Interstate from OKC to Denver?

[mugofbeer]

On my half-dozen annual drives to and from Denver to OKC, I would dearly love to see a significantly improved highway. As it is, it takes 10-11 hours to drive but 1.25 hours to fly. That port-to-plains idea would be a great improvement but someone needs to make New Mexico increase the speed limit on that portion from CLayton to Raton. Its desolate, it's wide-open, and they make you drive 60 mph on great 2 lane with shoulders or 65 on divided roadway. The excuse is construction but the construction is virtually all separate from the main highway. Its a nice dream but doubtful because no one has any money.

[swilki]

KERRY:

Here is more than you will ever want to know

Correct, more than I would ever want or need to know. It is amazing to think about how much thought goes into something that most people don't even pay attention to.

In all honesty, I would hate to see an interstate rip through NW Oklahoma. I think widening it to four lanes should be good enough. If an interstate was to go through some of those towns located along the route, it would destroy them. Just look at the old mother road, Route 66, and what happened to many of the towns along it when I-40 opened.

MUGOFBEER:

someone needs to make New Mexico increase the speed limit on that portion from CLayton to Raton

Agreed. It always drives me nuts. Especially when you hit that little town (Des Moines?) between Clayton and Raton (right around the volcano) and the speed limit drops to 10. Ok maybe its 25, but it sure seems so much slower. The safety corridor thing also is a bit odd to me.

Still, the NW Passage is my favorite way to get my Rocky Mountain High a couple of times a year.

[Kerry]

If an interstate was to go through some of those towns located along the route, it would destroy them. Just look at the old mother road, Route 66, and what happened to many of the towns along it when I-40 opened.

It has taken 30 years for towns along US1 here in Florida to grow west to I-95 and many of them are still not there. It has led to massive sprawl and left behind vacant buildings and abandoned neighborhoods along the old US1.

[ljbab728]

Just look at the old mother road, Route 66, and what happened to many of the towns along it when I-40 opened.

swilki, I went on the old mother road from OKC to California a number of times before the interstate was built. It was tedious and much more dangerous. Granted a few small towns got bypassed when I40 was built but the benefits overall far outwayed those bypasses. Most medium to larger size cities on that route have greatly benefited from the greater access even if the traffic doesn't go directly through their downtowns.

[OKCisOK4me]

Everyone wants that hypotenuse route but it will never happen. If anything, they need to build from Amarillo, northwest to Raton or something. There's jack poo out that way. The highway between Clayton and Raton will never be transformed into an interstate. It's a scenic route. There's an abandoned rail line between Tucumcari and Raton that would be a good lay line for a shortcut interstate. With it, they could complete the New Mexico Interstate Triangle, lol. But honestly, it would be just as good as going north out of OKC to Salina and then west to Denver.

You want the shortest route with the least amount of snow (hence dodging Raton Pass on the fringe of the Sangre De Cristo range) just go north out of Boise City. There's a few backroads you can take just over the border in to Colorado (my dad would do 90 on these roads (more dirt than gravel, of course he was in a Suburban)) that will get you over to the state highway that goes westbound into Trinidad. From there it's a straight shot north to Denver...

[Reggie Jet]

When I was a student at OU during the late 70s, I spent a lot of time looking at old business/chamber publications. (Nothing to do with my major, I was just interested in our two largest cities and urban development in general.) I can't remember the name of the pub where I saw this info, but I believe it was put out by the OKC Chamber of Commerce. Anyway, long story short, there *was* a proposal at one time to build an Interstate from New Orleans to Denver through OKC.

Anyone down in Norman want to go to Bizzell Library and dig that up? ;-)

[OKC Heel]

This new Interstate should go NW of OKC through Okarche, Okeene, Fairview, etc;.

By the way, I have 240 acres in Fairview for sale if the State or anyone else is interested. (self interest intended)

I'll pretend to be interested in purchasing your land for...hmmm road development but first i'll need to spend a year or two hunting on it - you know just to cut down on the animals that will be displaced during construction.

