Interstate 44 in Oklahoma

Interstate 44
Route information
Maintained by ODOT & Oklahoma Turnpike Authority
Length:	328.53 mi[1] (528.72 km)
Existed:	1956 – present
Major junctions
West end:	I-44 / US 277 / US 281 at the Texas state line
	I‑240 in Oklahoma City I‑40 in Oklahoma City I‑235 in Oklahoma City I‑35 in Oklahoma City I‑244 in Tulsa
East end:	I-44 at the Missouri state line
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Oklahoma State Highways Interstate U.S. Turnpikes ← SH-43 SH-44 →

Interstate 44 runs diagonally through the U.S. state of Oklahoma, spanning from the Texas state line near Wichita Falls to the Missouri border near Joplin. It connects three of Oklahoma's largest cities, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Lawton. Most of I-44 in Oklahoma is a toll road. In southwestern Oklahoma, I-44 is the H.E. Bailey Turnpike and follows a north–south direction. From Oklahoma City to Tulsa, I-44 follows the Turner Turnpike. As I-44 leaves Tulsa it becomes the Will Rogers Turnpike to the Missouri border. In the Lawton, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa metro areas, I-44 is toll-free.

I-44 is paralleled by former US-66 (now mostly SH-66) from Oklahoma City to the Missouri state line.

In Oklahoma City, I-44 is also known as the Will Rogers Expressway.

Route description

I-44 westbound as it enters Oklahoma near Joplin, MO.

I-44 crosses the Red River near Burkburnett, Texas. It is a freeway until Exit 5, which is the last free exit before the start of the southern section of the H.E. Bailey Turnpike. At Exit 30, the tolls end and I-44 becomes a freeway again through Lawton and Fort Sill until Exit 46. The northern section of the H.E. Bailey Turnpike carries I-44 north, serving Chickasha, before ending at U.S. Highway 62 (Exit 107) in Newcastle.

From Newcastle, I-44 heads north through rural parts of Oklahoma City before serving as the western terminus of Interstate 240. It then indirectly serves Will Rogers World Airport by connecting to S.W. 59th St. (which becomes S.W. 54th St before reaching the airport) and SH-152, the Airport Road freeway. I-44 meets Interstate 40 west of downtown, at an interchange sometimes referred to as the Amarillo Junction. I-44 then passes west of the state fairgrounds and continues north to provide access to Bethany and Warr Acres. It then turns more eastbound to meet Interstate 35, which it overlaps to the Turner Turnpike interchange.

I-44 then follows the Turner Turnpike to Sapulpa, where it becomes a freeway after meeting OK 66. I-44 bypasses downtown Tulsa; Interstate 244 serves the downtown areas. After meeting the Creek Turnpike again on the east side of the city, I-44 becomes a turnpike once again, gaining the Will Rogers Turnpike designation.

The Will Rogers Turnpike section serves many northeast Oklahoma towns, including Claremore, Vinita (where it passes under the world's largest McDonald's), and Miami. After passing Miami, I-44 crosses the state line into Missouri, about 600 feet south of the Kansas-Missouri-Oklahoma tripoint.

History

I-44 was designated through Oklahoma to replace the section of US-66 running from Oklahoma City to Joplin, Missouri. I-44 covered the already-existing Turner Turnpike and Will Rogers Turnpike, with a western terminus at I-35 in Oklahoma City, the current western terminus of the Turner Turnpike.

I-44 was assigned to the H.E. Bailey Turnpike in 1982, when I-44 was assigned to the west and north legs of I-240 (then a semi-beltway around Oklahoma City) and the H.E. Bailey Turnpike as part of Oklahoma's "Diamond Jubilee" celebrations.^[2] Before I-44 was assigned to it, the freeway connector to the north end of the H.E. Bailey Turnpike was named the Will Rogers Expressway.^[3] The freeway section through Lawton was the Pioneer Expressway.^[3]

Westbound I-44 northeast of Tulsa was affected by a sinkhole found on June 2, 2010. According to the local news, the sinkhole measured 12 feet wide and 24 feet long. Traffic was only affected for a short period of time and the roadway has since been reopened.

Southeast of Catoosa, I-44 was redesigned to have an interchange with the eastern expansion of the Creek Turnpike. A 1.5 mile stretch of the original roadbed remains, however it is unused and is not maintained by ODOT or any of the surrounding cities. In 2012, the only bridge over the abandoned stretch, Pine Street, was removed and replaced with a grade crossing.

