Oklahoma Turnpike Authority

[rte66man]

No mention of Kilpatrick on and off ramps being redone along Memorial.

They are adding direct ramps at the Lake Hefner Parkway (NB to WB and EB to SB). No mention was made of the "X" ramps mentioned above.

[PoliSciGuy]

They are adding direct ramps at the Lake Hefner Parkway (NB to WB and EB to SB). No mention was made of the "X" ramps mentioned above.

Awww man, I need the EB->NB and SB->WB onramps. Oh well, good to see the turnpike widened to Tulsa. Wonder how bad the lane closures will be in the process though.

[SEMIweather]

Awww man, I need the EB->NB and SB->WB onramps. Oh well, good to see the turnpike widened to Tulsa. Wonder how bad the lane closures will be in the process though.

Shouldn’t be too bad for a widening project. That five-stack at I-35 & Indian Hills will probably be brutal though.

[Plutonic Panda]

Shouldn’t be too bad for a widening project. That five-stack at I-35 & Indian Hills will probably be brutal though.

Don’t you jinx that!

[Plutonic Panda]

News articles:

https://www.news9.com/story/62156a3a...ffic-statewide

https://kfor.com/news/local/new-5-bi...se-congestion/

[jn1780]

They are adding direct ramps at the Lake Hefner Parkway (NB to WB and EB to SB). No mention was made of the "X" ramps mentioned above.

Yeah, those ramps coming to and from the west should have been added when they first built to I40.

I guess since the congestion mostly affects Memorial, the OTA doesn't care. It's the cities problem.

[Snowman]

I am a little surprised with the amount of new lane miles west of i35 and south of i40 that are prioritized before a east/west road a few mile north of downtown Edmond between i35 & 74. The amount of omitted interchanges with the mile grid around the metro still seems odd too, especially in areas they are planning to widen.

[theparkman81]

Excited for all of the projects, but it’s a shame the Chickasaw Turnpike isn’t getting any upgrades. It was designed to be a 4 lane connecting Ada to I-35, but it was only built as 2 lanes with a speed limit of 65. Shameful excuse for a turnpike if you ask me.

Yeah it's a shame that the Chickasaw Turnpike was left out, they need to upgrade it to 4 lanes, but part of it is now a truck route around Sulphur, the turnpike doesn't start til after it crosses 177, I wish ODOT would take over the Turnpike and then make it into a 4 lane, it's past time that Ada gets a 4 lane access to the interstate, anyways like the idea of 6 lanes from OKC to Bristow.

[jdross1982]

I am a little surprised with the amount of new lane miles west of i35 and south of i40 that are prioritized before a east/west road a few mile north of downtown Edmond between i35 & 74. The amount of omitted interchanges with the mile grid around the metro still seems odd too, especially in areas they are planning to widen.

Unfortunately, this makes me think it won't happen at all even though it is sorely needed. To get from I-35 to HWY 74 takes 40-45 minutes on most streets. The issue is where could you run the highway East to West without having to tear out a ton of homes. The area I think that would be best would be the mid split mile between Covell and Coffee Creek which is currently a utility right of way which would need to be addressed. South of Covell isn't happening and without it happening soon, it may be pushed north of Waterloo possibly all the way to Forrest Hills.

[SEMIweather]

If/when the SH-74 to I-35 connector ever happens, I don’t see any way it’s going to happen south of Waterloo. TBH it looks like everything up to Forrest Hills has more current density than the Moore-Norman connector, which in and of itself is probably going to face a lot of opposition. As of right now you could probably do something roughly from SH-74/Charter Oak, snaking NE to Western/Forrest Hills, then moving more or less E/ENE and ending at I-35 just south of the Seward Rd. interchange. But this just gets tougher and tougher with each passing year because there’s really quite a lot of houses being built in southern Logan County.

[rte66man]

The traffic count doesn't justify it. The CT was a patronage deal.

Lonnie Abbott was a powerful representative in the 70's and 80's, He always wanted a turnpike from Davis through Ada to Henryetta. The Chickasaw was what they paid him off with to get the Kilpatrick and Creek turnpikes.

[macfoucin]

People are fired up on FB about the South Extension. Gonna have to pop some popcorn.

[gopokes88]

People are fired up on FB about the South Extension. Gonna have to pop some popcorn.

Won't matter too much, just noise. Too much precedent and authority to get what they want done.

