OKC Review - recent visit

Hi everybody, just last week my young son and I took a road trip for his spring break to guess where - OKC. We traveled from Seattle to OKC (2-full days in city) via ID-WY-CO-KS going and through the Rocky Mountains returning. This was his second long-distance road trip but the first into the continent of America and he thoroughly enjoyed it with highlights being - the Colorado Rocky Mountains!!, the north approach into Downtown Denver, Downtown Oklahoma City and esp the Devon Tower (his favourite skyscraper) and the Onmi Hotel. Here are my findings/opinions:

It was a pleasure going to OKC this time driving. I had flown a billion times and have driven it many times long ago so this was the first time driving since my son has been alive. He enjoyed the different landscapes and scenery and particularly loved arriving into OKC. I purposefully did the western approach on I-40E just after sunset and the skyline looked fantastic lit up! Honestly, in our opinion it gave the north I-25S approach into Denver a huge run for its money esp when considering the towering height of Devon tower (the tallest building on our trip). I feel that BOK extends the skyline perfectly and can't wait until the Ford Lands are developed, further extending and basically giving OKC similar girth to Denver.

A few observations: there was no mention of OKC until we passed Wichita and arrived to I-35S: Kansas Turnpike yet OKC advertises other cities/junctions during travel. I was expecting to see some OKC signage while IN Wichita on the freeways (I-135S) like you do for Wichita in OKC. Oklahoma can't control the KS signage but perhaps we should adopt similar signage. Even the OKC sign at I-35S in Wichita wasn't a junction type sign but an Exit sign. It was beautiful but I was wondering why there were no I-35S OKC signage in N Wichita or near downtown. We didn't get off in Wichita and I know there are countless OKC signs on the entrances to I-135S but was surprised no junction type OKC signs on it. Maybe OKC should just do junction signs omitting the city since this seems to be the case elsewhere and just sign the next city after you're out of OKC metro. ...

Also, once we got further onto the Turnpike the signs began to show Oklahoma City/Dallas. What? That;s the first I've ever seen a second major city signed even before 100 miles to the first major city. It would be like a Wichita/Kansas City sign in Guthrie - which of course does NOT exist.

Lighting. We arrived into the OKC metro (Guthrie) just after sunset. The road had flyovers and with traffic looked like arriving into a metro area but there was NO LIGHTING. DARK. and it was Dark into Edmond where the freeway lanes opened up to 3 then 4 but still Dark until passing I-44/Turnpike when the lanes shrunk. Dark again whilst on I-44E all the way until NW Expressway area. and I-40E was dark, of course. What is up with OKC and freeway lighting??? We went through construction in other states yet it was still lit (and appropriately signed - therefore safe). This ONE thing - highway lighting that's ON - would do wonders for OKC's image as a major metro area/bright lights big city feeling.

Roadway and streets: Now honestly NOTHING compares to the roads in Colorado as far as how messed up they are but CO has a HUGE excuse - extreme cold/snow and plowing. Our rental car literally fell apart after going through NE then E Colorado (I kid you not, the rear bumper unclipped and we had to exchange while in OKC). Oklahoma dont have this excuse and roads need resurfacing, period.

OKC itself had improvements in lighting and sidewalks but it almost seemed like they were just - there and not really where people would actually walk. For example, we observed numerous bus stops esp in N OKC that had no connecting sidewalks or lighting but the stop itself was ada etc. .. weird huh? Contrast this to other states/cities we went through and even in the boon docks there were sidewalks and seemingly appropriate lighting where a person would not have fear and logically would walk. Come on OKC.

Downtown OKC looked great and so does the Omni hotel. It appears great when arriving from the south, frames the skyline nicely. Oh btw guys, Shields IS the exit when arriving into downtown from I-40E (westbound to north). This will be the way MOST tractor trailers, buses, visitors will enter the convention center so again Im not understanding the rather half-baked round-about at Robinson. And I can confirm with my own eyes that it's half baked, nothing civic can go in there - so why do it?

