I-344 I-240 I-335 Signage

[Bobby5280]

The plate pay fees are pretty friggin' expensive. They're often as much as double the PikePass rate. OTA must be getting a pretty good "bonus" there already.

The OTA is certainly asking for trouble (or at least setting themselves up to be forced to answer lots of questions repeatedly) by "simplifying" the vehicle toll categories to small, medium and large. Are they going to be sending out new kinds of PikePass RFID stickers for this?

I always think about the people driving regular pickup trucks and pulling flatbed trailers loaded with all sorts of stuff. In the past they would be paying a per axle fee when paying cash at the manned toll booths. I assume they'll just be paying the "small" rate now, like anyone driving a pickup truck that isn't pulling a trailer.

[rte66man]

If tolls get high enough the act of shunpiking becomes more financially sensible. If the OTA wanted to charge me $100 to use the H.E. Bailey Turnpike on a road trip between Lawton and OKC I'd damned sure take US-62 instead.

Why not 277 instead of 62?

[Bobby5280]

I'd take 277 for the leg from Elgin to Chickasha. I'm used to both routes (and 281) overlapping each other here.

[rte66man]

I'd take 277 for the leg from Elgin to Chickasha. I'm used to both routes (and 281) overlapping each other here.

That jogged my memory as I've never understood why 277 wasn't terminated in Ninnekah where it meets US81. It is still signed north to the I44 Newcastle junction

[Bobby5280]

I think it's weird US-277 no longer connects to its parent route in OKC.

[rte66man]

Remember, Oklahoma also has the disconnected US266. Also has the unauthorized segment of US377

[Scott5114]

Also has the unauthorized segment of US377

Turns out that's authorized by federal law, and may have been the first highway designation written into law. It was unusual enough at the time that AASHTO had a bug up its butt about giving their approval even though Congress mandated it.

[US75A]

I drove the south end of the JKT this morning - everything is signed as I-344, but there is no "end" sign at the junction with SH-152.   

No I-240 signs along SH-152 between the end of the JKT and I-44.   

[The Ghostbuster]

Does anyone know when they might number the exits on Interstate 344 and the Interstate 240 extension? Interstate 335 might get new exit numbers once the Kickapoo Turnpike is extended south of Interstate 40 to Interstate 35, although they may also remain unchanged.

[Scott5114]

Interstate 335 might get new exit numbers once the Kickapoo Turnpike is extended south of Interstate 40 to Interstate 35, although they may also remain unchanged.

As far as I can tell, this sentence contains zero information.

[Bobby5280]

One thing I do know: the current exit numbers on the Kickapoo Turnpike don't appear to make any sense. I realize the numbers are sort of supposed to continue I-35 exit numbers from the Red River. But do those exit numbers line up with the mileage of the proposed Kickapoo Turnpike extension down to I-35 near Purcell? What I'm asking is will the exit numbers on the Kickapoo Turnpike extension start out in the 96-97 range near Purcell and jive with the 130 range numbers North of I-40?

[Scott5114]

Bobby, you've lived in Oklahoma long enough to know not to expect anything to make any damn sense...

[I-55]

One thing I do know: the current exit numbers on the Kickapoo Turnpike don't appear to make any sense. I realize the numbers are sort of supposed to continue I-35 exit numbers from the Red River. But do those exit numbers line up with the mileage of the proposed Kickapoo Turnpike extension down to I-35 near Purcell? What I'm asking is will the exit numbers on the Kickapoo Turnpike extension start out in the 96-97 range near Purcell and jive with the 130 range numbers North of I-40?

The Kickapoo Turnpike northern terminus exit number (149) is the same on both the Kickapoo and Turner Turnpikes. Perhaps that's where they wanted to match the mileage.

[Bobby5280]

Bobby, you've lived in Oklahoma long enough to know not to expect anything to make any damn sense...

The people in charge of running the state keep coming up with new doozies to make us embarrassed to be living here. Yesterday I learned that culture warrior Lisa Standridge authored and introduced a bill (SB 484) in the State Senate that would ban all cities and towns in Oklahoma other than OKC and Tulsa from using any city resources to operate homeless shelters or do homeless outreach.

Most non-profit organizations that run homeless shelters or do outreach rely heavily on state or federal grants. That's in addition to any donations they receive from individuals or businesses. That funding can often go through local city government channels rather than directly to the non-profit organizations.

