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 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 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 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. 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, 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 and the H.E. Bailey Turnpike as part of Oklahoma's "Diamond Jubilee" celebrations. 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. The non-tolled section through Lawton was the Pioneer Expressway. 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 44 is also known for being crossed by the 1999 Bridge Creek-Moore tornado on May 3, 1999 during the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak, and by the 2013 Moore tornado on May 20, 2013 during the tornado outbreak of May 18-21, 2013.
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 ; I-240, the H.E. Bailey Turnpike; and the turnpike connector road on the eastern edge of Lawton, Oklahoma. While the I-440 number was dropped in 1975, it is available if needed in the future.
