Part of the Driving forward initiative this project will compete the western loop in Tulsa metro area. This is a great project and broke ground today though the way I understand it major construction won’t begin or be noticed until November.

Perhaps I’m mistaken, but it seems this road will go from I-44/I-244 interchange crossing US-412 all the Tidesdale PWY? I only see the maps showing it going to US-412.

Anyways here are some links—

Project website: https://www.drivingforwardok.com/gilcrease-expressway

City twitter account post with renderings: https://twitter.com/cityoftulsagov/status/1186757851907317760?s=21

I’d post more pictures and maps but I’m using my phone and it’s a pain in the ass.

A couple semi-related notes:

I-44 turner turnpike expansion is soon to enter its last phase with public input and presentation meetings soon to come or just completed. This will widen the stretch from Sapulpa to the 244 split to six lanes. It seems like modifications to this interchange will be needed for the expansion and the Gilcrease tollway project.

The way I understand it a fully controlled access from Gilcrease Tollway and the 412 Is not planned. Hopefully this, the Tidesdale, and I-44 interchanges are made into a five stack and not half assed.

I also thought this was supposed to go from 244/44 all the way around to Tisdale Parkway...?

Hopefully it does. The way tulsa worded their twitter post insinuates it will.

It will. They already have a small portion of it expanded west of LL Tisdale to N 41st W. Ave. that they did a few years back. I believe it's supposed to tie in there.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/officials-break-ground-on-west-leg-of-gilcrease-expressway/article_258e6f99-4b3a-575a-8d2b-ccb569c968b5.html

It will. They already have a small portion of it expanded west of LL Tisdale to N 41st W. Ave. that they did a few years back. I believe it's supposed to tie in there.

It's just a two lane section from the Tisdale to 41st W Ave. The "northwest leg" hasn't been built yet and will connect this section to the south leg which will end at 412. I don't know the timeline for getting the northwest leg completed, or for eventually making the entire highway 4 lanes.

http://www.tulsatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/GilcreaseProject1Lg.jpg

That’s pretty lame. Oklahoma needs to start building larger. It’s nice this segment is being done. Tulsa’s freeway infrastructure is a joke and is horribly underinvested in by OkDOT. OTA has done nice and I-44 is a arguably the best urban freeway in the state as far as the wow factor and when crosstown in OKC gets developed I suspect it will surpass it, IMO.

They aren’t even building a controlled access interchange at 412.

How come on the project website it says this:


This project connects L.L. Tisdale to I-44 and completes the Western loop around the Tulsa metro area.

That implies two projects one connecting Gilcrease to 412 and another connecting Gilcrease to Tisdale or so it seems as Tisdale would connect to I-44 via Gilcrease. They worded that weirdly.

It will be interesting to see what growth this highway brings to Tulsa. The northwest is largely hills and trees but within 2-3 miles of downtown, which is pretty unique for a city this size. There is a New Urbanist neighborhood planned for the area close to 33rd W Ave & Edison and some new neighborhoods planned near the Osage Casino. This area is Tulsa schools which can be an issue for attracting new families. They may have to go the Wheeler Park route and have neighborhood-based charter schools.

Hopefully Tulsa establishes a metro wide LRT system soon and not the half assed type like OKC built.

The plans I saw were for the western extension tollway to end at US64/412. A 2 lane extension will tie in with 57th West Ave just north of Edison. I've not seen any mention of tieing this section to the teh rest at eh Tisdale intersection.

It will be interesting to see what growth this highway brings to Tulsa. The northwest is largely hills and trees but within 2-3 miles of downtown, which is pretty unique for a city this size. There is a New Urbanist neighborhood planned for the area close to 33rd W Ave & Edison and some new neighborhoods planned near the Osage Casino. This area is Tulsa schools which can be an issue for attracting new families. They may have to go the Wheeler Park route and have neighborhood-based charter schools.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the reason that NW Tulsa is so undeveloped is largely related to the boundaries of Osage Nation being so close to Downtown, right?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the reason that NW Tulsa is so undeveloped is largely related to the boundaries of Osage Nation being so close to Downtown, right?