Interstate 440

Interstate 440
Location:	Oklahoma City

The designation I-440 had been given to a stretch of Interstate Highway from I-240 to US-66 in Oklahoma City. It was a part of the original Grand Boulevard that had been built in compliance with Interstate standards. In 1982, as part of Oklahoma's "Diamond Jubilee", I-44's western terminus was moved from the I-35/I-44 junction to the Texas/Oklahoma state-line via the Belle Isle Freeway (connecting I-440 with I-35); I-440, the H.E. Bailey Turnpike; and the turnpike connector road on the eastern edge of Lawton, Oklahoma. The I-440 number was dropped at the time, but it might return again sometime in the future.

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Red River		0.00	0.00	I-44 west / US 277 south / US 281 south continues into Texas
Cotton	​	1.13	1.82	1	SH-36 – Grandfield
	​	5.65	9.09	5	US-70 (US-277 north/US-281 north) – Randlett	Eastern terminus of US-277/US-281 concurrency
	​			H.E. Bailey Turnpike begins
	Walters	20.65	33.23	20	SH-5 (US-277/US-281) – Walters	Walters toll plaza is located at this interchange
Comanche	​			30	SH-36 west (US-277 south/US-281 south) – Geronimo, Faxon, Frederick	Western terminus of US-277/US-281 concurrency
	Lawton			33	US-281 Bus. north (11th Street)
				36A	SH-7 east (Lee Boulevard) – Duncan	Signed as exits 36A (east) and 36B (west) westbound
				37	Gore Boulevard
				39B	US-281 Bus. south – Lawton	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				39A	Cache Road – Lawton Business District	Signed as exit 38 eastbound
	Lawton–Fort Sill line			40A	US-62 west (Rogers Lane) – Cache, Altus	Signed as exits 40A (east) and 40B (west) westbound
	Fort Sill			40C	Gate 2	Exit closed
				41	Key Gate
	​			45	SH-49 – Carnegie, Medicine Park
	​			46	US-62 east / US-277 north / US-281 north – Elgin, Apache, Anadarko	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance, eastern terminus of US-62/US-277/US-281 concurrency
	Elgin			53	US-277 – Fletcher, Elgin, Sterling
	​			62	Fletcher, Cyril, Sterling	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Caddo	No major junctions
Grady	​			Chickasha toll plaza
	Chickasha			80	US-81 (US-277) – Duncan, Chickasha
				83	US-62 (US-277) – Chickasha, Anadarko
	​			Newcastle toll plaza
	​			99A	H.E. Bailey Turnpike Spur – Blanchard, Norman
	​			99B	SH-4 – Yukon, Mustang, Tuttle
McClain	​			H.E. Bailey Turnpike ends
	Newcastle			107	US-62 west / US-277 south – Newcastle, Blanchard	Western terminus of US-62 concurrency
				108	SH-37 west – Minco, Tuttle	Western terminus of SH-37 concurrency
				108A	Frontage Road	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Cleveland	Oklahoma City			109	SW 149th Street
				110	SH-37 east (SW 134th Street) – Moore	Eastern terminus of SH-37 concurrency
				111	SW 119th Street
				112	SW 104th Street
Oklahoma				113	SW 89th Street
				114	SW 74th Street
				115	I‑240 east / US-62 east / SH-3 east – Dallas, Fort Smith	Eastern terminus of US-62 concurrency, western terminus of SH-3 concurrency, no exit number westbound; I-240 exit 1A
				116A	SW 59th Street
				116B	SH-152 west (Airport Road)
				117A	SW 44th Street	Signed as exit 117B westbound
				118	SW 29th Street
				119	SW 15th Street
				120	I‑40 – Amarillo, Fort Smith	Signed as exits 120A (west) and 120B (east); I-40 exits 147A-B
				121	NW 10th Street – Fair Park	Signed as exits 121A (east) and 121B (west)
				122	NW 23rd Street
				123A	NW 36th Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
					SH-3 west / SH-74 north (Lake Hefner Parkway)	East end of SH-3 overlap
				123B	SH-66 west – Warr Acres, Bethany	Western terminus of SH-66 concurrency
				124	N. May Avenue
				125A	N. Penn Avenue	Full name is "Pennsylvania"
				125B	Classen Boulevard
				125C	Northwest Expressway	Eastbound exit is via exit 125A
				126	Western Avenue
				127	I‑235 / US-77 (Broadway Extension) – Downtown Oklahoma City, Edmond	Signed as exits 127A (south) and 127B (north) eastbound
