3.7.24 – KFOR.com– OKLAHOMA CITY
Oklahoma City drivers will soon notice new signage going up on several local highways designating them as interstate highways.
On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s (OTA) board voted to move forward with plans to designate the Kilpatrick Turnpike, Kickapaoo Turnpike and a portion of State Highway 152 near Will Rogers World Airport as interstates.
The OTA announced over the next month, drivers will notice new signage going up indicating the new designations.
The Kilpatrick Turnpike will be designated I-344.
The Kickapoo Turnpike will be designated I-335.
The portion of OK-152 between I-44 and the Kilpatrick Turnpike will be redesignated as I-240, in order to connect the existing portion of I-240 with the Kilpatrick Turnpike.
The OTA says the only noticeable changes for drivers will be the signage on the roads.
All tolls will remain.
They expect the work to replace signage to last the next month or two.
“If a roadway can qualify as an interstate, it just is the most prestigious number,” OTA Executive Director Joe Echelle told News 4.
To qualify as an interstate, a roadway has to meet certain criteria outlined by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). It must:
- Connect to another state or another interstate highway
- Be fully controlled access (meaning no stop signs, traffic lights, or streets crossing the highway at-grade. The only way to get on and off an interstate is through entrance ramps at grade-separated interchanges)
- Have lanes at least 12 ft. wide
- Have at least two lanes in each direction
- Have a 10 ft. paved right shoulder
- Have a 4 ft. paved left shoulder.
- Be built for speeds of 50-70+ mph traffic
With the Kilpatrick and Kickapoo Turnpike being built to those standards, Echelle says they earned the interstate titles they’ll soon be assigned.
He says the two turnpikes were the last in OTA’s system to not already have a State Highway, U.S. Highway or Interstate number assigned to them.
“A couple of years ago we started trying to really get state highways, U.S. highway numbers assigned to the turnpike system here in Oklahoma,” Echelle said. “Because when you hear just a name of a road, you usually associate that to be a city street most places.”
Echelle says the interstate shield will make clear to drivers many who pass through Oklahoma from out of state, that the roads are full-service highways, fit for heavy travel.
“Maybe they’re carrying cargo and they know that the condition of that roadway is going to be different than a state highway or a US highway would be,” Echelle said. “Your GPS that operates off your phone or off your vehicle. They rely on the highway numbering system and interstate designations really help facilitate that traffic trying to get across and around our city.”
Over the next month or so, the OTA says drivers can expect to see new signs going up indicating the new interstate designations.
Current Kilpatrick Turnpike signs containing the Kilpatrick Turnpike’s logo will be updated. The logo will be removed and replaced with an I-344 interstate shield, and a yellow banner reading “toll.”
Below is an example of a current exit sign for the Kilpatrick Turnpike being phased out:
Below is an example of the new exit signs coming for the Kilpatrick Turnpike:
Current Kickapoo Turnpike signs containing the Kickapoo Turnpike’s logo will be also updated. The logo will be removed and replaced with an I-335 interstate shield, and a yellow banner reading “toll.”
Below is an example of a current exit sign for the Kickapoo Turnpike being phased out:
Below is an example of the new exit signs coming for the Kickapoo Turnpike:
Signs along the stretch of OK-152 (Airport Road) between I-44 and the Kilpatrick Turnpike will be updated as well. The shield for OK-152 will be removed and replaced with a shield for I-240. The road will serve as a western extension of the current I-240.
Below is an example of a current exit sign for Airport Road (OK-152) being phased out:
Below is an example of the new exit signs coming for the Airport Road (I-240):
There is a reason the OTA chose I-344, I-335 and I-240 for those specific roads.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has specific guidelines on Interstate numbering.
Major north/south interstates are assigned one or two-digit, odd numbers, with the lowest-numbered roads on the west coast, and highest-numbered roads on the east coast.
Major east/west interstates are assigned one or two-digit, even numbers, with the lowest-numbered roads along the southern U.S. border and coast, and the highest-numbered roads running along the U.S./Canada border in the north.
Interstate highways built as bypass or reliever routes around a population center are assigned three digits, with the second two digits indicating the main interstate they bypass or relieve.
In the case of the Kilpatrick Turnpike, it is being assigned I-344 because it allows I-44 traffic to exit I-44 and circle around Oklahoma City’s north and west side, and meet back up with I-44 to the southwest of Oklahoma City.
I-335 was chosen for the Kickapoo Turnpike because it serves as a reliever route for I-35, with plans to directly connect it to I-35 south of Norman in the works as part of the OTA’s Access Oklahoma plan.
Contrary to common misconceptions, interstate highways are owned and maintained by states, not the federal government, however the FHWA has to give states approval to assign a road interstate status.
The FHWA allows for roads in the interstate system to be tolled.
I-344 and I-335 will not be the first tolled interstates even in Oklahoma.
I-44 runs along the route of three different turnpikes of Oklahoma.
The state of Kansas operates I-35 and I-70 as turnpikes through large portions of the state.
Pennsylvania operates portions of I-70, I-76, I-276 and I-95 as turnpikes as well.
Those are among many more interstates the FHWA reports are operated as turnpikes across the country.
Echelle says nothing will change about how OTA gets its funding, because of the new interstate designations.