[bradzilla]

During the 12 hour drive i've thought the same thing numerous times. Never going to happen, but sometimes you can get some pretty cheap flights if you look at the right times.

[KayneMo]

there *was* a proposal at one time to build an Interstate from New Orleans to Denver through OKC.)

If an interstate was to built from Denver to NOLA, where exactly in southeastern Oklahoma would the roadway go? Any ideas or guesses? :^D

[Kerry]

It would probably branch off of the I-49 route that is under construction from Shreveport to Kansas City.

1. Follow I-49 north out of Shreveport to Texarkana
2. Texarkana to Idabel to Hugo to Antlers to Atoka to Ada to S. Norman then eventually join up with I-25 at Pueblo, CO.

[Jesseda]

I like kerrys idea, wish it could happen. just think okc would be the main interstate crossing if that was the case

[KayneMo]

Me too! Oklahoma City would definitely be the crossroads of America.

[kevinpate]

It would probably branch off of the I-49 route that is under construction from Shreveport to Kansas City.

1. Follow I-49 north out of Shreveport to Texarkana
2. Texarkana to Idabel to Hugo to Antlers to Atoka to Ada to S. Norman then eventually join up with I-25 at Pueblo, CO.

Not really seeing the overall cost/benefit or time savings to this over the existing I-20 to [US HWY 80] to I-635 to I-35
Perhaps it would improve the SE OK towns, but perhaps not.

[KayneMo]

Just look at all the freeways that tangle the East Coast, especially North Carolina.

[Kerry]

Not really seeing the overall cost/benefit or time savings to this over the existing I-20 to [US HWY 80] to I-635 to I-35
Perhaps it would improve the SE OK towns, but perhaps not.

The benefit wouldn't be so much from connectiing OKC to the southeast, the benefit would be from connecting the southeast US to Denver and Salt Lake City. Although, depending on what time you hit I-635 in Dallas I could drive from Texarkana to OKC before you could drive from I-20 to I-35.

[KayneMo]

Haha. So true. LBJ Freeway is notorious for its congestion. :|

[Jethrol]

YES!! We need this highway now, if only to prevent the dangerous condition of falling asleep while driving due to the boring, LONG drive that currently exists.

[SoonerDave]

This is a glaring omission in our highway system. Needs to be done.

Interestingly enough, I've noted quite incidentally that there is a conspicuous absence of these NW/SE-oriented interstates throughout the southeast. I personally speculate that's more a reflection of how the population migrated across the area over the decades more than anything.

As an example, only now in the last few years is US-78 being rebuilt into what's now designated as "Future I-22" going southeast from Memphis into Birmingham. There's a similar glaring interstate omission going from Birmingham to the SE toward southern Georgia. The part that's been rebuilt, which I drove en route to Florida two years ago, was one of the nicest stretches of Interstate I've driven anywhere, but once you hit Birmingham, you're back to state roads or old US highway that goes through every small town (and corresponding speed trap) you can imagine. As highway congestion through Atlanta worsens seemingly by the day, the conventional route from Birmingham to Atlanta via I-20 is increasingly in need of an alternative.

I've roughly mapped out some other routes in the region in light of previous vacation plans, and it just became apparent that the NW/SE routes are, in many cases, conspicuous by their absence. The OKC-Denver path is merely one on the list, and I think George Nigh was, in this regard, very smart for having at least tried to get this route established, even if it never happened.

As much as I think this route would make great sense, frankly, I think it'll never happen - at least not in my lifetime. When projects like the I-35/I-240 interchange are, themselves, on the order of a decade away, and the I-40 Crosstown rebuild was a bit of a struggle to get funded, the notion of an entirely new interstate seems decidedly unlikely. Not meaning to be a wet blanket, just realizing that's probably where things stand...

[ou48A]

A good upgraded 2 land road would be all that’s needed for almost the entire route.
There are far too many other places to spend our limited resources for this interstate to ever be built.


