Driving Forward OK

[Brian556]

If they ever build another toll road in Oklahoma after the Eastern Oklahoma County/Kickapoo Turnpike is completed, I wonder what name they would give it? Any suggestions?

The "Slapahoe Turnpike" or "Kickabich Turnpike?"

I've wondered from time to time why H.E. Bailey's name was applied to what are effectively two separate turnpikes (well, 3 now considering the "extension" that failed to make it from I-44 to I-35).

I don't have a problem with the guy getting his name applied to at least one of the sections. But maybe the segment between Lawton and Wichita Falls could have been named something else. We do have a bunch of tribes in this part of the state. The Comanche tribe is the big one, followed by the Kiowa tribe, Apache tribe and others. Lawton is home to Fort Sill and Wichita Falls is home to Sheppard AFB. Maybe the toll road between Lawton and Wichita Falls could have been given a military themed name.

I just had a disturbing idea: what if the OTA started selling turnpike naming rights to corporations, like the naming practices of sports stadiums? That would really suck.

I could see these happening if the residents of an urban neighborhood were allowed to name highways

[Bobby5280]

I just thought of of one: the THOT Thruway.

[Plutonic Panda]

The Route 66 and Turner Turnpike Split SW of the I-44/244 interchange will be redesigned and reconstructed. It appears from the article that a new flyover will carry cars over I-44 to remove the left hand exit which is great news if that is the case.

" OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority gave its approval Wednesday for a $39 million interchange modification project at the Tulsa end of the Turner Turnpike.

The OTA agreed to let Director Tim Gatz enter an agreement with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation for an interchange modification where Interstate 44 and Oklahoma 66 meet. Gatz also serves as state transportation secretary and ODOT director."

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/tuls...60ce62947.html

Next up they need to tackle the I-44/I-244 interchange where the Gilcrease Tollway will be expanded to. A design like the 91 and 5 interchanges in OC would be cool.

[Bobby5280]

I think the future interchange of the Gilcrease Tollway with I-44 & I-244 ought to be a 4-level directional stack. But Oklahoma's state legislature will never sign off on such a thing (even with it being in Tulsa). Any upgrades to that interchange will, no doubt, involve at least a couple cloverleaf loops. And the project will take at least 10 years to build.

Aside from that pessimism, I am happy to hear the OTA is finally going to do something about that awful I-44/OK-66 split on the SW side of Tulsa. Despite the overhead sign on the approach to that Y split it's pretty easy to make a wrong turn there. The Y split is kind of subtle and the left exit for OK-66 is 2 lanes wide. If your brain is in the slightest bit of auto-pilot mode you can easily end up on the wrong road. In heavy traffic you can get forced onto the wrong road.

I've made that wrong turn at least 3 times over the years, meaning to stay on I-44 but ending up on OK-66. It's about a 5 mile drive to the next I-44 WB entry ramp. The situation is possibly worse for people intending to take the OK-66 exit. The last free exit is immediately just past the I-44/OK-66 Y. And that ramp to 57th W. Avenue is a very short ramp. If they get stuck on I-44 they have to drive 6 miles down to the OK-97/N 9th Street exit and pay a toll.

A new ramp configuration to eliminate the 2-lane wide left exit for OK-66 should help eliminate most of the wrong turns.

[Plutonic Panda]

^^^ LOL I have went the wrong way through there more times then I care to mention.

[Bobby5280]

That I-44 exit (221A) is still the same bad, hard right design as it has been for many years. The only thing that changed is OTA relocated that PikePass office elsewhere. But anyone wanting to get off I-44 in a last ditch attempt to shun-pike needs to already be in the right line (and ready to stop all of a sudden) if they want to make that exit.

That exit ramp on I-44 may be really bad, but I've seen much worse. I swear I don't know what's going on in Colorado with some of the exit ramps there. Such as this abomination on I-25 in Colorado at "Exit 106": https://bit.ly/2PltnMP
When I passed by that spot over the past holiday weekend the normal exit sign wasn't there anymore. The replacement exit sign was the size of an ordinary neighborhood street name sign. I-25 in Colorado has a number of other hard turn entrance and exit ramps.

[CtrlAltDel]

Aside from that pessimism, I am happy to hear the OTA is finally going to do something about that awful I-44/OK-66 split on the SW side of Tulsa. Despite the overhead sign on the approach to that Y split it's pretty easy to make a wrong turn there. The Y split is kind of subtle and the left exit for OK-66 is 2 lanes wide. If your brain is in the slightest bit of auto-pilot mode you can easily end up on the wrong road. In heavy traffic you can get forced onto the wrong road.

