Driving Forward OK - Oklahoma Turnpike Improvements and New Construction

[Plutonic Panda]

I think is a mistake they didn’t add an underpass for the proposed Town Center development between I-40 and SW 15th.

Anyone want to guess how long we’ll be stuck with that cloverleaf at I-40?

[jompster]

Anyone want to guess how long we’ll be stuck with that cloverleaf at I-40?

2055

[shawnw]

Airport Road connection opening Thursday

https://oklahoman.com/article/565162...west-extension

[emtefury]

I am excited to hear the vehicles buzzing along from my house.

[Plutonic Panda]

I am excited to hear the vehicles buzzing along from my house.

I am excited to hear vehicles, planes, police sirens, ambulances, etc. from my house. But then I remember I live in a city and not a desolate countryside residence.

[Plutonic Panda]

2055

That soon!?!? Oh boy oh boy haha

[Pete]

I drove on part of it on Saturday.

The section from SW 15th north and it looked like it was open further to the south as well.

[Pete]

Here is the section from SW 15th looking northeast; the intersection with I-40 looks complete and the on/off ramps from 15th are as well:

[Pete]

Actually, looking at this image from Saturday, you can see the turnpike was not yet open south of SW 15th (those vehicles are construction crews):

[Wishbone]

Opens today. I live at SW 29th and Morgan road so it will be nice to jump on the turnpike just south me of me past sw 44th.

[CloudDeckMedia]

Clarification: Westbound to northbound opens today. The southbound to eastbound opens in 6-8 weeks. Rather than waiting 6-8 weeks and open both simultaneously, OTA decided to open WB/NB when it was ready.

It's all an active construction zone, so watch out for personnel & equipment on/adjacent to all roadways.

[Zuplar]

So where does that mean you can get on? Can I get one at airport rode and take it North?

[CloudDeckMedia]

I believe that the current easternmost on-ramp is at County Line between SW 44th & SW 59th. It will eventually connect with Hwy 152 NW of Will Rogers.

[CloudDeckMedia]

One more thing to share: Most interstate highways run a pretty straight path because planners were able to purchase right-of-way decades in advance, knowing where growth would occur. (The Kilpatrick is that way between I-35 & Lake Hefner Parkway.) However, there are several turns in the turnpike between Yukon & Mustang. Why? Because population grew in that direction much more quickly than expected, and money wasn't available for purchase. It was constructed in the least-disruptive route for property owners, while not making it feel like a Le Mans track for motorists.

[Plutonic Panda]

^^^ I would argue it was just a lack of planning all together.

[Scott5114]

Here's a shot you won't be able to get when the other half of the turnpike opens, haha.

More pictures here, with commentary: https://imgur.com/a/ezcfUWY (mostly focusing on the signs, but gives a decent overview of what the road looks like)

[jn1780]

^^^ I would argue it was just a lack of planning all together.

Yeah, if were talking about the US interstate system in general, there wasn't very much in the way over 60 years ago. They just drew a line across the map and said "lets build a road here". For Oklahoma, it seems like the only kind of planning that happens is buying ROW for a project that is 8 years out.

[mugofbeer]

Little known fact: l think everyone knows the system was to move traffic but it also had a military background. The original interstate highway plans required that, where possible, there had to be a 1 mile straight segment every 5 miles so military planes could land on them, if needed.

Obviously, this is no longer required.

[Snowman]

Yeah, if were talking about the US interstate system in general, there wasn't very much in the way over 60 years ago. They just drew a line across the map and said "lets build a road here". For Oklahoma, it seems like the only kind of planning that happens is buying ROW for a project that is 8 years out.

Even if they did not get the ROW, it seems a problem in OKC's planning/permitting process these neighborhoods in the way were still getting approval from the city to be built (at least in the way they were), one of the ones they are now constructing around was still farmland when OTA/ODOT started this and another was early in the build out process. This was decades after a straiter corridor was identified by ODOT/OTA and it was clear many departments in city government were aware of the plan, sure the original process stalled but that still likely going to be the best route in the area no matter how much time passes. It seems like they could have done more planning for how to upgrade the connection to SH4 south of mustang in the future as well.

[MagzOK]

Little known fact: l think everyone knows the system was to move traffic but it also had a military background. The original interstate highway plans required that, where possible, there had to be a 1 mile straight segment every 5 miles so military planes could land on them, if needed.

Obviously, this is no longer required.

This is a myth.

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/....cfm#question5

[mugofbeer]

Damn! You're right! Ive heard that one from my Dad to friends to my son just a few days ago! Lol.

[CloudDeckMedia]

Acquiring ROW is easy through countryside, connecting, say Oklahoma City & Tulsa. That was easy & logical in the mid-20th century after the interstate highway system was defined, and you were just stringing cities together. Now we’re planning & building through growing metropolitan areas, as they continue to grow. It’s easy to ask today, “Why didn’t they do this in the Yukon-Mustang area decades ago?” But the growth and need that exists there today wasn’t knowable in the 1960s or 1970s. I’m curious: Where do people think the next highways should be built in the OKC metro, for opening 30 years from now in 2050?

[Zuplar]

Bump out 10 to 15 miles and make another loop. That’s basically what every other major metro area is.

[OKC Guy]

Bump out 10 to 15 miles and make another loop. That’s basically what every other major metro area is.

Go north of 44 from the new eastern spur and curve it west over north Edmond. Go west and curve it south just west of Piedmont down to 40.

[scottk]

If you have some time and are interested in the development of OKC's highway system, take a look at the metro highway system through the years in the map inserts from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation:

https://www.odot.org/hqdiv/p-r-div/maps/state-maps/