Interstate 44 in Oklahoma
Interstate 44 (I-44) runs diagonally through the US state of Oklahoma, spanning from the Texas state line near Wichita Falls, Texas, to the Missouri border near Joplin, Missouri. 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 U.S. Highway 66 (US-66, now mostly State Highway 66 (SH-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 US-62 (exit 107) in Newcastle. From Newcastle, I-44 heads north through rural parts of Oklahoma City before serving as the western terminus of I-240. It then indirectly serves Will Rogers World Airport by connecting to Southwest 59th Street (which becomes Southwest 54th Street before reaching the airport) and SH-152, the Airport Road freeway. I-44 meets I-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 I-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. It then meets and follows a stretch of I-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 SH-66. I-44 bypasses downtown Tulsa; I-244 serves the downtown areas. After meeting the Creek Turnpike again on the eastside  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 (where it passes under the world's former largest McDonald's), and Miami. After passing Miami, I-44 crosses the state line into Missouri, about 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 western and northern legs of I-240 (then a semi-beltway around Oklahoma City) 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 wide and 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 stretch of the original roadbed remains; however, it is unused and is not maintained by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) or any of the surrounding cities. In 2012, the only bridge over the abandoned stretch, Pine Street, was removed and replaced with graded fill over the old turnpike. I-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. On February 14, 2021, icy conditions caused a multi-vehicle pileup near Oklahoma City. Both eastbound and westbound lanes were shut down because of the incident. Interstate 440. Interstate 440 (I-440) was the designation 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 Highway standards. In 1975, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) 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 (part of the recently designated I-240 connecting the former I-440 with I-35); I-240, the H. E. Bailey Turnpike; and the turnpike connector road on the eastern edge of Lawton, Oklahoma. Interstate 44 in