in Preston. That's one of the more tricky locations along US-75 between Glenpool and Olkmulgee. The intersection with Hectorville Road, just South of the Tulsa County line will need an interchange. It would be interesting to see how it would get built.

The most difficult task is a bypass around Olkmulgee. That partial loop OK-56 loop in town probably isn't going to be any good to use for upgrading into a freeway. They might have to build a new route farther East or West around town.

[rte66man]

It's good news they're starting to build an interchange on US-75 in Preston. That's one of the more tricky locations along US-75 between Glenpool and Olkmulgee. The intersection with Hectorville Road, just South of the Tulsa County line will need an interchange. It would be interesting to see how it would get built.

The most difficult task is a bypass around Okmulgee. That partial loop OK-56 loop in town probably isn't going to be any good to use for upgrading into a freeway. They might have to build a new route farther East or West around town.

Making 75 a freeway from the Tulsa County line south to Henryetta will NEVER happen; mostly for all the reasons listed above. IF I45 is ever extended into Oklahoma, it will track 69 to Checotah and end there at the junction with I40.

[Bobby5280]

With the way Texas has been handling super highway route designations for the past 30 years I think chances are pretty slim for I-45 to get extended North from Downtown Dallas. The chances aren't zero, but they're still pretty low.

Oklahoma could boost the chances of I-45 being signed in the Sooner State, but only if the state's lawmakers make any noise about it. These days they're more obsessed with culture wars than infrastructure issues.

I do think much of US-69 from the Red River to Big Cabin will be Interstate quality. But lesser quality gaps will remain. People in Muskogee blocked efforts for a limited access bypass. That's probably the biggest factor why an I-45 extension would end at I-40 in Checotah. Although ODOT could just simply build a new bypass farther around Muskogee, outside city limits and that local government's jurisdiction. Or ODOT could slow-walk maintenance on US-69 in that town in order to let heavy trucks beat that town's streets more to shit. Over the long term, if I-57 gets completed between Little Rock and Sikeston that could draw commercial traffic away from the US-69 corridor. That could speed up the process of towns like Atoka of drying up.

[CoreySamson]

Regarding Okmulgee, rather than build an all new bypass, I would like to see ODOT simply extend the OK 56 Loop bypass to the south back to US 75, four lane it, and build some kind of interchange at the current US 75/OK 56 Loop intersection (maybe something similar to the US 61/Devereux Drive interchange in Natchez?). I think that would be perfectly adequate for the traffic going through town.

As for the rest of US 75, the only place where I would want an interchange is at 141st. That desperately needs an interchange. I've been stuck at that light for 4 cycles in a row during rush hour; it needs to go. I could see ODOT building interchanges to improve safety between Glenpool and Okmulgee, but I don't think it should be a priority, as traffic flows fine along that section of the route. My personal wish for 75 that ODOT would remove the ramps from US 75 to 111th. With OK 364 being right there, it causes way too many merging conflicts.

[Bobby5280]

They could double-barrel that OK-56 partial loop in Okmulgee. But they don't have nearly enough ROW to make it limited access. There isn't any room for frontage roads to handle all the driveways currently connecting into the main road. The intersection with OK-56 and US-75 on the North end of town doesn't have any spare room at all for freeway directional ramps. Even if they four lane OK-56 the intersection there at US-75 would be like that of a busy urban intersection with a traffic signal.

The situation in Olkmulgee is further complicated by all the Creek Nation trust land in town. The Creek Nation tribal complex is built next to one of the corners at OK-56 and US-75. Just like the situation in Muskogee, the prospect of building a freeway (or tollroad) bypass around town would require going well outside of city limits.

As for the rest of US 75, the only place where I would want an interchange is at 141st.

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/business/new-interchange-planned-for-u-s-75-and-141st-street-in-glenpool/article_b01dc40e-88b9-11ee-bd74-dff51957a607.html

[tulsaweather]

I noticed in the latest 8 year ODOT plan, there is work on "selected movements" for I-44/BA Expressway, BA Expressway/169 interchanges.  Are there any plans that show what that will look like?  Thanks,