				128A	Lincoln Boulevard  – State Capitol
				128B	Kelley Avenue
				129	M.L. King Avenue
				130	I‑35 west to I‑40 – Oklahoma City, Dallas	Western terminus of I-35 concurrency, exit 133; no exit number westbound.
				134	Wilshire Boulevard	Using Interstate 35 mileposts
				135	Britton Road
				136	Hefner Road
				137	NE 122nd Street
					I‑35 north / SH-66 east – Tulsa	Eastern terminus of I-35/SH-66 concurrency
				138B	Kilpatrick Turnpike	No exit number westbound
				Turner Turnpike begins
				146	Luther, Jones	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance currently open. Westbound exit and eastbound entrance currently under construction.
Lincoln	Wellston			158	SH-66 – Wellston
	Chandler			166	SH-18 – Chandler, Cushing
	Stroud			179	US-377 / SH-99 – Stroud, Drumright
Creek	​			Stroud Toll Plaza
	​			196	SH-48 (SH-66) – Bristow, Lake Keystone
	​			211	SH-33 / SH-66 – Drumright, Kellyville
	Sapulpa			215	SH-97 – Sapulpa, Sand Springs
				218A	SH-66 – Sapulpa	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				Turner Turnpike ends
				218B	Creek Turnpike east	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Tulsa				221A	57th W. Avenue	Westbound exit only
				221B	SH-66 west – Bristow, Sapulpa	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance, west end of SH-66 overlap
				222A	49th W. Avenue
				222B	55th Place	Eastbound exit only
				222C	56th Street	Westbound exit only
				223A	I‑244 east – Downtown Tulsa	I-244 exit 1A
				223B	51st Street	Via Gilcrease Expressway), signed as exit 1B eastbound; exit no. corresponds to I-244
	Tulsa			223C	33rd W. Avenue
				224	US-75 – Okmulgee, Bartlesville Union Avenue Elwood Avenue	Union Avenue and Elwood Avenue access via collector-distributor road eastbound, Union Avenue access via collector-distributor road westbound
				225	Elwood Avenue	Eastbound exit is part of exit 224
				226A	Riverside Drive
				226B	Peoria Avenue
				227	Lewis Avenue
				228	51st Street, Harvard Avenue
				229	Yale Avenue
				230	41st Street, Sheridan Road
				231	US-64 / SH-51 to US-169 – Muskogee, Broken Arrow, Downtown Tulsa
				232	E. 31st Street, Memorial Drive	Eastbound exit is part of exit 231
				233	E. 21st Street	Signed as exit 233B westbound
				234A	US-169 – Owasso, Broken Arrow	No eastbound exit to US-169 south
				234B	Garnett Road	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				235	E. 11th Street
				236	129th E. Avenue
				236B	I‑244 west / US-412 west – Sand Springs, Enid	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; west end of US-412 overlap
Rogers	Tulsa–Catoosa line			238	161st E. Avenue
	Catoosa			240	SH-167 north (193rd E. Avenue)
				241	SH-66 east – Claremore, Catoosa	No eastbound entrance; east end of SH-66 overlap; no exit number westbound
	​			33A	US-412 east – Chouteau, Siloam Springs	East end of US-412 overlap; no exit number eastbound
	​				Creek Turnpike west – Oklahoma City
	​			Will Rogers Turnpike begins
	​			35	E. Pine Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	​			248	SH-266 west – Port of Catoosa, Claremore
	​			255	SH-20 – Pryor, Claremore
Mayes	​			269	SH-28 – Chelsea, South Grand Lake, Adair	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Craig	Big Cabin			283	US-69 – Big Cabin
	​			Vinita toll plaza
	​			289	US-60 (US-69) to SH-66 – Vinita
Ottawa	​			302	US-59 / US-60 (US-69) – Fairland, Grove, Afton
	​			313	SH-10 – Miami
Oklahoma–Missouri state line		328.53	528.72	Will Rogers Turnpike ends I-44 east continues into Missouri
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

Route map: Bing / Google

1. Stuve, Eric. "Interstate Highways at OKHighways.com". OKHighways. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
2. "I-240 Section Changing to I-44". The Daily Oklahoman. 1982-10-09.
3. Highway Map of Oklahoma (Map) (1966 ed.). Cartography by Diversified Map Co. Skelly Oil Company. § 11C.