I wanted to know what people think the biggest traffic bottlenecks are in the metro. Now, let's assume weather is normal (no ice or snow) and no wrecks. Here are a few of mine:

1. I-35/I-240 NB in the morning, SB in the evening
2. I-40 at I-44 eastbound
3. Broadway Extension from Britton to 33rd and WB on the turnpike
4. Weekdays evening Hefner parkway NB from 50th, intermittently, through 164th. I know there are some slow downs with NWE and 63rd merging, then it's pretty good for a mile, then it backs up past the turnpike

I know there are a lot of intersections in the Mustang/Yukon area that get backed up, much like Edmond did 10 years ago before they expanded most of the streets.

I-235 southbound anywhere near I-40 has a pretty good backup in the evening rush hour, just like I-35 to the south.

Living near I-44 I've noticed it is really starting to backup westbound in the evening rush, especially at the 39th Street and Lake Hefner Parkway curve/split.

152 to Westbound I-44.. 152 is often backed up to Meridian, and sometimes all the way to MacArthur.

usually starts around 3:30 and ends about 7

I-235 southbound anywhere near I-40 has a pretty good backup in the evening rush hour, just like I-35 to the south.

Living near I-44 I've noticed it is really starting to backup westbound in the evening rush, especially at the 39th Street and Lake Hefner Parkway curve/split.

the 44 over 40 bridge causes 44 to back up all the way to where you are talking about ..

I-35 in the morning from Norman/Moore into the city gets pretty backed up. And don't let be a wreck, you can forget it. This is the probably the busiest morning traffice artery in all of the metro.

152 to Westbound I-44.. 152 is often backed up to Meridian, and sometimes all the way to MacArthur.

usually starts around 3:30 and ends about 7

I live in SW OKC I intentionally drive down 54th, to Portland, to 74th Street to avoid that stretch of highway. I don't get the bottlenecking there. Though, part of it is people switching to go from 240 to I-44 at the very last minute.

Here's a good off highway issue, that's been an issue for 10+ years. Going north on MacArthur towards Reno. You're approaching the I-40 overpass, and MacArthur northbound at SW 5th will have the green, but because the light just before the overpass is still red, traffic can't flow. I encountered this a few weeks ago, and sat through several light changes before I was finally able to go under I-40. It was frustrating 10 years ago, when I lived in the area, now it's beyond ridiculous. A fine example of terrible light timing in the city.

Westbound I-44 on the northwest side: The right lane backs up from the 66/74 junction to between Penn and May most evenings because there's so much traffic either going west on 39th or north on the LHP. The two lanes that take the flyover to turn south can be a crapshoot. One day, it's flowing freely, the next day, it takes 10 minutes just to clear the bridge. The jockeying for position once 2 lanes become 1 at the bottom of that flyover can be a source of some intense road rage.

the 44 over 40 bridge causes 44 to back up all the way to where you are talking about ..

No amount of signage can help people understand that east bound exits left, and westbound exits right... The amount of times I have seen people try to cross over last minute in front of Mathis Brothers is endless.

Westbound I-44 on the northwest side: The right lane backs up from the 66/74 junction to between Penn and May most evenings because there's so much traffic either going west on 39th or north on the LHP. The two lanes that take the flyover to turn south can be a crapshoot. One day, it's flowing freely, the next day, it takes 10 minutes just to clear the bridge. The jockeying for position once 2 lanes become 1 at the bottom of that flyover can be a source of some intense road rage.

I see that about every day because I take WB I-44 and exit on May.

I saw something in the last couple of months (can't remember where) and it had traffic counts for all the major streets and highways in and around OKC.

The highest of them all was NB I-44 right before it splits between Lake Hefner Parkway and that big easterly curve/exit.

