I-240 Extension Canceled

[MWC59]

I emailed the OTA about the I-240 Extension.
Friday a spokesman called which was a Suprise. He said the I-240 Extension has been Canceled.

[G.Walker]

I never knew it was supposed to be extended, but now with the expansion of the Kickapoo Turnpike its most likely not needed.

[Laramie]

The 2021 proposed I-240 Loop encircling Oklahoma City

[SEMIweather]

It wouldn’t have made a difference beyond a unifying name, that entire loop is already limited access (despite Google Maps continually refusing to classify Airport Road as a highway). I am starting to wonder if all of the new turnpikes are actually going to get built as it feels like the political winds are shifting in that regard.

[BoulderSooner]

I emailed the OTA about the I-240 Extension.
Friday a spokesman called which was a Suprise. He said the I-240 Extension has been Canceled.

there was never an "extension" it was just a rebadging of existing roads ..

[Just the facts]

Well that stretch couldn't have been rebadged as I-240 anyhow. The "2" in that designation means that it connects back to another interstate. At best it could have been designated I-140 (which wouldn't even make sense) or I-144.

[BoulderSooner]

Well that stretch couldn't have been rebadged as I-240 anyhow. The "2" in that designation means that it connects back to another interstate. At best it could have been designated I-140 (which wouldn't even make sense) or I-144.

the entire thing connects back to interstates .. the above was the recent announced plan

[Just the facts]

So they were going to rebrand the Kilpatrick Turnpike as I-240 as well?

[stlokc]

The whole thing, all the way around, would have been branded as 240. I wish they had done it. I think it would have made signage and addresses easier to understand, particularly for visitors. People who live those roads all the time probably don't think about it that much. But I think about it every time I approach the city from the Turner Turnpike.

[BoulderSooner]

So they were going to rebrand the Kilpatrick Turnpike as I-240 as well?

yes see post #3 the diagram ..

[SoonerDave]

Okay, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so I have to admit I'm confused. There was an "I-240 *extension*" project *beyond* the "renaming loop" pictured above? Or the "extension" WAS the renaming, but even *that* has been nixed?? Did OKDOT drop the idea or did the US Gov side kill it?

Either way, this doesn't get the stinking I-240/I-35 Interchange rebuild any further, but that's an entirely separate rant.

[Scott5114]

I'm not sure it can be truly "cancelled" at this point—the Transportation Commission and the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO) already approved it, so unless the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) rejected it for some reason (unlikely as they have no valid reason for doing so), that makes all of those roads legally I-240.

Now, ODOT/OTA can choose not to put up signs, but in order to actually decommission that as part of I-240, the Transportation Commission and AASHTO would both have to vote to revoke the designation. I haven't seen ODOT put in an application with AASHTO to do so, so the I-240 designation is still live. (I don't think OTA has the authority to do so; AASHTO only accepts applications from the main state DOT.)

More likely is the dork you got on the phone at OTA doesn't know what he's talking about. Call ODOT and see what they say.

[bombermwc]

Hang on there, you're saying that someone was looking to take turnpikes and turn them in to 240? That means free road, NOT turnpike. It would be lovely, but i dont see OTA ever giving that up. Especially after just building a lot of this so recently. Not to mention ODOT can't afford it.

Just slapping 240 signs on a bunch of turnpikes would be meaningless.

[BoulderSooner]

Hang on there, you're saying that someone was looking to take turnpikes and turn them in to 240? That means free road, NOT turnpike. It would be lovely, but i dont see OTA ever giving that up. Especially after just building a lot of this so recently. Not to mention ODOT can't afford it.

Just slapping 240 signs on a bunch of turnpikes would be meaningless.

it would mean "free road" (not that any roads are truly free)

lust like the turner is I44 and yet not a free road ..

[Roger S]

Hang on there, you're saying that someone was looking to take turnpikes and turn them in to 240? That means free road, NOT turnpike. It would be lovely, but i dont see OTA ever giving that up. Especially after just building a lot of this so recently. Not to mention ODOT can't afford it.

Just slapping 240 signs on a bunch of turnpikes would be meaningless.

