I notice we have interstate 40 west to east, east to west. and interstate 35 norht to south, sout to north,and 44 sw to ne,ne to sw, is there ever going to be a interstate from nw to se, se to nw? i think we need something like that to make it easier to get to texarkana, shreveport, woodward, and make it easier to get to colorado.. Any thought? and was this ever planned or in the works?

I notice we have interstate 40 west to east, east to west. and interstate 35 norht to south, sout to north,and 44 sw to ne,ne to sw, is there ever going to be a interstate from nw to se, se to nw? i think we need something like that to make it easier to get to texarkana, shreveport, woodward, and make it easier to get to colorado.. Any thought? and was this ever planned or in the works?

I'm not even sure who builds these; I thought they were federal...?

I dont know either, I am just curious since a lot of new or future interstates are in the works like I-69 going through mississippi arkansas lousiana and the new i540 south of ft smith to texarkana, just wondering if we are getting anything new paved our way

Considering populations continue to decline out in western OK, there really isn't a need.

Eastern OK is already well served with highways and turnpikes.

Looking for easier? There's always Greyhound; you can sleep all the way to CO.

The only potential interstate I could imagine, would be one between OKC and Denver...I seriously doubt anybody needs a direct route to Shreveport and Texarkana.

Governor George Nigh was a big proponent of the "Northwest Passage," and I believe that the NWX farther out is called something like the "George Nigh Northwest Passage." I don't think there's the justification to build anything more substantial northwest of OKC because there's not another big population center at the other end (such as Tulsa, Little Rock, Dallas, Albuquerque or Wichita, or any through-traffic such as on I-40 or I-35.

i was jus posting because tghere is nothing between ft smith and texaarkana but there is plans for a i-540.

two words may explain that project Jesseda ... chicken farms

ok, that makes since, chickens, it a easier route than coming through okc

Not likely that would ever happen...traffic flow does not go that way in Oklahoma or nation-wide. Do not believe there are many interstates at all that run NW to SE, except maybe I-49 in LA, and if you've ever been on that, it isn't real heavily traveled.

there are also alot of mountains down se and that way making it an expensive road to build to cut through se okla or sw ark. I 40 east is about the best route for a road as it stands and its mostly flat all the way to the ark boarder.
the best thing i can see built around here would be a loop from south of norman to route to I 40 either east or west of the metro, so it could reduce some of the traffic load off of I 35, but o wait we have the need for all of those travelers to stop off at the MIles of cars, and Miles of retail, and spend their money.....lol
referring to the UNP in norman..

someday there should be a loop that connects around the metro like it does in dallas I635. i saw a plan one time for it and we are about 1/2 way there with the turnpike on the north and west sides. just need to complete something over on the se/ne and east sides of the metro.

I'm not even sure who builds these; I thought they were federal...?

I would think that as a normal, intelligent libertarian, you'd know something about what the dadgum fed'ral gummint actually does.

I would think that as a normal, intelligent libertarian, you'd know something about what the dadgum fed'ral gummint actually does.

Well then, please enlighten us as to precisely how interstates are funded and built, smart alek. (WITHOUT google.)

States build them to a national standard (to make them consistent from state to state so black helicopters can be easily landed on them anywhere) and receive federal funding for the construction.

Happy to be of assistance.

States build them to a national standard (to make them consistent from state to state so black helicopters can be easily landed on them anywhere) and receive federal funding for the construction.

Happy to be of assistance.

You're not a conspiracy theorist r u? :numchucks

The only potential interstate I could imagine, would be one between OKC and Denver...

This will happen at some point.

You're not a conspiracy theorist r u? :numchucks

Actually the standard was originally so that mobile ICBM launchers and other military equipment could be easily and safely transported across the country. So yes, the standards were originally set for military purposes. Strategic Highway Network - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Highway_Network)

Although on the topic matter, I don't see much new Highway construction happening, with the federal gas tax income in decline there isn't any new money available for such projects.

States build them to a national standard (to make them consistent from state to state so black helicopters can be easily landed on them anywhere) and receive federal funding for the construction.

Happy to be of assistance.

Thanks for telling us about the funding and decision making process as to when/how they are built...or anything else relevant to the original post.

I just didn't realize I had to be well-versed in interstate highway construction in order to gain enough credibility so as to be allowed a political opinion. Jeez, people lik eyou just irritate the crap out of me on these boards. You make a dumb statement, get called out on it, then antagonize in unrelated threads. Nice.

there was a new highway just built to go from watonga to woodward that makes that trip a lot better than it used to be

not much help but i thought i'd throw that in

I just didn't realize I had to be well-versed in interstate highway construction in order to gain enough credibility so as to be allowed a political opinion.

I think a person ought to have some knowledge of what the federal gov't does before complaining about it being out of control and taking over his or her life.

Jessida, there is a greater chance of I-45 connecting Kansas City, Tulsa and Dallas then there ever will be for a direct link from Texarkana to OKC and on to Denver. The United States is at a point right now where much of the interstate system is meeting the end of its lifespan, and at $20 million per mile to rebuild an interstate highway there isn't much justification for any new lane miles of interstate.

