Interstate 240 Descriptions
2024-04-19
Roadnow
North
Oklahoma:
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 .) 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. 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 between I-35 and current I-44 was already complete in 1965 as an alignment of US-62 with the section east of I-35 to its eastern terminus at I-40 completed in 1973. A loop along current I-44 up to SH-66, then east to I-35 again, was a planned extension of I-240 completed in 1976, for a total of 31.76 miles (51.11 km) or 51.1 km. However, this was rejected in favor of the current designation.
When the 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. (Interstate 44 ended near Edmond at the western end of the Turner Turnpike.) I-240 thus nearly created a loop around the city, intersecting both I-35 and I-40 twice. In 1978, it was 31.76 miles (51.11 km) long.
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.
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 .) 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. 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 between I-35 and current I-44 was already complete in 1965 as an alignment of US-62 with the section east of I-35 to its eastern terminus at I-40 completed in 1973. A loop along current I-44 up to SH-66, then east to I-35 again, was a planned extension of I-240 completed in 1976, for a total of 31.76 miles (51.11 km) or 51.1 km. However, this was rejected in favor of the current designation.
When the 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. (Interstate 44 ended near Edmond at the western end of the Turner Turnpike.) I-240 thus nearly created a loop around the city, intersecting both I-35 and I-40 twice. In 1978, it was 31.76 miles (51.11 km) long.
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.