Interstate 44 in Oklahoma

Interstate 44
I-44 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by ODOT & OTA
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
Location
Counties	Cotton, Comanche, Grady, McClain, Cleveland, Oklahoma, Lincoln, Creek, Tulsa, Rogers, Mayes, Craig, Ottawa
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Oklahoma State Highway System Interstate U.S. State 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 toll-free 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 non-tolled highway 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.

The I-44 and I-235/US-77 junction: The Eastbound exits are labeled 127A for Southbound I-235 towards Downtown, Oklahoma City and 127B for Norhtbound US-77 towards Edmond, Oklahoma. However traveling Westbound both exits are labeled 127. This junction also signifies the northern end for Interstate 235.

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 before reaching a junction with Interstate 235, which also signifies the northern end of I-235, and US-77 also known as the Broadway Extension which connects Downtown, Oklahoma City to Edmond Oklahoma. It then meets and follows a stretch of Interstate 35, which it overlaps with until the Turner Turnpike interchange where it takes an easterly turn again.

I-44 then follows the Turner Turnpike to Sapulpa, where it becomes a non-tolled road 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 non-tolled 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

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 1975, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials approved renumbering I-440 as I-240 to create a single numeric designation for the Oklahoma City loop. In 1982, as part of Oklahoma's "Diamond Jubilee", I-44's western terminus was moved from the I-35/I-44 junction near Edmond, Oklahoma to the Texas/Oklahoma state-line via the Belle Isle Freeway (part of the recently designated I-240 connecting the former I-440 with I-35); I-240, the H.E. Bailey Turnpike; and the turnpike connector road on the eastern edge of Lawton, Oklahoma.^[4] While the I-440 number was dropped in 1975, it is available if needed in the future.

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Cotton	Red River	0.00	0.00		I-44 west / US 277 / US 281 south	Continuation into Texas
				President George W. Bush Bridge
	​	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			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	Cloverleaf interchange
	​			99B	SH-4 – Yukon, Mustang, Tuttle
McClain	Newcastle			H.E. Bailey Turnpike ends
				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, left exit & 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	No westbound entrance
				125A	N. Penn Avenue	Full name is "Pennsylvania"
				125C	Northwest Expressway	No eastbound exit
				125B	Classen Boulevard	No westbound enterance
				126	Western Avenue	Westbound exits onto NW Grand Blvd
				127	I-235 / US-77 south – Oklahoma City, Downtown US-77 north (Broadway Extension) – Edmond	Split into exits 127A (south) and 127B (north) eastbound; westbound entrance includes direct entrance ramp from N. 63rd Street
				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; I-35 exit 133; no exit number westbound
				134	Wilshire Boulevard	Exit numbers follow I-35
				135	Britton Road
				136	Hefner Road
				137	NE 122nd Street
				—	I-35 north (SH-66 east)	Eastern terminus of I-35/SH-66 concurrency; eastbound exit and westbound entrance; I-35 exit 138A
				—	Kilpatrick Turnpike west	No eastbound exit
				Turner Turnpike begins
				—	I-35 north (SH-66 east) / Sooner Road – Wichita	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				146	Luther / Jones
	Luther				Eastern Oklahoma County Turnpike south	Under construction since January 2018[5]
Lincoln	Wellston			158	SH-66 – Wellston
	Chandler			166	SH-18 – Chandler, Cushing
	Stroud			179	US-377 south / SH-99 – Stroud, Drumright
Creek	​			Stroud Toll Plaza
	Bristow			196	SH-48 – Bristow, Lake Keystone
	Sapulpa			211	SH-33 / SH-66 – Drumright, Kellyville
				215	SH-97 – Sapulpa, Sand Springs
				218A	SH-66 – Sapulpa	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				218B	SH-364 / Creek Turnpike east – Joplin, Jenks, Broken Arrow	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				221A	57th West Avenue	Westbound exit only
Creek–Tulsa county line				221B	SH-66 west – Bristow, Sapulpa	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance, west end of SH-66 overlap
				Turner Turnpike ends
Tulsa				222A	49th West Avenue
				222B	55th Place	Eastbound exit only
				222C	56th Street	Westbound exit only
				223A	I-244 east (Red Fork Expressway) – Downtown Tulsa	Western terminus of I-244; I-244 exit 1A
				223B	51st Street	Access via Gilcrease Expressway; no eastbound exit
	Tulsa			223C	33rd West Avenue
				224	Union Avenue	C/D lanes provide access to US-75 and Elwood Ave.
					US-75 – Okmulgee, Bartlesville	Cloverleaf interchange; accessible to and from C/D lanes
				225	Elwood Avenue	Eastbound access is part of exit 224 accessible from C/D lanes originating at Union Ave. exit
				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 East Avenue
				236B	I-244 / US-412 west (Crosstown Expressway) – Sand Springs, Enid	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; western terminus of US-412 concurrency; eastern terminus of I-244
Tulsa–Rogers county line	Tulsa–Catoosa line			238	161st East Avenue
				240	SH-167 north (193rd East Avenue)
	Catoosa			241	SH-66 east – Claremore, Catoosa	No eastbound entrance; east end of SH-66 overlap; no exit number westbound
	Tulsa–Fair Oaks line			—	US-412 east – Chouteau, Siloam Springs	East end of US-412 overlap; left entrances; no westbound exit; former SH-33 east
Rogers	Fair Oaks			—	SH-364 / Creek Turnpike west – Oklahoma City	Left exit and entrances; no eastbound exit; Will Rogers Tpk. exit 34
				Will Rogers Turnpike begins
	​			35	E. Pine Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; exit number based on a continuation of Creek Tpk. mileposts
	Verdigris			248	SH-266 west – Port of Catoosa, Claremore
	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
	​			Toll plaza
	Vinita			Service plaza
	​			289	US-60 (US-69) to SH-66 – Vinita
Ottawa	​			302	US-59 / US-60 (US-69) – Fairland, Grove, Afton
	Miami			313	SH-10 – Miami
Oklahoma–Missouri line		328.53	528.72	Will Rogers Turnpike ends
					I-44 east	Continuation into Missouri
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Tolled       Unopened

References

Route map:

Interstate 44
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