This wasn't exactly what I saw regarding traffic counts, but it does show that NB I-44 just before 39th has a daily traffic count of 165,000 cars, which is the highest I could find on the map (I'm sure others will correct me if there are higher #'s elsewhere):

https://acog.public.ms2soft.com/tcds/tsearch.asp?loc=Acog&mod=

I saw something in the last couple of months (can't remember where) and it had traffic counts for all the major streets and highways in and around OKC.

The highest of them all was NB I-44 right before it splits between Lake Hefner Parkway and that big easterly curve/exit.

Yep, that whole intersection is bad. To OKC Drummer's point, going WB (SB?) on I-44 and changing to Hefner parkway is poorly laid out. Also, you are dealing with people going from NB to exit on NW 50th and then they have to cross with the people merging as well. Unless they want to tear it down and start over with a five stack, not a whole lot they can do.

This is making me very glad I go in at 6ish and get off at 2ish.

Traffic counts doesn't mean that its bottleneck, just means a lot of cars travel on that strech of road a day.

There can be arteries with less traffic, but has more stop and go traffic just because per time of day, access to other roads, and area.

Here's a good off highway issue, that's been an issue for 10+ years. Going north on MacArthur towards Reno. You're approaching the I-40 overpass, and MacArthur northbound at SW 5th will have the green, but because the light just before the overpass is still red, traffic can't flow. I encountered this a few weeks ago, and sat through several light changes before I was finally able to go under I-40. It was frustrating 10 years ago, when I lived in the area, now it's beyond ridiculous. A fine example of terrible light timing in the city.

I work on the service road and that stoplight is maddening no matter if you're coming off of SW 5th or down MacArthur. They come out and re-time it often and within a couple weeks it's off again.

Westbound I-44 on the northwest side: The right lane backs up from the 66/74 junction to between Penn and May most evenings because there's so much traffic either going west on 39th or north on the LHP. The two lanes that take the flyover to turn south can be a crapshoot. One day, it's flowing freely, the next day, it takes 10 minutes just to clear the bridge. The jockeying for position once 2 lanes become 1 at the bottom of that flyover can be a source of some intense road rage.

This whole interchange is the most maddening. It doesn't help that people read the sign that says "LANE ENDS - MERGE RIGHT" and they merge left, then they get to the end and their lane ends and they get mad when they have to drive on the chevrons. It's not any better coming the other direction where all of I-44 has to squeeze into one exit lane to continue eastbound.

Edmond. All of it.

But in reality, the fact that the north side of the metro has had a lot of growth, there needs to be a better established east/west route north of the Kilpatrick and also a north/south route between Portland/I-35. Ideally, Broadway Extension needs to be extended as a freeway up to Waterloo, but there is really no space to do this. Covell needs to look more like Northwest Expressway with traffic flow and dedicated turn lanes, but this has already been diminished by four stoplights between Santa Fe and Kelly.

The amount of traffic grinding to a stop daily coming back into Edmond and the northern side of OKC from the highway/freeways is becoming quite a problem.

Edmond. All of it.

But in reality, the fact that the north side of the metro has had a lot of growth, there needs to be a better established east/west route north of the Kilpatrick and also a north/south route between Portland/I-35. Ideally, Broadway Extension needs to be extended as a freeway up to Waterloo, but there is really no space to do this. Covell needs to look more like Northwest Expressway with traffic flow and dedicated turn lanes, but this has already been diminished by four stoplights between Santa Fe and Kelly.

The amount of traffic grinding to a stop daily coming back into Edmond and the northern side of OKC from the highway/freeways is becoming quite a problem.

covell is largly a residential street ... the Edmond plan to make covell a blvd .. is great it does not need to be Nw expressway like ..

ACOG needs to be doing traffic studies regarding adding a highway from I35 over to 74 in southern Logan County, even if it's a turnpike. If Logan County was smart, they'd be pushing for something like that with service roads that could end up being a cash cow for the county in terms of earned taxes associated with development.

ACOG needs to be doing traffic studies regarding adding a highway from I35 over to 74 in southern Logan County, even if it's a turnpike. If Logan County was smart, they'd be pushing for something like that with service roads that could end up being a cash cow for the county in terms of earned taxes associated with development.