Overall, Standridge's bill sounds pretty damned cruel and tone-deaf, especially in light of a worsening problem of homelessness due in part to a relentless rise in living costs. Banning shelters and outreach isn't going to make the problem magically go away. But when Oklahoma's "leaders" think in cartoon terms they tend to come up with cartoon legislation. This is just yet another thing making Oklahoma look like a bastion for assholes to the rest of the nation. Great thing for the state's image and marketability.

[Scott5114]

Of course, that would affect Norman, which has been having a pretty big homeless problem under the current mayor. But of course the homeless people don't congregate in the part of town that Standridge represents...

[Bobby5280]

Standridge's bill would affect the Lawton area as well. We have a number of different agencies that would either be severely impacted or closed outright if that hateful piece of legislation were to pass.

I understand the anger coming from the general public. No one likes being bothered by a panhandler in a grocery store parking lot or in the median of a city street. No one wants to sit on a public bench after a homeless person was sleeping there (and maybe pissing on himself). Homeless people can trash up restrooms. Outdoor encampments can turn into a safety hazard (plus most people consider them an eye sore).

People like Standridge appear to think closing homeless shelters and cutting funding for outreach programs will make the problem magically disappear -as if the existence of these programs is encouraging homelessness in the first place. People in various un-housed situations aren't going to simply leave the state. A lack of shelters and outreach programs will put homeless people into greater physical danger. Some may be pushed into criminal activity to survive.

Lots of assholes tend to think anyone who is homeless is working some kind of scam. Many homeless people suffer from severe forms of mental illness. But hardly anyone wants to pay for these people to be in some kind of an institution, much less get any sort of help at all. So they're discarded on the streets instead. The only thing the general public seems to want is for these people to stay out of sight (and maybe die there).

We have one emergency shelter in Lawton specifically for battered women and their kids. Standridge's bill would force these women either onto the streets or back with their abusers. Oklahoma generally has a shitty track record in this department. The state prefers to act after the husband has murdered his wife and kids.

Standridge's bill can go right along with other punching-down legislation in the works on the federal end. The incoming administration wants to make big cuts to SNAP and other social safety net programs to punish lazy poor people and give rich people more tax cuts. Quite a few low wage service industry workers depend on food stamps and other assistance to make ends meet. Some of those workers are women with kids.

[Rothman]

Every time I think OK can't get any worse...

[Scott5114]

Every time I think OK can't get any worse...

It's a very interesting contrast to read Bobby's post the same day I caught parts of the Nevada State of the State address (a portion of which was devoted to restructuring the state health and human services agency to better address mental health needs), to say the least.

[The Ghostbuster]

Since the 240 extension has not been signed yet, and 335 and 344 have been, I wonder if the 240 extension will remain an unsigned route.

[Bobby5280]

If it was up to me, the I-240 segment along Airport Road would remain unsigned. I can't see any benefit of signing Airport Road as I-240 from a standpoint of helping motorists navigate the highway system. If anything, signing that road as I-240, only for it to dead-end at a surface street in Mustang, would do more to confuse people.

Perhaps if they built the missing flyover ramp at the I-344/OK-152 interchange there might more justification to add I-240 signage on Airport Road. Even with a complete Y interchange the route signing situation would still stink. I-240 really should have been signed on that new portion of the Kilpatrick Turnpike up to I-40.

[CoreySamson]

Since the 240 extension has not been signed yet, and 335 and 344 have been, I wonder if the 240 extension will remain an unsigned route.

The only reason that I-240 hasn't been signed yet is that ODOT hasn't gotten around to it (while OTA has completed their stuff regarding 335 and 344). I am pretty sure that ODOT won't leave a route half-unsigned. Patience, young Padawan.

[US75A]

One thing I do know: the current exit numbers on the Kickapoo Turnpike don't appear to make any sense. I realize the numbers are sort of supposed to continue I-35 exit numbers from the Red River. But do those exit numbers line up with the mileage of the proposed Kickapoo Turnpike extension down to I-35 near Purcell? What I'm asking is will the exit numbers on the Kickapoo Turnpike extension start out in the 96-97 range near Purcell and jive with the 130 range numbers North of I-40?

The Kickapoo Turnpike northern terminus exit number (149) is the same on both the Kickapoo and Turner Turnpikes. Perhaps that's where they wanted to match the mileage.

The JKT doesn't have exit numbers (yet), but the mile markers are a continuation of the I-44 mileage from the east end that decrease down to 104.5 right at the junction with SH 152.