Interstate 240 (Oklahoma)

Interstate 240 marker

Interstate 240
Route information
Maintained by ODOT
Length: 16.22 mi[1] (26.10 km)
Existed: 1965[2] – present
Major junctions
West end: I‑44 / US-62 / SH-3 in Oklahoma City, OK
  I‑35 / US-62 / US-77 in Oklahoma City, OK
East end: I‑40 / US-270 / SH-3 in Oklahoma City, OK
Highway system
Oklahoma State Highways
← I‑235I‑244 →

Interstate 240 (abbreviated I-240) is an Interstate Highway in Oklahoma, United States, that runs 16.22 miles (26.1 km) west from Interstate 40 to Interstate 44 in southern Oklahoma City. After its terminus in southwest Oklahoma City, the main I-240 roadbed becomes Interstate 44 and Airport Road toward Will Rogers World Airport. The interstate overlaps SH-3, the longest Oklahoma state highway, for its entire length.

Major destinations along the route include Crossroads Mall, Tinker Air Force Base, and the heavily populated Southside of Oklahoma City. With just under 8,000,000 square feet (740,000 m2) of commercial space,[3] I-240 is a major corridor of retail, industrial and office space. As of 2012, however, the corridor included some "pockets of shuttered stores and creeping shabbiness" and local planners were in the first stages of efforts to revitalize the corridor.[4]

I-240's service road is named S.E. 74th Street.

Route description

From the western terminus at I-44, I-240/US-62/SH-3 runs east towards Interstate 35. The western half is the busier of the two sections, serving the Southside area of Oklahoma City and traffic headed to the airport. This segment has a configuration of ramps that causes much weaving and many accidents. An entrance ramp will merge onto the highway, forming a new lane. This new lane will then become an Exit Only lane for the next exit. However, the exits are not spaced very far apart, causing entering and exiting traffic to conflict. (For a satellite photo, see.[5] ) Signs were installed in October 2004 designating the western half of I-240 as the Keith Leftwich Memorial Loop, in honor of a state senator who died recently.[6] I-240 meets I-35 at a cloverleaf interchange. US-62 splits off to join with I-35 northbound at this interchange.

The section of I-240 east of I-35 exists primarily to serve the now-closed General Motors plant and Tinker Air Force Base. Crossroads Mall can also be accessed via Exit 4C for Pole Road. This section is much less traveled, having only four lanes (two in each direction) for much of its length. At I-240's eastern terminus with I-40, motorists traveling eastbound on I-240 are forced to merge onto I-40 eastbound—there is no I-40 West off-ramp. (Those wishing to take I-40 West must exit off of I-240 a mile earlier at Anderson Road, a surface street, and travel on it northbound until they reach I-40, or continue east on I-40 before turning around at Choctaw Road.)

History

The section of what is now I-240 between I-35 and current I-44 was already complete in 1965 as an alignment of US-62. When the Interstate route was initially established in the 1960s, I-240 ran from its current eastern terminus around the city, turning north at the present interchange with I-44, continuing on the present course of I-44 to its present southern junction with I-35. (Interstate 44 ended near Edmond at the western end of the Turner Turnpike at the time.) I-240 thus nearly created a loop around the city, intersecting both I-35 and I-40 twice. The section east of I-35 to its eastern terminus at I-40 was completed in 1973. The entirety of the route was complete in 1976. In 1978, Interstate 240 was 31.76 miles (51.11 km) long.[7]

As part of Oklahoma's 75th anniversary (Diamond Jubilee) celebrations in 1982, ODOT extended I-44 to Lawton and Wichita Falls, Texas along the H.E. Bailey Turnpike. This caused I-240 to be truncated to its current western terminus near Will Rogers World Airport.[8]

Exit list

The entire route is in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County.

mi[9]kmExitDestinationsNotes
0.00.0 I‑44 / SH-3 continues east toward Tulsa
0.00.01A I‑44 west / US-62 west – LawtonWestern terminus of US-62 concurrency, western terminus; I-44 east exit 115, west no number signed
0.71.11BS. May Avenue
1.72.71CS. Penn AvenueFull name is "Pennsylvania"
2.74.32AS. Western Avenue
3.25.12BS. Walker Avenue
3.76.03AS. Santa Fe AvenueEastbound exit and westbound entrance
4.06.43BShields Boulevard, Santa Fe AvenueEastbound signed as "S. Shields Boulevard" only
4.77.64A–B I‑35 / US-62 east (US-77) – Dallas, WichitaEastern terminus of US-62 concurrency; I-35 exit 121B
5.28.44CPole RoadEastbound exit and westbound entrance, to Crossroads Mall
5.89.35Eastern Avenue
6.810.96Bryant Avenue
7.812.67Sunnylane Road
8.814.28 SH-77H south (Sooner Road) - Tinker AFBNorthern terminus of SH-77H
9.815.89Air Depot Boulevard
11.819.011Douglas Boulevard – Midwest City, Tinker AFBSigned as exits 11A (Douglas Boulevard) and 11B (Midwest City and Tinker AFB) eastbound
14.924.014Anderson Road
16.827.0 I‑40 / US-270 / SH-3 continues east toward Fort Smith, west exit 165; eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. ↑ "Route Log - Auxiliary Routes of the Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways - Table 2". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Oglesby, Scott. 3-digit Interstates from I-35. Kurumi. URL accessed 29 January 2005.
  3. ↑ Based on first quarter 2009 survey of buildings within 1/2 mile either side of I-240 between Will Rogers Airport I-44 and SH-77H (Sooner Road).
  4. ↑ Richard Mize, "Urban Land Institute, businesses, city aim to revamp I-240 in south Oklahoma City", The Oklahoman, March 10, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Lane Configuration". Google Maps. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Stuve, Eric. Interstate 240. OKHighways. URL accessed 8 March 2006.
  7. ↑ Interstate System Route Log and Finder List, USDOT, March 1978
  8. ↑ "I-240 Section Changing to I-44." The Daily Oklahoman 9 October 1982.
  9. ↑ Google (27 April 2014). "Interstate 240 (Oklahoma)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
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Route map: Bing / Google

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