ACCESS Oklahoma

[Scott5114]

They could do like what King County, WA did and rename Canadian County to be named after him.

There is/was a road in downtown Tulsa called Brady Street. It had that name for 100 years and nobody complained or cared. Then some do-gooder reopened old wounds by announcing that the person Brady was named after was a bad person. They decided to name it after a different man named Brady in the early 2010s, but that apparently wasn't good enough, so they gave it the worst name of any road in America, Reconciliation Way. What a bad name for a street. Tulsa is known for its awkward embrace of political correctness that manifests in strange ways. They should have just said it was named after Wayne Brady or the Brady Bunch and left it alone. There's also a theater on Brady Street called the Brady Theater, which was renamed to the oh-so generic Tulsa Theater a few years ago. Nothing is forever in Tulsa, not even the names.

There is/was a road in a bad part of Las Vegas called Swenson Street. It had that name for about 70 years and nobody complained or cared. Then some do-gooder was doing some research to see if any of the streets in LV were named after were bad people, and they unexpectedly found out that the Mr. Swenson the street was named after never actually existed. As best they could figure out, it was just a name the founder of the Desert Inn, who originally developed the area, pulled out of his ass. They ended up renaming the street to University Center anyway, mostly because they wanted to promote UNLV and kind of get away from the bad reputation Swenson Street had developed over the years.

Reconciliation Way sounds like it should be the driveway of an accountancy firm.

[kphoger]

Reconciliation Way sounds like it should be the driveway of an accountancy firm.

Or a custom-made sign in the parking lot of a marital counseling office.

[swake]

When you are the site of the worst race based massacre in American history and the first bombing of an American city (they were lit tarballs, but still) you might just end up with some unique names.

Hundreds dead, 35 square blocks burned to ash, 10,000 left homeless, and the victims were treated as criminals and put into detention camps. The KKK openly deputized and put to patrol the burned section of the city. It is one of America's worst, most evil, moments.

[Plutonic Panda]

It really makes me wonder if that didn't happen how much bigger and more successful Tulsa would be today. I mean, wasn't there a black Wall Street if I remember correctly? What a fucking shame. I've always thought Tulsa would be closer to being a city like Atlanta had that had not happened.

I am a bit of a superstitious man, but I'll also say Oklahoma seems like it's a bit of a cursed state.

[swake]

It really makes me wonder if that didn't happen how much bigger and more successful Tulsa would be today. I mean, wasn't there a black Wall Street if I remember correctly? What a fucking shame. I've always thought Tulsa would be closer to being a city like Atlanta had that had not happened.

I am a bit of a superstitious man, but I'll also say Oklahoma seems like it's a bit of a cursed state.

More like Dallas. Tulsa was the original "Oil Capital" long after the massacre. Black Wall Street's wealth and the subsequent jealousy of that wealth was due to all the oil money flowing into the Tulsa area. That's what also led to the Osage Murders in the same time period. For much of the first half of the 20th century Tulsa had more millionaires per capita than anywhere else on Earth. Tulsa was the original Dubai, the deco buildings downtown are a reminder of that.

But things like Oklahoma's stringent at the time banking laws led to Tulsa eventually losing most of those companies. Laws like limits on how big banks could get or how many locations they could have. It limited the amount of capital Oklahoma oil companies could raise locally and led a lot of them to move to Texas where money was easy. DFW airport was a killer too, better access in the jet age. The state of Oklahoma did Tulsa no favors either. Tulsa then and still now has no access to the Interstate system without paying a toll and has no public university to feed grads into companies.

When Gulf oil started to be a thing everything moved to Houston anyway and still is moving there. Tulsa today has only smaller mostly local oil companies. Tulsa's energy industry is still quite large but is focused around pipelines (Stroud isn't moving), oil field services/equipment and natural gas.

I-42 will be great for Tulsa, but still is tolled in both directions outside the city. US-75 needs to be upgraded from Texas to Tulsa as an extension of I-45. It still would have a tolled section in southern Oklahoma but it would be a start.

[Great Lakes Roads]

The June 18th letting for the Toby Keith Expressway (EWC) is for the I-44/OK-37 interchange rebuild into a DDI.

Two things stood out to me in terms of the signage plans:
1. It features a mixup of a shield on a BGS (has OK-62 instead of US 62)
2. The EWC (Toby Keith Expressway) will get an interstate number (says "FOR FUTURE INTERSTATE NUMBER" on the signage plans)... I-144 anyone?

Oh, and the speed limit on the Toby Keith Expressway will be posted at 70 mph!

Link to the signage plans: https://www.odot.org/contracts/2026/26061801/plans_prelim/070_2606_EWC-28801A_3710009.pdf
(WARNING! This file is massive, so it might take a while to load!)

[Scott5114]

The EWC (Toby Keith Expressway) will get an interstate number (says "FOR FUTURE INTERSTATE NUMBER" on the signage plans)... I-144 anyone?

It connects I-44 to I-35 to I-335, so I would think an even first digit would be most appropriate. So obviously it's going to be I-337.

[kphoger]

The EWC (Toby Keith Expressway) will get an interstate number (says "FOR FUTURE INTERSTATE NUMBER" on the signage plans)... I-144 anyone?

It connects I-44 to I-35 to I-335, so I would think an even first digit would be most appropriate. So obviously it's going to be I-337.

I hope they number in I-999.

[Bobby5280]

No kidding about the PDF plan document. It's over 1000 pages long and 570MB in file size.

