| I-40 | |||
| Get started | texola | ||
| End | Roland | ||
| Length | 331 mi | ||
| Length | 533 km | ||
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Interstate 40 or I -40 is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The highway is the primary east-west connection in the state, running from Texola on the Texas border through Oklahoma City to Roland on the Arkansas border . The highway runs parallel to US 62 and US 266. I-40 is 533 kilometers long in Oklahoma.
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Travel directions
Western Oklahoma
I-40 just into Oklahoma.
The highway begins at the hamlet of Texola, where Interstate 40 in Texas crosses the border into Oklahoma. This area consists of barren plains, the prairies of the Midwest. At the height of the village of Sayre, the US 283 crosses, which runs from Altus to Kansas. The first larger town on the route is Elk City, a regional town. The underlying road network here is a classic grid, with north-south and east-west roads every mile. Many villages on the route are home to travelers along Route 66, which used to run here. At the town of Clinton you cross the US 183, which runs from Woodward to Vernon. The plains are quite monotonous to drive through.
You pass Weatherford, a regional town just west of Oklahoma City. After this, the highway parallels the Canadian River, which is one of the largest rivers in Oklahoma, and forms a tributary of the Mississippi River. At Hinton one crosses both the Canadian River and US 281, which runs from Anadarko to Watonga. Scattered are some forests in the otherwise barren landscape. A little further on, US 270 merges, which temporarily merges with I-40. The largest town for Oklahoma City is El Reno, a regional town where US 81 crosses, which runs from Chickasha to Enid.
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Oklahoma City
I-40 at Oklahoma City.
The first suburb of Oklahoma City is Yukon. After this, one crosses the John Kilpatrick Turnpike, which provides a route to Tulsa, without having to use I-44 directly through downtown Oklahoma City. After this one enters the city of Oklahoma City itself, which is quite extensive and relatively thinly built. There are a number of industrial estates along I-40. A star interchange crosses Interstate 44, which runs from Wichita Falls to Tulsa, Oklahoma’s second largest city. After this, 2×5 lanes will be available. One passes south of downtown, overlooking the downtown Oklahoma City skyline. This part of the highway is sunken. On the east side of downtown, Interstate 35. joinsin, which comes from Dallas. To the north is Interstate 235, which runs to the northern neighborhoods. I-35 and I-40 will then be double-numbered for 2 kilometers and 2×5 lanes will be available.
Through a spacious interchange, I-35 turns north toward Wichita, and I-40 continues east. One passes through the spacious residential areas of Del City. To the north is the larger suburb of Midwest City. To the east of this are the residential areas in forests, and are even more sparsely built. This exurban area on the east side of Oklahoma City is quite sprawling. Eventually, Interstate 240 merges, forming the southern bypass. After this one leaves the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.
Eastern Oklahoma
At Shawnee, US 270 rejoins, which merged with I-40 since Calumet, 105 kilometers earlier on the route. This is also where US 177 crosses from Shawnee to Stillwater. One passes through the meadows and forests of eastern Oklahoma, which has a different landscape than west of Oklahoma City. The road network is again a grid pattern. Clearview crosses US 75, which leads to Durant and temporarily merges with I-40. At the regional town of Henryetta, US 75 exits to Tulsa, Oklahoma’s second largest city, located 75 miles to the north. To the south is the Indian Nation Turnpike, a toll road to McAlester and Hugo in the southeastern part of the state.
After this, the area is even densely forested, and you drive along the large Eufaula Lake, a reservoir. One crosses this lake via a one and a half kilometer long bridge. At Checotah, one crosses US 69, a highway between Muskogee and McAlester. Despite the low traffic in the countryside, the secondary road network is well developed, with motorways and four-lane main roads. At Warner, US 64 parallels I-40. A little further, at Webbers Falls, the Muskogee Turnpike merges into a toll road between Tulsa, Muskogee, and I-40. One crosses the Arkansas River, which is heavily dammed. Roland is the last place before the Arkansas border, where Interstate 40 is in Arkansascontinues towards Fort Smith, Little Rock and Memphis.
History
In April 1959, the first section of I-40 opened in Oklahoma, a five-mile stretch near Canute. West of Oklahoma City, I-40 follows US 66 and replaces it at several stretches. These stretches were first constructed in the early 1960s as 2×2 US 66, and later widened or replaced by Interstate 40, especially from 1967. In 1985, US 66 was discontinued in Oklahoma. The highway was built mainly in the 1960s, and in 1966 the Crosstown, the section through Oklahoma City, opened an elevated highway, a special structure at the time. Today this part is sub-standard and awaiting replacement. In 1975, the last section of Interstate 40 opened at Erick, just after the Texas border. With this, the entire Interstate 40 was built by Oklahoma in 16 years.