YES! I don't care if it's another turnpike spur over to 74, but there needs to be something done up north.

We are in the area and you can forget going north on I-35 in the afternoon. 2nd Street exit backs up. Then, only having Danforth and Covell exits until Waterloo makes that entire stretch of 35 a nightmare.

To me, it's still I-235 and I-40. That intersection backs up all the way to well south of I-240.

ACOG needs to be doing traffic studies regarding adding a highway from I35 over to 74 in southern Logan County, even if it's a turnpike. If Logan County was smart, they'd be pushing for something like that with service roads that could end up being a cash cow for the county in terms of earned taxes associated with development.

Preach. Going east-west through Edmond anytime between 3pm-8pm is just a slog. Charter Oak is still relatively under developed yet not too far north of Edmond where it could turn into a great corridor for the county. Though that requires foresight and strong government action, so I'm not holding my breath.

No amount of signage can help people understand that east bound exits left, and westbound exits right... The amount of times I have seen people try to cross over last minute in front of Mathis Brothers is endless.

There's an interchange just like this one in Kansas City, KS. Wish ODOT would just copy their signs for it, because you really cannot get any clearer than this:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/I-70_EB_diagrammatic_at_I-635%2C_Kansas_City%2C_KS.JPG/800px-I-70_EB_diagrammatic_at_I-635%2C_Kansas_City%2C_KS.JPG?20130531050024

covell is largly a residential street ... the Edmond plan to make covell a blvd .. is great it does not need to be Nw expressway like ..

You are correct, NW Expressway is a little too ambitious for this corridor, but if Covell from I-35 to Portland/HWY74 could look at least look like the part of Covell by Kelly with a center median, and proper turn lanes at stop lights. Edmond is slowly making progress towards this, but there are still large chunks of Covell that go from 6 or 4 lanes down to two lane roads with no shoulder.

It seems the answer to this question is "The biggest problem is the one that affects me personally" which makes sense because it's the only way you'd know about it.

There's an interchange just like this one in Kansas City, KS. Wish ODOT would just copy their signs for it, because you really cannot get any clearer than this:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/I-70_EB_diagrammatic_at_I-635%2C_Kansas_City%2C_KS.JPG/800px-I-70_EB_diagrammatic_at_I-635%2C_Kansas_City%2C_KS.JPG?20130531050024

Have to admit, it's pretty clear as long as it gives enough warning to change over 3 lanes.

ACOG needs to be doing traffic studies regarding adding a highway from I35 over to 74 in southern Logan County, even if it's a turnpike. If Logan County was smart, they'd be pushing for something like that with service roads that could end up being a cash cow for the county in terms of earned taxes associated with development.

There not being a turnpike with that route in the plan announced a year or two ago was a bit surprising.

It seems the answer to this question is "The biggest problem is the one that affects me personally" which makes sense because it's the only way you'd know about it.

�� Absolutely! Don't know about the others because I don't drive those often.

At least buy ROW.......

It's definitely a matter of perspective because any of us in OKC have a different level of acceptable traffic than say someone in Dallas. But we do have some trouble spots that I think everyone can agree, are daily headaches for the people that travel those.

*I44-I40 interchange on the west side. Already in the planning stages to add lanes for 40 "through" traffic, Portland bridge, etc. This causes issues from all directions, and links to the next one too.
*44 from about 23rd down to 240. Other than adding lanes, this is going to be a stop-and-go and only get worse. This is an EXTREMELY expensive effort, especially north of 40. I almost feel like this could 6 lanes + Express??
*235 from 23rd to 35 in Norman. Same thing, it just needs more lanes, and it's SOOOO expensive to do this. I'm not holding my breathe.

Anywhere else in town, it's really just a little slow-down. If it's not adding more than 5 minutes to your commute, it's honestly not really traffic.