It looks like this phase of construction work will not include the directional Y interchange between I-44 and the East-West Connector Turnpike (aka Toby Keith Expressway). These plans are just for the DDI interchange and turnpike bridge over the Canadian River. Oh, and there is a new partial exit for NW 24th Street added to I-44. The various directional ramps for I-44 and US-62 depicted in the Access Oklahoma project maps would be added in later phases.

The existing OK-37/I-44 interchange is pretty damned old; it has been overdue for replacement for a long time. Despite patch work that has been done over the years the metal work in the OK-37 overpass is rusting to shit. The same thing is happening to the old tri-level bridges at the I-44/Cache Rd interchange in Lawton.

It connects I-44 to I-35 to I-335, so I would think an even first digit would be most appropriate. So obviously it's going to be I-337.

I wouldn't put it past the OTA to do exactly that. At least the "37" part of the number would have relevance to a parent state highway route. It's at least slightly better than the off the wall crap "I-343" represents on the Muskogee Turnpike.

If the choice was up to me, I'd number the EWC as "I-835." There are no I-835 routes elsewhere along the I-35 system. It would be a unique designation. It's either that or I-844.

I hope they number in I-999.

That doesn't start with a number 3. Of course OTA is breaking their precious threes rule by designating the Creek Turnpike as I-644. If the OTA is going to choose truly random-ass numbers, they had better stay away from using "I-420." Potheads would be stealing the hell out of those signs.

[Scott5114]

I hope they number in I-999.

That doesn't start with a number 3.

But it is 333 × 3.

[The Ghostbuster]

Are they any closer to signposting Interstate 240 along the OK 152 freeway?

[okroads]

Are they any closer to signposting Interstate 240 along the OK 152 freeway?

No. There have been some new signs erected along OK 152 but no I-240 signs. https://flickr.com/photos/okroads/albums/72177720333207934/page4 has a few photos I took two days ago along that route.

[Bobby5280]

I have a feeling they won't sign I-240 along Airport Road until the Tri-City Connector Turnpike is built. That would allow I-240 to officially end at another limited access highway interchange rather than a surface street intersection like it does now.

[Scott5114]

Are they any closer to signposting Interstate 240 along the OK 152 freeway?

I think at this point you care about this more than the state of Oklahoma does. If you want something done right, you better do it yourself. Start posting signs, 240 boy.

[kphoger]

Are they any closer to signposting Interstate 240 along the OK 152 freeway?

I think at this point you care about this more than the state of Oklahoma does. If you want something done right, you better do it yourself. Start posting signs, 240 boy.

Any idea on where he could get his hands on some made-to-spec state-named I-240 shields?

[Scott5114]

Any idea on where he could get his hands on some made-to-spec state-named I-240 shields?

The section of I-240 east of I-44 should have at least one or two.

[Great Lakes Roads]

From the May 5, 2026 OTA meeting:

1. IN-36602A - SH-63 Interchange at Blanco
Manhattan Road & BR., LLC
$9,058,719.80
CONST
Indian Nation Turnpike
ACCESS Bond Program

[Plutonic Panda]

April 2026 press release:

https://www.accessoklahoma.com/pdf/pdfs/007-026_April%20Board%20wrap-up%20release.pdf

[Plutonic Panda]

Also here's the letting schedule for the projects: https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/ota/documents/other/ACCESS%20LETTING%20SCHEDULE.pdf

[okroads]

April 2026 press release:

https://www.accessoklahoma.com/pdf/pdfs/007-026_April%20Board%20wrap-up%20release.pdf

Part of the press release has some big E-ZPass interoperability news:

The Board approved an agreement authorizing OTA to join the E-ZPass interoperability
group, a milestone years in the making. OTA helped form the first interoperability hub in
the nation when it joined the Central U.S. Interoperability Hub in 2016. The Central and
Southeast Hubs connected in 2023 — the first hub-to-hub connection in the country.
Testing with the Northeast hub began the day of the April board meeting, with a go-live
target for this summer.
The agreement means OTA's toll transponder readers will be able to process tags from
E-ZPass states, significantly reducing the share of transactions handled through license
plate tolling. Currently about 10 percent of OTA transactions are plate-based; the EZPass connection is expected to be cut to about 5 percent, reducing costs associated
with mailing and plate-based billing.

[Bobby5280]

I wonder if that will translate into all other PikePass-compatible tags from Texas, Kansas and Colorado also joining the network.

[Plutonic Panda]

I wonder if that will translate into all other PikePass-compatible tags from Texas, Kansas and Colorado also joining the network.

Aren't they already compatible with OK Tolltag? If so why wouldn't they work as well?

[Bobby5280]

I think each toll road agency in states like Texas, Kansas, etc. still has to negotiate their own interoperability agreement with the EZ-Pass network.

OTOH, if PikePass tags are going to work in the EZ-Pass network then the toll tags from the adjacent states should be able work on a technical basis as well. I imagine it will be a matter of all these different toll road agencies updating their toll tag readers and associated systems.

[Scott5114]

Of course they would announce this now that me and my Pikepass sticker are as far away from the EZPass network as possible. 

Do California FasTrak next!

[Great Lakes Roads]

Do California FasTrak next!

Not going to happen until California allows other tolling agencies to exchange private information (which requires California to update their privacy law)... Washington's Good To Go! transponder might be the next one to be interoperable with other agencies.