[jedicurt]

People are fired up on FB about the South Extension. Gonna have to pop some popcorn.

i mean i live a mile from Indian Hills. and i am thrilled about it... will make my daily commute so much better

[MagzOK]

People are fired up on FB about the South Extension. Gonna have to pop some popcorn.

Yes! OTA doesn't have many of the same obligations to the public as ODOT does in terms of meetings and some other stuff. They can just plot and go as they please. That's why the alternate Z (ODOT's attempt some 20-25 years ago) through this area was shot down due to the noise garnered by multiple public meetings. There's a small college near there that was instrumental in steering ODOT away. I've always thought OTA would come through to the rescue! LOL

[SEMIweather]

Yes! OTA doesn't have many of the same obligations to the public as ODOT does in terms of meetings and some other stuff. They can just plot and go as they please. That's why the alternate Z (ODOT's attempt some 20-25 years ago) through this area was shot down due to the noise garnered by multiple public meetings. There's a small college near there that was instrumental in steering ODOT away. I've always thought OTA would come through to the rescue! LOL

Which is hilarious because it’s pretty much impossible for anything to be built closer to Randall than I-35 already is.

[mugofbeer]

If/when the SH-74 to I-35 connector ever happens, I don’t see any way it’s going to happen south of Waterloo. TBH it looks like everything up to Forrest Hills has more current density than the Moore-Norman connector, which in and of itself is probably going to face a lot of opposition. As of right now you could probably do something roughly from SH-74/Charter Oak, snaking NE to Western/Forrest Hills, then moving more or less E/ENE and ending at I-35 just south of the Seward Rd. interchange. But this just gets tougher and tougher with each passing year because there’s really quite a lot of houses being built in southern Logan County.

There's a new housing development on the 2nd 1/2 mi. south of Seward Rd. and l35. It would have to connect at Seward Rd.

[HOT ROD]

this sets up OKC nicely for expected growth.

On that note, I wonder why E Oklahoma County is not the designated growth area? You'd think people would want tree lined streets and hills that naturally occur in this sector.

[bille]

i mean i live a mile from Indian Hills. and i am thrilled about it... will make my daily commute so much better

We're a mile north of Indian Hills and on one hand I'm excited about the possibility of how quick we'll be able to get east/west but we also know several that will be displaced by this as well.

One thing for sure is it'll be way different having a turnpike running down where there's currently a two lane road and not a lot of traffic.

[SEMIweather]

this sets up OKC nicely for expected growth.

On that note, I wonder why E Oklahoma County is not the designated growth area? You'd think people would want tree lined streets and hills that naturally occur in this sector.

E Oklahoma County doesn’t have an economic engine anywhere near Paycom on the NW side or Hobby Lobby on the SW side, is my guess.

[BoulderSooner]

E Oklahoma County doesn’t have an economic engine anywhere near Paycom on the NW side or Hobby Lobby on the SW side, is my guess.

lol eastern Oklahoma county has the biggest economic engine in the entire state ... TINKER AFB

[Plutonic Panda]

VeloCity article: https://www.velocityokc.com/blog/dev...ack=super_blog

[bombermwc]

Definintely a nice way to fix the E/W missing link in the Moore/Norman area, but that SE link from 35 to 40 will be huge for bypassing OKC alltogether for truck traffic. Hopefully, a lot of them take it and ease the traffic in town. Now if they'd just connect that curve on 35 at Norman, straight on up to 44, you'd get the 35 to 40 traffic going west too.

I only wish we could build these types of roads without them being toll. We have so much freaking toll mileage in Oklahoma and it's expanding so quickly. It won't be long and we'll be more toll than regular interstate.

[SEMIweather]

Honestly feels like the only realistic way to get this stuff built these days is via OTA. Not only do they have a consistent revenue stream that isn’t reliant on the state legislature, they also can largely avoid the public hearings that so often kill these types of projects. Not saying that that’s right or wrong, morally speaking, but I don’t think you can look at the outcome of the “Driving Forward” projects and come to any other conclusion.

[MagzOK]

If the state appropriated enough funding to ODOT, the agency could match more federal dollars available for road construction. Alas, you have OTA as the alternative. I think OTA often gets a bad rep. We have to remember that where there's a turnpike there probably wouldn't have been a limited access highway there for 25, 50, 75 years, or maybe even never, given the lack of state funding. And really, OTA keeps their facilities very well maintained for the most part. And winter weather, they are the most clear roadways anywhere and quickly at that.