Couple that with sky-high gas prices, you will see less travelers on the road in the coming years, and more people taking rail or mass transit. Tulsa couldn't even get support for a toll road to link directly with Wichita. Not even I found it feasable.

Right now, the primary focus is investing in existing infrastructure. I believe the bridge collapse in Minneapolis was a rude awakening for politicians. That bridge wasn't slated for replacement until 2020.

I don't have time to look it up now but there are several new Interstates under construction now. There is talk of one through Eastern Oklahoma from Dallas through Sherman/Dennison, Texas, to Durant and replace US69.

I-330? (I-130 is already in the works, connecting US 71 to I-30 near Texarkana.)

Thing is, you can't look at the Interstates from a state view. You have to pull out farther and look at it nationally. And nationally, a Texarkana-OKC-Denver Interstate wouldn't garner much need, IMO.

What DOES need to happen, though, is the following:

1. Turn the entire NW Passage/SH 3 into a four-lane divided highway. That's important to move the trucks that go all over the NW/Panhandle area.

2. Make the SE Oklahoma version of SH 3 better. Do what they've been doing to the NW part and 4-lane it and divide it from OKC to Broken Bow. While Little Dixie isn't a concern to many, I think it's important for OKC to have a clear route to every part of the state and right now, that part of the state is the only region without a direct route (that's of any quality anyway).

There will never be an interstate that way, but a solid SH setup like SH-51 from I-35 to Stillwater would be perfect.

Governor George Nigh was a big proponent of the "Northwest Passage," and I believe that the NWX farther out is called something like the "George Nigh Northwest Passage." I don't think there's the justification to build anything more substantial northwest of OKC because there's not another big population center at the other end (such as Tulsa, Little Rock, Dallas, Albuquerque or Wichita, or any through-traffic such as on I-40 or I-35.

The NorthWest Passage, I was just going to mention that. It has been a dream of many Oklahoma politicians going back at least 20 years.

Originally the desire was that the Feds would build an interstate running from OKC to Denver. After several years that seemed to go nowhere and so then the idea of widening state highway 3, improving it, etc. and making it into the NW Passage was floated. None of this ever really took off.

It would help if the next major city northwest of Denver wasn't more than 600 miles away.

Actually the standard was originally so that mobile ICBM launchers and other military equipment could be easily and safely transported across the country. So yes, the standards were originally set for military purposes. Strategic Highway Network - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Highway_Network)

Well, that's a bit incorrect. Highways go back to WWII. Hitler had the Autobonn built so that he could easily move tanks and troops around German-occupied Europe. After the war ended, Eisenhower remembered this and decided to make a similar system here in the US. It's intent was again to make it easier to move troops and tanks around, but he also saw the civilian benefits of it. These original highways were given US or Route designations. As time marched on these were eventually replaced with much better, higher capacity and higher speed highways known as Interstates.

If I remember correctly every third mile of a US highway must be a straight line for so many hundred feet to aide in emergency landings of aircraft. There's a lot of interesting multi-use thought that went into the highways that not many people know about. Not even Wikipedia apparently.

Western Oklahoma has a much greater population desity than North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and even Eastern Montana. I think it can support an interstate-quality highway. In addition, this highway would connect two major urban areas: OKC and Denver. Afterall, Denver is approximately the same distance from OKC as Houston, Albuquerque, St. Louis, etc. A highway running this direction would also generate a great deal of pass-through traffic from the Southeastern US to the Northwestern US.

Western Oklahoma has a much greater population desity than North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and even Eastern Montana. I think it can support an interstate-quality highway. In addition, this highway would connect two major urban areas: OKC and Denver. Afterall, Denver is approximately the same distance from OKC as Houston, Albuquerque, St. Louis, etc. A highway running this direction would also generate a great deal of pass-through traffic from the Southeastern US to the Northwestern US.

I'm sorry, but are we forgetting that we can't take care of the interstates we have? Where would we get money for another one, so we could let it deteriorate too? And even though for some, it may be nice, I'm not sure I see what commercial benefit an interstate from OKC to Denver would have, so there would be no extension of it past either of those cities.

i have always thought we needed a highway from denver thru woodward thru okc thru ada down to shreveport. more of a need from denver to okc. of course we will need a spure to tulsa to keep them happy. to get to denver from okc is like a box, the only way to get there is to go around the corners. we need a direct route. the lack of money will keep this from happening.

i have always thought we needed a highway from denver thru woodward thru okc thru ada down to shreveport. more of a need from denver to okc. of course we will need a spure to tulsa to keep them happy. to get to denver from okc is like a box, the only way to get there is to go around the corners. we need a direct route. the lack of money will keep this from happening.

Amarillo - Dumas - Dalhart - Clayton - Raton - Denver

okc straigh to denver will save a lot of time, and for traveling southest from okc to shreveport will to. All thats left is a s.w route witchita falls tx to elpaso then most people will never have to go through that crazy dallas traffic ever again

Jessida, there is a greater chance of I-45 connecting Kansas City, Tulsa and Dallas
you acually think there is a better chance for a new higway from KC to dallas? When I-35 runs directly from KC to dallas. there is nothing from okc to denver.