I don’t think so. The majority of Tulsa is within the boundary of the Creek Nation and it hasn’t impacted development. It has largely due to lack of access/infrastructure, generally poor schools and hilly terrain. The revitalization of downtown has created more of an interest in developing this scenic part of the city.

Looking east over NW Tulsa toward downtown from the Canyons at Blackjack Ridge golf course
https://sandspringsok.org/PhotoGallery/13//TulsaSkylineFromGolfCourse.jpg

Good thing tulsa didn’t flatten its hills like LA did. I wonder if the city ever considered that. LA originally was planning on leveling many more hills than it did from what I read.

I don’t think so. The majority of Tulsa is within the boundary of the Creek Nation and it hasn’t impacted development. It has largely due to lack of access/infrastructure, generally poor schools and hilly terrain. The revitalization of downtown has created more of an interest in developing this scenic part of the city.

Thanks for the correction. I guess I had always just assumed that was the case because otherwise it seems crazy to me that there are subdivisions clear out to the farthest reaches of the Creek Turnpike, and meanwhile there is just nothing even a few miles NW of Downtown.

https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/post/transportation-commission-authorizes-odot-negotiate-federal-financing-gilcrease-expressway

Interesting. I didn't think ODOT was allowed to carry debt like that. I wonder if the state will use a similar federal line of credit to expedite other important projects like the I-35/I-240 or I-44/I-40 interchanges.

^^ yeah my only guess is that being ODOT is the states leading transportation agency in order to get federal funding they have to be involved somehow. That is only an assumption on my part and I could be wrong.

Interestingly enough OkDOT included this on their press release and showed a northern alignment for tollway to connect at Tidesdale. Hopefully that is included.

https://www.odot.org/newsmedia/press/2020/20-001-2.jpg

“ The commission voted to authorize Secretary of Transportation Tim Gatz to negotiate an agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority to help finance the Gilcrease Expressway project in Tulsa using a loan through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program. With ODOT’s assistance, OTA is seeking a TIFIA loan to provide the most favorable payment and interest terms to help the authority fund construction of the five-mile segment of the new highway between I-44 and US-412, which will be paid off with toll revenues. Other project partners include the City of Tulsa, Tulsa County, Indian Nations Council of Governments and the Federal Highway Administration. Gatz also leads OTA as its executive director. For more information about the project, including cost and schedule, visit the OTA’s project webpage at www.drivingforwardok.com.

“This segment of the Gilcrease Expressway has been challenging to fund and this arrangement is a great example of local, state and federal government entities working together to leverage their resources to bring a major project forward that would have never happened otherwise,” Gatz said. ”

https://www.ok.gov/triton/modules/newsroom/newsroom_article.php?id=277&article_id=55757

This turnpike is pointless and will not be used.

I can see it being very vital in the future if tulsa gets its act together and the whole metro starts booming.

For traffic going from where to where? Going to/from west/south Tulsa to Sand Springs and points west? This turnpike will save less than five minutes for that traffic compared to going through downtown on existing free highways. Where is the market? Why do you think the funding has been so hard?

If a new turnpike was going to be built, it should have gone from the Creek Turnpike/US-169 interchange south into Bixby and across the Arkansas or north from the end of the Tisdale to Skiatook. Even better, upgrade US-75 from Tulsa to north Texas/Dallas.

This route is pointless.

This is a small part of the overall freeway network in Tulsa metropolitan area. It is extremely vital for Tulsa to have a well established road system.

The loan is secured. Hopefully this project wraps up by the end of 2022.

https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-department-transportation-announces-1201-million-loan-gilcrease-expressway-west

Thanks for the correction. I guess I had always just assumed that was the case because otherwise it seems crazy to me that there are subdivisions clear out to the farthest reaches of the Creek Turnpike, and meanwhile there is just nothing even a few miles NW of Downtown.

I went through leadership Tulsa, and forgot the exact details but we were told that big parts of NW Tulsa was owned by a developer in the early 1900's who got spiteful At some people and didn't sell his land. So then people turned south. I wish I remembered his name.