What got me was that dancing arrow. It seems to say to bear left, and so I bore left, and found myself so very confused to see turn lanes and businesses on the Interstate.

[bugo]

The ramp from NB US 75 to EB I-44 and the EB I-44 C/D lane is currently closed. There is no signed detour and could be very confusing to outsiders. The stretch from 75 to the river is under construction. It's a mess.

[Scott5114]

Aside from that pessimism, I am happy to hear the OTA is finally going to do something about that awful I-44/OK-66 split on the SW side of Tulsa. Despite the overhead sign on the approach to that Y split it's pretty easy to make a wrong turn there. The Y split is kind of subtle and the left exit for OK-66 is 2 lanes wide. If your brain is in the slightest bit of auto-pilot mode you can easily end up on the wrong road. In heavy traffic you can get forced onto the wrong road.

What got me was that dancing arrow. It seems to say to bear left, and so I bore left, and found myself so very confused to see turn lanes and businesses on the Interstate.

Not helping matters there is ODOT's refusal to use double diagonal up arrows for exit direction signs.

[Bobby5280]

Visually, the two left lanes moving downward, under an overpass is what confused me one of the times I took the wrong turn. The lanes rising up at the right look like an exit ramp. If the driver's brain is running on auto pilot at all (and he didn't notice the signs) his first instinct may be to stay left in order to stay on the turnpike.

[kphoger]

Wow...  This was really not making sense to me...  Until I realized that I-44 West and OK-66 split in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City.  I was trying to make the OKC junction fit what I was seeing the picture, and it just wasn't working.

I wasn't paying attention to the legend, just the shields and lane configuration.

[In_Correct]

That interchange used to be much worse. Interstate 44 used to have a shorter, direct route, but it had a sloppy interchange. You can not get to the old alignment any more, but it is still there.

[Scott5114]

That interchange used to be much worse. Interstate 44 used to have a shorter, direct route, but it had a sloppy interchange. You can not get to the old alignment any more, but it is still there.

I think you're thinking of the other OTHER I-44/SH-66 split, on the east side of Tulsa. This one is on the west side of Tulsa.

[will_e_777]

Up until the early 1980s, it may have even been as late as like 1988; at the Turnpike/66 split, there was not even an overpass there, the traffic on 66 heading to Sapulpa had a left exit and a stop sign.  There was also a regular grade crossings at 61st Street, 49th W Ave, and at 55th Street, and a rail crossing before 33rd W Avenue.

[rte66man]

Up until the early 1980s, it may have even been as late as like 1988; at the Turnpike/66 split, there was not even an overpass there, the traffic on 66 heading to Sapulpa had a left exit and a stop sign.  There was also a regular grade crossings at 61st Street, 49th W Ave, and at 55th Street, and a rail crossing before 33rd W Avenue.

It was replaced sometime between 1974 and 1977

[Chris]

The Kilpatrick Turnpike extension to OK-152 is scheduled to open on January 9. I believe this is over a year ahead of the original schedule.

https://oklahoman.com/article/5651628/partial-opening-scheduled-for-kilpatrick-turnpikes-southwest-extension

The 7.5-mile Southwest Extension will provide a loop through the southwest part of Oklahoma City, beginning where the John Kilpatrick Turnpike now ends at Interstate 40 in west Oklahoma City and linking up with State Highway 152, also known as Airport Road, in south Oklahoma City.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday on a section of the new turnpike just east of Morgan Road.

Initially just the westbound/northbound lanes will open, but lanes going the opposite direction are expected to open in a couple of weeks

[Scott5114]

Oh sweet, I'm off that day, and I've got a PikePass...

[okroads]

The Kilpatrick Turnpike extension to OK-152 is scheduled to open on January 9. I believe this is over a year ahead of the original schedule.

https://oklahoman.com/article/5651628/partial-opening-scheduled-for-kilpatrick-turnpikes-southwest-extension

The 7.5-mile Southwest Extension will provide a loop through the southwest part of Oklahoma City, beginning where the John Kilpatrick Turnpike now ends at Interstate 40 in west Oklahoma City and linking up with State Highway 152, also known as Airport Road, in south Oklahoma City.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday on a section of the new turnpike just east of Morgan Road.

Initially just the westbound/northbound lanes will open, but lanes going the opposite direction are expected to open in a couple of weeks

It looked close to completion when I was in OKC a couple weeks ago for the holiday, so not surprised that it's opening soon. Pictures here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/okroads/albums/72157712375202371

[Bobby5280]

I'm a little surprised the Kilpatrick Turnpike extension opened this quickly. As short as the extension seems, it's also a little surprising the length is 7.5 miles. But then all those crazy curves do add to the distance.