Folks in Tulsa seem to think a new interstate should go through their town. It has been discussed at length here ==> Transportation flame wars (Disclaimer: Read at your own risk) (http://oktalk.net/bb/index.php?topic=1984.0)

Yeah and we wasted a lot of time on it too. The arguements for Tulsa were that they would reuse roads already built, turning them into interstate instead of state highway. EXCEPT they can't do that because they werent built to federal standards...and have turn arounds, cross-roads,etc.

If it came to OKC, it would be just as easy to use the state highways out east of Enid to get to 35 and over to Tulsa. It just doesnt make that much different in time.

i have always thought we needed a highway from denver thru woodward thru okc thru ada down to shreveport. more of a need from denver to okc. of course we will need a spure to tulsa to keep them happy. to get to denver from okc is like a box, the only way to get there is to go around the corners. we need a direct route. the lack of money will keep this from happening.


Yes...because dang, I know a lot of people who want to go to Shreveport...

best was to get to new orleans and baton rouge, why not cut out the 2 hour or more detour through dallas to get to shreveport and down to baton rouge. saves a lot of time and traffic hassle..

I'm just saying that commercially, I don't think the ideas make sense, and thats what would make them happen, not someone wanting to go to mardi gras....

Yes...because dang, I know a lot of people who want to go to Shreveport...
maybe not, but from there you can get to baton rouge, new orleans and other places in southeast USA, ....florida. it just would be a more direct, quicker route to that area of the The United States.


Folks in Tulsa seem to think a new interstate should go through their town.
tulsa can not get over the fact that okc is bigger and that okc IS the capitol of oklahoma, central located in oklahoma. if a new highway ever gets built, it's comman sense that traffic will go thru okc. tulsa has a lot of political clout, so it could happen.

reminds me of a story about towns A and B. a highwag was being winded thru these towns. town A who was bigger than town B, had curbs and water drainage pipes put in along thier road. town B who was smaller than town A only recieved drainage ditches along thier road. all town B do was b#*%t, b#*%t, b#*%t, about being left behind. guess who town A and town B is in oklahoma?

I think a person ought to have some knowledge of what the federal gov't does before complaining about it being out of control and taking over his or her life.

Check your PMs.

I did. Thanks for your wisdom and insight.

Amarillo - Dumas - Dalhart - Clayton - Raton - Denver

Looks like I'm not the only one who's gone this route :)
But yeah, it would be nice to have a direct route to Denver. My first vacation up there going this way, I came quite close to getting lost, even with Google maps. Except for the flat, volcanic wasteland and cows, it's pretty uneventful until you get near Raton.

If I remember correctly every third mile of a US highway must be a straight line for so many hundred feet to aide in emergency landings of aircraft. There's a lot of interesting multi-use thought that went into the highways that not many people know about. Not even Wikipedia apparently.

I Googled this and found that Snopes debunks it, with a slight paraphrase:

snopes.com: Interstate Highways as Airstrips (http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/airstrip.asp)

This may seem a bit elementary, but... A highway of this caliber is not entirely for traffic between OKC and Denver, or between OKC and Shreveport. It is primarily for points beyond. I used to drive between OKC and Atlanta 3 or 4 times a year. The only way to get to the Southeast US is on I-40 to Memphis, then a series of winding state routes down to Birmingham to pick up I-20. This highway would link the entire Southeast with the Rockies and the entire Northwest.

Another way of looking at this type of highway is in the competitive advantage is would bring to the city. Urban areas are always seeking to gain any advantage over other competing urban areas. A significant Northwest route will be built somewhere, someday. I would rather see OKC reep the benefits than to have it go through Dallas.

I agree, there may be other more important allocations of our limited funds right now. But if our congressmen would spend spend their resources attracting funds to our state rather than sending funds to other states, this would not be a problem.

you acually think there is a better chance for a new higway from KC to dallas? When I-35 runs directly from KC to dallas. there is nothing from okc to denver.

I never said I believe it or agree with it. I'm just going off of Tulsa's obsession over a free interstate that 'should have' gone through Tulsa instead of OKC. They were talking about the 'original' plan to run I-45 from Dallas to KC, and the feds chose instead to run the primary Oklahoma north-south interstate through OKC.

I was actually being sarcastic in my post ;)

my bad okcpulse...sorry:)

ChickenInTheRough: I used to drive between OKC and Atlanta 3 or 4 times a year. The only way to get to the Southeast US is on I-40 to Memphis, then a series of winding state routes down to Birmingham to pick up I-20. This highway would link the entire Southeast with the Rockies and the entire Northwest.


It's not the only route, there are several options, especially if you use state highways. I often use I-40 to Chattanooga, TN and then drop down I-75 to Atlanta. From Atlanta, you can get pretty much anywhere in NE/SE U.S. You can also get to Atlanta going down I-35 to Dallas and take I-20 all the way to Atlanta. I've found them not much difference in time. If you look at a U.S. interstate map, you find them almost equidistant in nature. One just takes an almost straight route to the north and drops slightly south to Atlanta the other you drop down south first, then take a straight route east to Atlanta.