But It would help if they built more passing lanes, bypasses around small towns and a few more miles of 4 lane high way in certain spots.
On the high plains a few more snow fences would help but in some places farmers could be paid a small fee to leave a few rows of corn near the road.
I have lived in Guymon and in far SW Kansas, once you get NW of Woodward there is very little traffic 99% of the time.

[hipsterdoofus]

Unfortunately, I think this would tend to be driven by economic need. I'm getting deja vu that I've talked about this before, but generally interstate traffic is heavier NE to SW and almost non existant NW to SE.

[Kerry]

You are right SoonerDave - having driven from OKC to Florida many times we usually have to use 2 lane divided roads to get from I-10 to I-20. There is very little connecting I-20 to I-40. We used the I-22 route last year and it was a huge time saver but we started in Atlanta. If we had to start here in Jax we wouldn't be able to use it. It would be nice if I-85 went from Montgomery, AL to Tallahassee, FL.

[BG918]

This is a glaring omission in our highway system. Needs to be done.

Interestingly enough, I've noted quite incidentally that there is a conspicuous absence of these NW/SE-oriented interstates throughout the southeast. I personally speculate that's more a reflection of how the population migrated across the area over the decades more than anything.

As an example, only now in the last few years is US-78 being rebuilt into what's now designated as "Future I-22" going southeast from Memphis into Birmingham. There's a similar glaring interstate omission going from Birmingham to the SE toward southern Georgia. The part that's been rebuilt, which I drove en route to Florida two years ago, was one of the nicest stretches of Interstate I've driven anywhere, but once you hit Birmingham, you're back to state roads or old US highway that goes through every small town (and corresponding speed trap) you can imagine. As highway congestion through Atlanta worsens seemingly by the day, the conventional route from Birmingham to Atlanta via I-20 is increasingly in need of an alternative.

I've roughly mapped out some other routes in the region in light of previous vacation plans, and it just became apparent that the NW/SE routes are, in many cases, conspicuous by their absence. The OKC-Denver path is merely one on the list, and I think George Nigh was, in this regard, very smart for having at least tried to get this route established, even if it never happened.

As much as I think this route would make great sense, frankly, I think it'll never happen - at least not in my lifetime. When projects like the I-35/I-240 interchange are, themselves, on the order of a decade away, and the I-40 Crosstown rebuild was a bit of a struggle to get funded, the notion of an entirely new interstate seems decidedly unlikely. Not meaning to be a wet blanket, just realizing that's probably where things stand...

Oklahoma alone cannot get it built. It will take Colorado promoting it (it affects them the most, as it connects them to the southeast and more importantly major distribution centers in Dallas and the Houston seaport) and also Texas, with their political clout, to get it done. Both states, not to mention Oklahoma, are not in the financial position to be building a new interstate in the next 5-10 years. Maybe after that, who knows.

They said the Arkansas River Navigation System was a pie-in-the-sky plan back in the 60's. It took several billion dollars and the political might of Sen. Robert S. Kerr (and Sen. McKlellan of Arkansas) but it finally got built in the 70's giving Oklahoma an inland river ports at Catoosa and Muskogee. The Catoosa port is the largest on the river (larger than Little Rock's) and has a huge impact to the Tulsa metro economy. So if they can make the Arkansas navigable (which was quite the feat due to the elevation change from the Mississippi toward Tulsa) then they can build an interstate from OKC to Denver. What Senator(s) will take up the charge??

[PennyQuilts]

The stretch from Salina to Denver isn't any better.

I actually love much of that drive towards Colorado.

[ljbab728]

So if they can make the Arkansas navigable (which was quite the feat due to the elevation change from the Mississippi toward Tulsa) then they can build an interstate from OKC to Denver. What Senator(s) will take up the charge??

Don't count on Coburn or Inhofe, that's for sure.

[hipsterdoofus]

Don't count on Coburn or Inhofe, that's for sure.

Yes, count on someone who will spend money we don't have!