The new road may be worth checking out once or twice, but I doubt if it's something I would use on a regular basis coming up to the OKC area from Lawton. One of my friends lives up in Edmond. At first I took I-44 up to the Broadway Extension freeway and then took that into Edmond. The recent extension of the Lake Hefner Parkway created a new, slightly faster alternative.

I would consider using the new Kilpatrick extension for trips between Lawton and Edmond if the Kilpatrick and H.E. Bailey Norman Spur connected as a thru route with no stop lights or intersections (not to mention speed traps).

Planners goofed up a little over 20 years ago, letting developers effectively block the path of any direct Southern extension of the Kilpatrick down to I-44 in Bridge Creek. The path the new Kilpatrick extension has to take to get around the Mustang Creek housing development is pretty freaking wacky.

OK-4 has some potential to upgrade into a 4-lane freeway from I-44 in Bridge Creek up to the Canadian River. The ROW is reserved for the most part until a short distance before the intersection with OK-37. OK-4 is a divided 4-lane road from the Canadian River going into the South side of Mustang. That could be upgraded into a freeway segment as well. But the question is how do you span the gaps, particularly the one in Mustang itself? Mustang is growing too, so any available land is getting swallowed up by more McMansion developments.

[Plutonic Panda]

They need to buy properties needed for land so SH-4 can tie into the new extension and/or SH-152. Then a loop can easily be finished to I-44 and I-35.

[Bobby5280]

I can't help but wonder if certain kinds of people from Pennsylvania quietly invaded Oklahoma over the past 20 years. Because that Southern would-have-been partial loop from I-40 down to Norman is disrupted by multiple Breezewood-style disruptions that makes me only want to avoid the corridor 100% of the time. The bottleneck in front of Riverwind Casino is a Breezewood. The situation along Sara Road in Mustang is another Breezewood. It completely sucks. And that basically comes from the same old usual Okie-dokie-doofus tradition of not planning any farther ahead than a 4 year election cycle. Oklahoma still doesn't even have something like a 4-level directional stack interchange anywhere in the Sooner state. So how can we expect the people who "lead" this state to have enough foresight to have any sense of long term corridor planning anywhere at any time?

[Scott5114]

Guess where I went today!


Immediate toll plaza just north of the exit from SH-152


OTA standard toll plaza signage. As far as I can tell, this is the only Type A (tapered shaft) arrow on the entire new section–OTA used the same signage contractor that ODOT has been using lately, that uniformly uses Type D (straight-shaft) arrows where they don't belong. I want to say this bridge is County Line Road, but it's hard to tell because SOMEONE was too cheap to put up a "Canadian County" sign if so!


Morgan Road exit. This is supposed to be a Type A arrow like the one on the Cash Vehicles Pay Toll sign.


Only the northbound lanes are open, allowing this guy to go north in the southbound lane.


Approaching SW 29th Street. There's a surprise waiting for you at the exit!


I have no idea where they got this mileage from. Mile markers are posted at .0 and .5, like on I-35, but with these custom-designed ones, not the enhanced mile markers ODOT has been using on I-35.


SW 29th Street/Sara Road exit. Note that Sara Road is not signed on the advance signage, but here it is anyway–a MUTCD violation.


Most of the signs along the extension are on cantilevers, but the few signs on a full gantry use a Brown truss design for some reason, rather than Oklahoma's usual Pratt truss (or ODOT's new monotube design). Also note the weird Series EM shields, a regular feature from this signage contractor. The alignment of "WEST" on the left panel is correct, because this ramp leads to a c/d road where you can exit to both directions of SH-4.

The speed limit is signed at 70 MPH, but the signs looked temporary, so I'm not sure if they're planning to kick it up to 75 after the road is fully open.

[bugo]

Is the I-244/I-444 interchange at the northeast corner of the IDL considered a stack?

[J N Winkler]

Is the I-244/I-444 interchange at the northeast corner of the IDL considered a stack?

Only in the very loose sense that any interchange with more than two levels is a stack.  It is not a true Maltese cross stack because some of the movements are directional (involving left exits for left-turns) rather than semidirectional.

I try to keep a list of Maltese cross stacks worldwide, and my criteria include offside turning movements (left-turning in right-driving countries, right-turning in left-driving countries) served by semidirectional direct connectors such that opposite-facing movements do not cross in plan.  There are no Maltese cross stacks in Oklahoma.  Nor are there any in Kansas (though three have been proposed).  Texas has nearly as many Maltese cross stacks as the rest of the US combined.

[Plutonic Panda]

I believe the I-235/I-44 interchange will be the first four stack in the state. I think 35/I-240 is planned as 4 stack as well. Also the master build out of US-75/I-44 interchange in Tulsa is supposed to be a 4 or 5 stack.