Gilcrease Tollway Extension

[Plutonic Panda]

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/s...907317760?s=21

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

[Plutonic Panda]

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.

[HangryHippo]

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

[Plutonic Panda]

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

[jompster]

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.

[Plutonic Panda]

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/loca...569c968b5.html

[BG918]

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.

[Plutonic Panda]

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.

[Plutonic Panda]

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.

[BG918]

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.

[Plutonic Panda]

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

[rte66man]

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.

[SEMIweather]

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?

[BG918]

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

[Plutonic Panda]

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.

[SEMIweather]

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.

[Plutonic Panda]

https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/pos...ase-expressway

[baralheia]

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.

[Plutonic Panda]

^^ 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.



“ 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/ne...ticle_id=55757

[Swake]

This turnpike is pointless and will not be used.

[Plutonic Panda]

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

[Swake]

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.

[Plutonic Panda]

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.

[Plutonic Panda]

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

https://www.transportation.gov/brief...xpressway-west

[soonerfan_in_okc]

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.