John Kilpatrick Turnpike and Kickapoo Turnpike, Oklahoma

John Kilpatrick Turnpike

According to Bittranslators, the John Kilpatrick Turnpike is a turnpike or toll road in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The toll road forms a bypass along the north and west sides of Oklahoma City. The highway forms the outer bypass of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area and primarily opens up suburban areas, but is also important for through traffic between I-40 and I-44. The John Kilpatrick Turnpike is 32 miles long.

Travel directions

The John Kilpatrick Turnpike has no exit numbers, so there is no specific direction the highway runs. This description begins on the west side of Oklahoma City. The highway begins at the interchange with Interstate 40 on the west side of Oklahoma City. From here one can go east to downtown, and on to Little Rock. To the west one goes towards Amarillo and Albuquerque. The highway has 2×2 lanes. You pass the Yukon suburb, which has 22,000 inhabitants. To the east is Lake Overhoser, one of the lakes in the city of Oklahoma City. The highway then runs mainly outside the built-up area of ​​Oklahoma City. After about 12 miles, the Turnpike turns east. From here there are Frontage Roads along the highway. On the north side of town, one intersects with SR-74 or Hefner Parkway, which runs toward downtown. A little further on, one intersects US 77, the Broadway Extension, which also runs downtown, as well as the suburb of Edmond. On the northeast side of Oklahoma City, the John Kilpatrick Turnpike connects to the Turner Turnpike, also known as Interstate 44towards Tulsa and Saint Louis. To the north and south goes Interstate 35, towards Dallas and Kansas City.

History

Oklahoma City’s original highway plan did not envisage a true ring structure, although I-35, I-40, and I-44 formed a box around the central part of Oklahoma City. However, the city has grown far beyond this box, necessitating a second bypass.

The highway was originally planned as an Oklahoma City outer beltway as far back as the 1970s. It should join the HE Baily Turnpike southwest of town, which is now I-44 toward Lawton. Whether the number I-44 should ever have crossed this ring road is not clear, but it could be logical. The southwestern portion of the beltway has not yet been constructed, likely because urban area growth was not nearly as rapid as a little further south in Dallas-Fort Worth. The original portion of the John Kilpatrick Turnpike between I-35 at Edmond and I-40 at Yukon was constructed in two phases in the 1990s. In 2012-2013, the turnpike was widened between Eastern Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard, a stretch of 13 kilometers.

A seven-mile southward extension from the Kilpatrick Turnpike to State Route 152 was included in the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s “Driving Forward OK” plan. The intended route was announced on March 29, 2016, and construction started in January 2018. The extension was opened on January 9, 2020, one year ahead of schedule.

Opening history

Tol

The John Kilpatrick Turnpike is a toll road, operated by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. The toll collection is mainly electronic with a Pikepass, only the toll stations on the main carriageways still have separate lanes for cash.

Traffic intensities

Every day, 32,000 vehicles drive west of I-35, rising to 61,000 vehicles after US 77 and up to 71,000 vehicles per day at the busiest point at OK-74. This quickly drops to 28,000 vehicles in northwest Oklahoma City after that and then remains steady at 28,000 vehicles as far as I-40.

Kickapoo Turnpike

The Kickapoo Turnpike is a turnpike in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The toll road forms a north-south connection between I-40 and I-44 east of Oklahoma City. The Kickapoo Turnpike is 30 kilometers long.

Travel directions

The Kickapoo Turnpike runs between I-40 and I-44 in an exurb area east of Oklahoma City. Most of the highway is near Luther Road, about 15 miles east of I-35. The Kickapoo Turnpike begins southwest of Newalla at an interchange with I-40 and continues west of Harrah, crossing the North Canadian River. The Kickapoo Turnpike then ends at Luther on I-44 ( Turner Turnpike ).

History

On October 29, 2015, the Governor of Oklahoma announced an $892 million investment in Oklahoma turnpikes called the “Driving Forward” project. The largest project of this was the Kickapoo Turnpike, then planned under the name Eastern Oklahoma County Turnpike (EOC Turnpike). On September 24, 2019, it was announced that the name of the toll road would become the Kickapoo Turnpike. The cost of the Eastern Oklahoma County Turnpike was estimated at $300 million at the time. This area is a vast exurban area on a grid between I-40 and I-44, but with few larger towns and few major roads.

The Kickapoo Turnpike was constructed by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA). On January 15, 2018, construction began on the interchange with I-44 (Turner Turnpike) near Luther. Construction began on the interchange with I-40 at Newell in May 2018. On October 13, 2020, the first 17 miles between I-44 and US 62 will open. On January 5, 2021, the southern section further opened to traffic to I-40. This was a temporary opening, the concluding works lasted until May 2021.

Opening history

Toll

A maximum speed of 80 mph (130 km/h).

The Kickapoo Turnpike is a toll road, operated by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. The toll collection is mainly electronic with a Pikepass, only the toll stations on the main carriageways still have separate lanes for cash.

Mile markers

The Kickapoo Turnpike has mile markers from 130 to 149, suggesting this is in preparation for an extension. An extension south would extend into Texas. It may be based on a future major Oklahoma City ring road, which could reach approximately 200 to 150 miles in length if it ran south from Norman, west from Yukon, and north from Edmond. A more logical explanation could be connecting to the mile markers of I-44, mile 149 of the Kickapoo Turnpike is the interchange with I-44, which also reaches mile 149 at the same location.

Naming

The toll road is named after the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, one of three federally recognized Kickaboo Tribes in the United States. They live in the area east of Oklahoma City, through which the Kickapoo Turnpike runs. In 2019, there were approximately 2,600 members of this tribe, more than 1,800 of whom live in Oklahoma.