I rarely ever drive this stretch of highway at rush hour anymore, but want to shout out that given population trends and upcoming OTA projects, it’s a no brainer to extend I-44 from four lanes to six lanes between I-240 and Newcastle, and arguably all the way down to the H.E. Bailey spur while also adding in an interchange at SH-76.

I rarely ever drive this stretch of highway at rush hour anymore, but want to shout out that given population trends and upcoming OTA projects, it’s a no brainer to extend I-44 from four lanes to six lanes between I-240 and Newcastle, and arguably all the way down to the H.E. Bailey spur while also adding in an interchange at SH-76.

Once I had to drive to Lawton around 4pm and I couldn't believe how backed up it was on 44 when you get south of 240. Personally, I know six people who live in Newcastle and commute to OKC proper for work every day. And it is only going to get more crowded as land in that area is still relatively affordable so builders can build housing additions down there for cheaper than Moore, Norman, Mustang, Yukon, Edmond and Deer Creek areas.

The biggest project that needs done in OKC I think it is the i40 i44 interchange (i40 east and west) where the lane goes down to 2 lanes. It needs to be expanded. I don't know how you do it and it will be a traffic nightmare but it needs to be done soon

The biggest project that needs done in OKC I think it is the i40 i44 interchange (i40 east and west) where the lane goes down to 2 lanes. It needs to be expanded. I don't know how you do it and it will be a traffic nightmare but it needs to be done soon

I40 over both 44 and portland starts this summer

I40 over both 44 and portland starts this summer

Rebuilding the interchange?

I40 over both 44 and portland starts this summer
This will be fantastic when complete since I40 on both sides of this have been redone recently, While it's being done it will be "avoid at all costs ".

I40 over both 44 and portland starts this summer

Nice...any documents on what all they are doing?

Nice...any documents on what all they are doing?

https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/odot/web-files/0-FFY%202024-2031%20CWP%20book.pdf

I-40: EB & WB BRIDGES OVER I-44 5.3 MIS. E. OF THE CANADIAN C/L("K" INTERCHANGE).

I-40: EB & WB BRIDGES OVER PORTLAND AVE. 5.0 MIS. E. OF THE CANADIAN C/L

Rebuilding the interchange?

this project is just the I40 main line ... bridges the rest of the interchange is in a later project

Man, the next seven years are going to suuuuuuuck... 40/35, 240/35, 44/40 and 44/74/66 will all be under construction at some point or another...

Yep, that whole intersection is bad. To OKC Drummer's point, going WB (SB?) on I-44 and changing to Hefner parkway is poorly laid out. Also, you are dealing with people going from NB to exit on NW 50th and then they have to cross with the people merging as well. Unless they want to tear it down and start over with a five stack, not a whole lot they can do.

ODOT has some sort of project planned there on the 8-Year plan for FY2030. Sketchy on the details but it is listed at $17.4 million. It goes alo0ng with some sort of expansion of the LHP north to Memorial in FY2031.

This wasn't exactly what I saw regarding traffic counts, but it does show that NB I-44 just before 39th has a daily traffic count of 165,000 cars, which is the highest I could find on the map (I'm sure others will correct me if there are higher #'s elsewhere):

https://acog.public.ms2soft.com/tcds/tsearch.asp?loc=Acog&mod=

That would be about right. 165,000 cars is probably also the highest reading in the state. I remember US-169 before the OK-51 interchange in Tulsa had readings in the 160ks before as well but it seems recent numbers are lower.

Once I had to drive to Lawton around 4pm and I couldn't believe how backed up it was on 44 when you get south of 240. Personally, I know six people who live in Newcastle and commute to OKC proper for work every day. And it is only going to get more crowded as land in that area is still relatively affordable so builders can build housing additions down there for cheaper than Moore, Norman, Mustang, Yukon, Edmond and Deer Creek areas.