I'm guessing you've never driven I-44 to Tulsa or Lawton... Only non toll section of I-44 is what passes through OKC.

[jedicurt]

Hang on there, you're saying that someone was looking to take turnpikes and turn them in to 240? That means free road, NOT turnpike. It would be lovely, but i dont see OTA ever giving that up. Especially after just building a lot of this so recently. Not to mention ODOT can't afford it.

Just slapping 240 signs on a bunch of turnpikes would be meaningless.

I-44 through pretty much all of the state, and then I-35 once you hit Kansas all the way to Kansas City says that isn't the case.

[MagzOK]

I'm guessing you've never driven I-44 to Tulsa or Lawton... Only non toll section of I-44 is what passes through OKC.

No, I-44 is a normal interstate through Lawton proper and maintained by ODOT. Don't have a dog in the argument but just wanted to make that note.

[jn1780]

I wonder if these in reference to the airport loop extension to I-44 from the Southwest Kilpatrick loop? OTA would never refer to a turnpike or planned Turnpike by its interstate naming scheme.

[Scott5114]

I wonder if these in reference to the airport loop extension to I-44 from the Southwest Kilpatrick loop? OTA would never refer to a turnpike or planned Turnpike by its interstate naming scheme.

No. ODOT asked for, and AASHTO approved, the route shown in the map Laramie posted in reply #3.

[Scott5114]

Hang on there, you're saying that someone was looking to take turnpikes and turn them in to 240? That means free road, NOT turnpike.

This is incorrect. An interstate shield merely means that the road has been approved by AASHTO and FHWA to be part of the Eisenhower Interstate System. There are a number of prerequisites to get this approval, but they all have to do with the design of the road (i.e. no intersections, must meet standards for clearance and minimum lane widths, etc.).

Toll roads have been a part of the Interstate System since its inception. The Turner and Will Rogers turnpikes in Oklahoma, the Kansas Turnpike, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and others were all pre-existing toll roads incorporated into the Interstate System in 1956. Since the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, there is no longer any special Interstate-exclusive construction or maintenance funding mechanism, so any funding source can be used to build an Interstate.

[bombermwc]

I guess none of you read what I said very clearly huh? Obviously I know I44/Tuner is toll. That's not what i said.

The last sentence was the point of my comment.
"Just slapping 240 signs on a bunch of turnpikes would be meaningless."

[Roger S]

I guess none of you read what I said very clearly huh? Obviously I know I44/Tuner is toll. That's not what i said.

The last sentence was the point of my comment.
"Just slapping 240 signs on a bunch of turnpikes would be meaningless."

So what you are saying here is we shouldn't have read your entire comment about free roads and such... Just that one sentence? Were you just trying to be obfuscating with the rest?

[Roger S]

No, I-44 is a normal interstate through Lawton proper and maintained by ODOT. Don't have a dog in the argument but just wanted to make that note.

Well in my defense I did say "to" and not through... The same could be said for Tulsa... I-44 isn't all toll there if you drive through Tulsa.

[MagzOK]

Well in my defense I did say "to" and not through... The same could be said for Tulsa... I-44 isn't all toll there if you drive through Tulsa.

Just a matter of semantics, As I mentioned I wasn't stoking your fire just pointing it out. Thanks.

[Snowman]

The whole thing, all the way around, would have been branded as 240. I wish they had done it. I think it would have made signage and addresses easier to understand, particularly for visitors. People who live those roads all the time probably don't think about it that much. But I think about it every time I approach the city from the Turner Turnpike.

I am not a fan of branding a loop the same name around cities with mile grids, as we then would have the freeway name and major N/S road name intersections unique as we do now, since they will typically have intersections on both sides of the city.

If interstate branding really helps, I would rather see something like:
I-240 for the section south of I-40
I-444 for Kilpatrick extending I-44 to the juncture with I-40
I-435 for the Kickapoo turnpike allowing i-35/I-44 and i-35/I-40 eastside traffic to bypass OKC

might as well extend I-235 designation further north on 77 to the juncture with I-44