U.S. Highway 77 in Oklahoma is a U.S. Highway in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It travels from south to north, paralleling Interstate 35, connecting Texas to Kansas through the central part of the state. It travels through many major cities, including Ardmore, Oklahoma City and its suburbs, Guthrie, and Ponca City. It has four lettered spur routes. US-77 was the first highway in Oklahoma to be paved entirely across the state from state line to state line. It has been a paved roadway since 1930.
Route description
US-77 enters the state along with I-35 but splits off at the first exit in Oklahoma. Four miles later, it passes through Thackerville. It junctions with State Highway 32 on the west side of Marietta. North of Marietta, US-77 passes to the west of Lake Murray and its state park. It then enters Carter County and Ardmore, where it is named Commerce Street through the city limits over a four-lane divided thoroughfare that includes frontage roads on each side from just south of SH-199 to NW 12th Street much like a freeway or expressway, though all intersections on Commerce are at-grade. North of Ardmore, US-77 continues as a four-lane divided highway to Springer. It crosses State Highway 53 south of Springer. North of Springer, US-77 reverts to a two-lane highway and enters the Arbuckle Mountains, providing access to Turner Falls and having some hairpin curves over a section of roadway paved and constructed in the 1920s using prison labor from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. It then passes through Davis. At Tonkawa, it begins a wrong-way concurrency with U.S. Highway 177 and U.S. Highway 60. It splits off to the north to head through Ponca City and Newkirk, before crossing over the Kansas line towards Arkansas City, Kansas.
History
US-77 has followed Commerce entirely through the Ardmore city limits since 1950 when that thoroughfare was built in its current form as an early bypass along what was then Ardmore's west side to provide a straighter route for through traffic and relieve downtown traffic congestion, replacing the original US-77 route in Ardmore which followed Broadway east from Commerce to "E" Street, north on "E" Street to 12th and west on 12th back to Commerce before proceeding north on Commerce out of the city.
State Highway 77D is a Y-shaped spur route through the Turner Falls area. The main branch of SH-77D begins at US-77 south of Davis, north of I-35. It crosses under I-35 twice before ending at the Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center. It also provides access to Price Falls.
SH-77H
State Highway 77H begins at Tecumseh Road and follows 12th Avenue N.E. through Norman, then turns into Sooner Road in Moore. The highway ends at I-240 in Oklahoma City.
SH-77S
State Highway 77S lies in Love County and Carter County, serving Lake Murray. The main segment of the highway begins in Love County at SH-32, east of Marietta. It runs north towards Lake Murray then traverses the western shore of the lake. After entering Carter County, it intersects US-70 before reaching its northern terminus in Ardmore. The highway has two spurs, each one also signed as SH-77S. The eastern spur begins at Love County, near the south shores of Lake Murray. It hugs the eastern shore of the lake while heading north, entering Carter County and reaching its northern terminus at US-70. The western spur runs mostly along the Love–Carter county line, connecting the main SH-77S to I-35 at exit 24, serving as the main entrance to Lake Murray State Park.