I spaced on that one and yes, it's pretty bad. A lot of that is caused by that 44 path down to 240. It's not quite bumper to bumper after 240, but it's FULL. That portion really does need to be 3 lane all the way to the turnpike as that area continues to grow. And there is plenty of room to do that, and the way most of the bridges are built over the street roads, i think they can use the same "build between" method to add the bridge lanes. So hopefully, whenever that gets on the radar, it's not as bad as it could be if they had to tear out every bridge too.

ODOT has "interchange operational improvements" for Deadman's Curve (NW39th/I44/OK74) in their 8-Year plan. ROW acquisition FY25, Utilities FY26 and actual construction in FY30. Given the scope and $$$ (17.4 million for construction), it is obvious they will add a second I44 NB to EB lane. They could also add a WB44 to NB OK74 lane, but not sure about that.

I feel like people are driving more aggressively (running red lights, not letting people merge, stopping traffic to make a left-hand turn) since the bicycle lanes were added to Classen Blvd. The northern section of Classen near Helm's farm (south of NW expressway) seems to be where the drivers calm down and start driving in a more typical Oklahoma Fashion.

I thought the changes would be good, but eastbound on the Kilpatrick Turnpike as you approach Broadway Extension usually has a good amount of traffic each morning. It never used to be like that.

I thought the changes would be good, but eastbound on the Kilpatrick Turnpike as you approach Broadway Extension usually has a good amount of traffic each morning. It never used to be like that.

Every once in a while I have to drive NB Broadway Extension to WB Kilpatrick Turnpike around 5. Typically, I stay in the middle lane until the 122nd street exit then merge over when people are exiting. In never ceases to amaze me how backed up it can get and how many people are in the far left lane and last minute shoot over the exit and cut everyone off. Then, the flyover ramp to WB gets back up because people going from Kilpatrick don't know they have the ROW and people coming SB Broadway Extension to WB Kilpatrick don't know that they are supposed to yield...

the flyover ramp to WB gets back up because people going from Kilpatrick don't know they have the ROW and people coming SB Broadway Extension to WB Kilpatrick don't know that they are supposed to yield...

That drove me crazy when I had to drive that route every day. I cannot count the number of times I was nearly hit by someone coming up that on ramp and failing to yield.

Another issue that I cannot figure out why it has been left that way - there is only one lane of southbound 235 that is a continuous connection with I35 South. There is more than enough space to have at least two uninterrupted paths that would not require a lane change from the 235/44 interchange.

..............Then, the flyover ramp to WB gets back up because people going from Kilpatrick don't know they have the ROW and people coming SB Broadway Extension to WB Kilpatrick don't know that they are supposed to yield...

Yes, if OTA would make it two-lane at that merge point you're talking about and put those dividers up or even a barrier that separates the proposed lanes so there's no slow down with people thinking they need to merge. They could stripe that extra lane extending over that railroad bridge and take it all the way to the plaza that's not being used anymore allowing a safe merge.

That drove me crazy when I had to drive that route every day. I cannot count the number of times I was nearly hit by someone coming up that on ramp and failing to yield.

Another issue that I cannot figure out why it has been left that way - there is only one lane of southbound 235 that is a continuous connection with I35 South. There is more than enough space to have at least two uninterrupted paths that would not require a lane change from the 235/44 interchange.

I have always said this was an issue.

Going south on 235, past the NW 6th exit, the right lane exits to the boulevard WB and then I-40 WB, left lane exits to 40 EB, so you're left with two lanes.

Then, the EB boulevard merges onto the right lane.

THEN, EB 40 to SB 35 and WB 40 to SB 35 have their own lane, but people try to get over into other lanes immediately...

But wait, there's more... the right lane exits onto SW 15th, so the left lane is the only one that goes all the way through...

I get exhausted just thinking about it... I really hope with the rebuild of the interchange, that is taken care of. I assume it will be, but what do I know. This is an interchange where we need to have a KATY-like interchange in Houton to handle all the things going on there...