Midtown OKC and especially Auto Alley were wonderful! MT will get even better as more infill comes. Asian District looked great too as did Uptown. This was the first visit where I didn't go into Bricktown - despite staying in the Omni, I had to force us to drive by Bricktown and DD on the way out of OKC, last day. Tells you something eh? Tourism Bureau should take note - OKC is much more than just Bricktown.

We spent time at Lake Hefner, spectacular! Again, didn't understand the lack of lighting along parkway but I suppose that was due to actual neighbors and not an accident by the state. BTW, somebody/media said the new I-235/I-44 will be the state's first 4-stack flyover but this is not correct as Hefner Parkway/Kilpatrick Outer Loop/Memorial road has a four stack - I confirmed.

We didn't make it too far into the south side or s metro this trip, we were mostly all downtown, and N, NW, and E (love the Del City approach into downtown).

Restaurants we ate (ratings): HunnyBunny Biscuit Company - Uptown (9/10), Hatch - Auto Alley (8/10, loved the Oklahoma shaped pancake), Bob's Steak and Chops - Union District (9/10, the bread pudding was the superstar IMO), Jimmy's Egg - Midtown (7/10). Surprised we didn't eat in Asian District (a usual staple) and Leo's BBQ was/is closed :(. I want/ed to try Plaza and Paseo but my goodness - OKC has so many choices!

One final thought - I saw more buses in OKC on this trip than ever before and with people on them and at bus stops and not just at the main transit center. We're getting there so people can stop saying OKC doesn't have transit and instead observe that we're progressing and developing a modern transit network. I can confirm. ...


I think OKC is developing nicely, esp in the core. Keep it up, but don't just build one and done. We loved OKC and will return!

Glad you and your son enjoyed your time in Oklahoma City! Thank you for taking time out to let us know about your observations! We hope you come back to see more new developments on the books!

Regarding a far control city for highway signage, you obviously haven’t been to Flagstaff on I-40 lololol

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Originally Posted by Bowser214

Glad you and your son enjoyed your time in Oklahoma City! Thank you for taking time out to let us know about your observations! We hope you come back to see more new developments on the books!

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most definitely!!! Love my hometown!!

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Originally Posted by Plutonic Panda

Regarding a far control city for highway signage, you obviously haven’t been to Flagstaff on I-40 lololol

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I have, but OKC is an obvious control city (being the true Crossroads of America) and obviously should be next up at/after Wichita but before any mention of Dallas. it's almost like Portland OR putting up a Seattle/Vancouver, BC sign. As I said, maybe OKC just needs to drop control cities within the OKC city limits altogether.

^^^ okay lol I do think that sign is appropriate however as most traffic is likely destined for LA anyways.

[QUOTE=HOT ROD;1164013]most definitely!!! Love my hometown!![/QUOTE

l thought l was the only city nerd that did this on my visits. ☺

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Originally Posted by HOT ROD

A few observations: there was no mention of OKC until we passed Wichita and arrived to I-35S: Kansas Turnpike yet OKC advertises other cities/junctions during travel. I was expecting to see some OKC signage while IN Wichita on the freeways (I-135S) like you do for Wichita in OKC. Oklahoma can't control the KS signage but perhaps we should adopt similar signage. Even the OKC sign at I-35S in Wichita wasn't a junction type sign but an Exit sign. It was beautiful but I was wondering why there were no I-35S OKC signage in N Wichita or near downtown. We didn't get off in Wichita and I know there are countless OKC signs on the entrances to I-135S but was surprised no junction type OKC signs on it. Maybe OKC should just do junction signs omitting the city since this seems to be the case elsewhere and just sign the next city after you're out of OKC metro. ...

Also, once we got further onto the Turnpike the signs began to show Oklahoma City/Dallas. What? That;s the first I've ever seen a second major city signed even before 100 miles to the first major city. It would be like a Wichita/Kansas City sign in Guthrie - which of course does NOT exist.

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As regards control city signage: AASHTO publishes a list of control cities the states are supposed to follow when it comes to Interstate highways. As you rightly surmised, the control cities going from south to north on I-35 are Dallas/Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Wichita, Kansas City. States often add additional cities along the way (Texas is quite fond of sneaking Denton in there when they should be signing Oklahoma City).