Opening history
| From | Unpleasant | Length | Opening |
| Exit 151 | Exit 153 | 3 km | 1960 |
| Exit 153 | Exit 186 | 53 km | 1963 |
| Exit 82 | Exit 119 | 60 km | 1963 |
| Exit 186 | Exit 265 | 127 km | 1965 |
| exit 325 | Exit 330 | 8 km | 1965 |
| Exit 149 | Exit 151 | 3 km | 1966 |
| Exit 308 | exit 325 | 27 km | 1966 |
| Exit 41 | Exit 65 | 39 km | 1967 |
| Exit 69 | exit 80 | 18 km | 1967 |
| Exit 140 | Exit 149 | 14 km | 1967 |
| Exit 119 | Exit 140 | 34 km | 1969 |
| Exit 284 | Exit 308 | 39 km | 1969 |
| Exit 14 | Exit 41 | 43 km | 1971 |
| Exit 65 | Exit 69 | 6 km | 1971 |
| exit 80 | Exit 82 | 3 km | 1971 |
| Exit 265 | Exit 284 | 31 km | 1974 |
| exit 0 | Exit 1 | 2 km | 1975 |
| Exit 1 | Exit 14 | 21 km | 1976 |
| Exit 147 | Exit 151 | 5 km | 2012 |
Widenings
I-40 on the west side of Oklahoma City was widened to 2×3 lanes between Morgan Road and I-44 before 1990, a stretch of 10 kilometers. Around 2001, the highway was widened further west to 2×3 lanes as far as Mustang Road for a distance of more than 2 miles. This coincided with the construction of the interchange with John Kilpatrick Turnpike. Later, I-40 was widened further west, between El Reno and Yukon for a distance of 17 kilometers. This was done in two phases, the section between El Reno and the western side of Yukon around 2011 and the intermediate section through Yukon around 2014.
The section between I-35 at Downtown Oklahoma City and Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City also has 2×3 lanes and was widened before 1990. In about 2002, the dual-numbering with I-40 near Downtown Oklahoma City was widened from 2×3 to 2×5 lanes to coincide with the reconstruction of the eastern interchange between I-35 and I-40.
In 2018-2020, 10 miles of I-40 east of Oklahoma City was widened to 2×3 lanes between I-240 and the new Eastern Oklahoma County Turnpike.
Webbers Falls Bridge
In 2002, a ship rammed into the Webbers Falls Bridge over the Arkansas River, causing part of the bridge 180 meters to collapse, killing 14. The bridge was rebuilt in record time of 2 months.
Realignment in Oklahoma City
I-40 originally ran straight along Downtown Oklahoma on a 2×3 lane overpass. There were wishes to widen I-40, but the viaduct was in poor condition and replacement with a wider viaduct would be costly and undesirable from an urban planning point of view. That is why I-40 has been moved some 500 meters to the south over a distance of 6 kilometers on a new route with 2×5 lanes. The first lane opened on January 5, 2012, and the second lane on February 19, 2012. After that, the old viaduct was demolished and replaced by Crosstown Boulevard.
Traffic intensities
I-40 west of Oklahoma City.
12,000 vehicles drive daily on the Texas border, gradually increasing to 20,000 vehicles per day, a limit reached at Weatherford. Only at El Reno is the limit of 30,000 vehicles per day crossed, after that 45,000 vehicles drive between El Reno and Yukon. Between Yukon and Oklahoma City, traffic volumes increase after each connection, from 66,000 vehicles at the Kilpatrick Turnpike to 135,000 vehicles at the interchange with I-44, Oklahoma’s busiest point of I-40. 110,000 vehicles per day and 125,000 vehicles pass through Downtown Oklahoma City on the double-numbered I-35.
In the eastern suburbs, this drops to 85,000 vehicles in Midwest City and 66,000 vehicles at Tinker Air Force Base, dropping further to 48,000 vehicles until the interchange with I-240. East of the Oklahoma City region, 40,000 vehicles drive as far as Shawnee, then traffic volumes continue to drop to just 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles per day on the rest of the route in Oklahoma to the Arkansas border.
Lane Configuration
| From | Unpleasant | Lanes | Comments |
| exit 0 | Exit 127 | 2×2 | |
| Exit 127 | Exit 147 | 2×3 | Oklahoma City |
| Exit 147 | Exit 151 | 2×5 | Oklahoma City |
| Exit 151 | Exit 153 | 2×4 | Oklahoma City |
| Exit 153 | Exit 157 | 2×3 | Oklahoma City |
| Exit 157 | Exit 330 | 2×2 |