I went through leadership Tulsa, and forgot the exact details but we were told that big parts of NW Tulsa was owned by a developer in the early 1900's who got spiteful At some people and didn't sell his land. So then people turned south. I wish I remembered his name.

Thomas Gilcrease? He owned a lot of land in that area, including the property where Gilcrease Museum is located.

The land to the NW of downtown was supposedly hard to develop because it was in the Osage Reservation. I've never heard about a particular developer being spiteful. Gilcrease donated his land to the city and makes up the grounds of the museum today.

Should be completely open in 18 months:

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/watch-now-gilcrease-expressway-extension-on-track-for-opening-in-about-18-months/article_c2cfb43c-33e8-11eb-bfca-ff88bfc859e8.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1

The extension should be open by the summer:

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/gilcrease-bridge-over-arkansas-river-nearing-completion-tollway-expected-to-open-in-summer/article_d2c14b80-71b3-11ec-8c3e-8b19606a1a79.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1

This project is almost finished and should open in a couple months: https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/watch-now-gilcrease-turnpike-nears-completion/article_649ca430-0f5e-11ed-ba06-fb386c84e8b0.html

Update:


OKLAHOMA CITY — The toll rates for the Gilcrease Expressway, which is expected to open in late September, were set Tuesday by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.

Passenger cars, or vehicles with two axles, traveling the length of the new roadway on the western edge of Tulsa will pay $2.05 if using PikePass and $4.10 if using PlatePay.

Passenger vehicles not traveling the full length of the toll road will pay less, and vehicles with more axles will pay more. For example, a vehicle with four axles will pay $4.10 using PikePass and $8.20 using PlatePay if traveling the entire length of the toll road.

The new toll road spans from 51st Street on the south end to U.S. 412 on the north end.

Officials were able to reduce the toll on the southern stretch of the Gilcrease between 41st Street and 51st Street after residents in the Berryhill area voiced opposition to the cost, said Joe Echelle, Oklahoma Turnpike Authority deputy director.

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The PikePass toll for that mile was going to be 65 cents, but it was dropped to 40 cents, he said. The PlatePay rate is 80 cents.

A loose coalition of Berryhill-area residents had told the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority this spring that eliminating the toll on that section of the highway was the group’s top priority.

The new road has 22 bridges and covers five miles, Echelle said.

The cost of the Gilcrease has been cited at $340 million, but Echelle said the figure rises to $363 million when previous investments are included.

Because the Gilcrease Expressway was built using some federal funds, he said, the tolls can’t be “cross pledged” with other OTA toll roads, as they are on the rest of the system.

Currently, tolls on some OTA facilities, such as the Turner Turnpike, are cross pledged and support maintenance and other items on other toll roads, as well as the Turner.

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When a toll road is a stand-alone facility such as the Gilcrease, rates are significantly higher than on other turnpikes in the system, he said.

Getting a PikePass helps reduce the cost for travelers.

PikePass accounts are prepaid, and a PikePass device is mounted on a vehicle’s windshield. Tolls are automatically deducted from the prepaid account balance as a vehicle passes certain points on a toll road.

For vehicles without a PikePass, PlatePay takes a picture of the vehicle’s license plate at each of those toll points and sends a bill to the person who holds the vehicle’s registration.

Officials expect 12,000 vehicles a day to drive the roadway in 2023 and 21,000 in 2028, Echelle said.

And then, “we are experiencing a high call volume to address PlatePay invoices,” Echelle said.

To get a new PikePass, go to a PikePass store or log onto pikepass.com/cao.

The OTA suggests that PikePass account holders who need to call the office do so between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., “when call volumes are the lowest traditionally,” Echelle said. The number is 1-800-745-3727.

“Wait times have been up to 45 minutes and even an hour,” he said.



- https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/tolls-set-for-gilcrease-expressway-berryhill-area-toll-reduced-from-planned-cost/article_4a3e370e-2249-11ed-a307-ffbb16b43d0d.html