Kansas DOT (which maintains I-135) is in the habit of not listing a control city at all if they can't choose a good one. For example, in Oklahoma, all of I-240 passes through OKC city limits, so the control cities ODOT uses are Lawton and Fort Smith, since those are the control cities of the highways it connects to. If KDOT were in charge, they wouldn't list anything at all there because I-240 doesn't actually reach Lawton or Fort Smith. That's why you didn't see Oklahoma City on southbound I-135; doing so would be inconsistent with their signage policies. (I'm sure you noticed their I-235 doesn't have any control cities either, and if you go up to Kansas City I-435 and I-635 likewise lack control cities). It is a little bizarre, though, that they don't show I-35 for Oklahoma City/Kansas City until after you pass through the toll gate and thus into Kansas Turnpike Authority jurisdiction.

I'm a little curious where you saw the Oklahoma City/Dallas sign in Kansas, since I'm pretty familiar with that stretch of the Kansas Turnpike and I don't remember seeing it. Do you happen to remember the interchange that was nearest to it, so I can hunt for it on Google Street View? Signing both OKC and Dallas doesn't follow the normal rules for control city signage so I'm a little curious what KTA's rationale is there. I do know that if you go into the KTA service plaza at Belle Plaine they have a receptionist that will ask where you're coming from and going to, so it's possible they have data from that which shows that a good chunk of their traffic is bound for Dallas.

For what it's worth, KTA does sign Oklahoma City as far north as Emporia, 127 miles north of the state line.

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Originally Posted by HOT ROD

Lighting. We arrived into the OKC metro (Guthrie) just after sunset. The road had flyovers and with traffic looked like arriving into a metro area but there was NO LIGHTING. DARK. and it was Dark into Edmond where the freeway lanes opened up to 3 then 4 but still Dark until passing I-44/Turnpike when the lanes shrunk. Dark again whilst on I-44E all the way until NW Expressway area. and I-40E was dark, of course. What is up with OKC and freeway lighting??? We went through construction in other states yet it was still lit (and appropriately signed - therefore safe). This ONE thing - highway lighting that's ON - would do wonders for OKC's image as a major metro area/bright lights big city feeling.

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It's been discussed in other threads that OKC has had problems with freeway lighting being out of commission due to thieves stealing the copper wiring that power the lights. That being said, it is something ODOT needs to work harder on, and especially with providing lighting in work zones. ODOT work zones leave a lot to be desired in the safety department anyway, and providing proper illumination would be an improvement.

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Originally Posted by HOT ROD

Roadway and streets: Now honestly NOTHING compares to the roads in Colorado as far as how messed up they are but CO has a HUGE excuse - extreme cold/snow and plowing. Our rental car literally fell apart after going through NE then E Colorado (I kid you not, the rear bumper unclipped and we had to exchange while in OKC). Oklahoma dont have this excuse and roads need resurfacing, period.

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Unfortunately, a big chunk of this is the Legislature's fault for not providing ODOT with the budget they need. ODOT also has to work under some restrictions that other state DOTs don't, like being unable to borrow money to finance road improvements. That's why the I-44/I-235 interchange reconstruction has taken so much longer than in other states; Texas would have borrowed money to do it all at once, but Oklahoma has to do it in stages as they get the money.

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Originally Posted by HOT ROD

We spent time at Lake Hefner, spectacular! Again, didn't understand the lack of lighting along parkway but I suppose that was due to actual neighbors and not an accident by the state.

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I think I saw it mentioned in another thread here that part of the compromise for getting to build a freeway so close to Lake Hefner was to limit the lighting along it to avoid negatively impacting the view of the lake. Or something like that. I don't know how true it is.

Visit Phoenix, scottsdale and palm springs most of the major hiways do not have street lights.... And do not have tall overlarge signage for buildings and billboards are limited....

That’s due to dark sky laws I believe which restrict street lighting on freeways. Why else would they do that when the standard for safety is followed everywhere else. LA does this with their freeways and it’s horrible.

Lived in downtown area of Dallas for 25 years freeways always had lighting.