The John Kilpatrick Turnpike, signed as Interstate 344 (I-344) since November 2024, is a

controlled-access A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. The turnpike forms a partial

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

around the west and north side of the city that runs from State Highway 152 (SH-152) and Interstate 240 (I-240) to an interchange with

Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican bo ...

(I-35) and

Interstate 44 Interstate 44 (I-44) is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Falls, T ...

(I-44). At the eastern terminus, traffic continuing east merges with I-44 traffic, forming the

Turner Turnpike The Turner Turnpike is a controlled-access toll road in central Oklahoma, connecting its two largest cities, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Authorized by the Oklahoma Legislature in 1947 and opened in May 1953, it is the oldest of the state's twelve ...

. The Kilpatrick Turnpike is long. The turnpike is named after

John Kilpatrick John Reed Kilpatrick (June 15, 1889 – May 7, 1960) was an American athlete, soldier, and sports businessperson. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame. Kilpatrick was born to a Canadian mother and America ...

, who was the chairman of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority in the early 1990s.

Route description

The Kilpatrick Turnpike's entire route lies within the city limits of Oklahoma City. There are no

exit number An exit number is a number assigned to a road junction, usually an exit from a freeway. It is usually marked on the same sign as the destinations of the exit. In some countries, such as the United States and Canada, it is also marked on a sign ...

s assigned to any of the turnpike's interchanges. I-344 Signage in OKC Daytime

The Kilpatrick Turnpike begins at an interchange with State Highway 152 (SH-152) and Interstate 240 (I-240) just west of Council Road in southwestern Oklahoma City. The turnpike heads generally north and west from this interchange, with exits to Morgan Road, Sara Road/SW 29th Street, and a partial interchange with SW 15th street, with traffic exiting from southbound and entering northbound. From there, it angles northeast to a full interchange with I-40/ US-270. Another partial interchange is located at N.W. 10th Street, with ramps allowing drivers to join the northbound turnpike and exit the southbound turnpike. The turnpike continues north, passing just east of the

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

city limits, before making an S-curve to the east, running west of Lake Overholser. The turnpike's next full interchange is with State Highway 66 (SH-66), which runs along N.W. 39th Expressway. North of this interchange, the Kilpatrick Turnpike crosses the

North Canadian River The North Canadian River is a river, long, in Oklahoma in the United States. It is a tributary of the Canadian River, draining an area of U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset/Watershed Boundary Dataset, area data covering Nor ...

. The next interchange is with Wilshire Boulevard. Immediately north of Wilshire Boulevard is the first barrier toll plaza. The highway's next interchange is with SH-3, also known as the Northwest Expressway. The turnpike curves to the east north of here, entering

Oklahoma County Oklahoma County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 796,292, making it the most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Oklahoma City, the state capital and ...

. East of the county line, the Kilpatrick Turnpike follows the route of Memorial Road; Memorial splits into a pair of one-way

frontage road A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. Where parallel high-speed roads are provided as part of a maj ...

s during this stretch. The next interchange, at Council Road, allows eastbound traffic to exit and westbound to enter the turnpike. The two interchanges to the east of here, at Rockwell Avenue and MacArthur Road, allow full access. At Meridian Avenue, traffic can exit the turnpike westbound and enter it eastbound. To the east lies an interchange with SH-74, a freeway known as the Lake Hefner Parkway. The interchange only allows direct access from the westbound Kilpatrick Turnpike to southbound SH-74 and from northbound SH-74 to the eastbound turnpike; all other movements must be completed via Memorial Road. The turnpike continues east, with full interchanges at May and Pennsylvania (Penn) avenues. East of Penn, the highway curves southeast, leaving the Memorial Road corridor. The next interchange is at Western Avenue. To the east of here is the second barrier toll plaza. After the toll plaza is the interchange with US-77, a freeway also known as the Broadway Extension. The turnpike then has an interchange at Eastern Avenue. The turnpike then comes to an end at

I-35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexico–Uni ...

I-44 Interstate 44 (I-44) is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Falls, T ...

. Eastbound I-44 splits away from northbound I-35 at this interchange to form the

, and the eastbound Kilpatrick Turnpike mainline merges into the Turner Turnpike toward

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

. Law enforcement along the John Kilpatrick Turnpike is provided by

Oklahoma Highway Patrol The Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) is a major state law enforcement agency of the government of Oklahoma. A division of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, the OHP has traffic enforcement jurisdiction throughout the state. OHP was legisla ...

Troop YE, a special troop assigned to the turnpike.

History

In 1987, the

Oklahoma Legislature The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate are the two houses that make up the bicameral state legislature. There are 101 ...

authorized construction of the first phase of the turnpike, between

and Lake Hefner Parkway. It was completed in 1991. In 2001, an extension of the turnpike to I-40 was completed. JKT and OK-SH-3 Shields

On October 29, 2015, Governor

Mary Fallin Mary Fallin (; née Copeland; born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 27th governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, she was elected in 2010 Oklahoma gub ...

announced that the Kilpatrick Turnpike would be extended south to end at SH-152 near Will Rogers World Airport as part of Driving Forward, a $892 million turnpike package. The project began on January 20, 2018. The westbound direction of the extension was opened January 9, 2020. The eastbound direction was opened on the following dates: January 28 from I-40 to Morgan Road, February 4 from Morgan to SH-152 westbound, and February 14 to what was formerly called SH-152 eastbound (currently I-240 eastbound). In February 2021, the OTA announced that all of the turnpikes will feature all-electronic tolling within the next five years, starting with the Kilpatrick Turnpike. This change (known as PlatePay) began on the Kilpatrick in July 2021. On August 2, 2021, the Oklahoma Transportation Commission approved the designation of the John Kilpatrick Turnpike as part of an extension of I-240, forming a

around Oklahoma City. ODOT Director

Tim Gatz Tim Gatz is an American civil servant who served as the Oklahoma Secretary of Transportation, executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, and executive director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, until an attorney general o ...

stated in the Transportation Commission meeting that the numbering change was primarily to aid in navigation using digital mapping and routing applications. Gatz also said, "If you look at the Interstate 240 designation on the loop around the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, we are finally to the point where we have a truly contiguous route there that can shoulder the burden of some of that transportation need in a loop format. That's common practice across the country, and you'll see that in many of the metropolitan areas, and that update will really be beneficial as far as everything from signage to how do you describe that route on a green-and-white sign." The designation would need to be approved by the

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway A highway is any public or private road ...

(AASHTO) and the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

(FHWA) to take effect. It was instead assigned as I-344 in 2023. In Fall 2023, the AASHTO approved for the John Kilpatrick Turnpike to be designated as Interstate 344 (I-344). In March 2024, the OTA announced that it would update signage for the turnpike over the next two months. The current turnpike logo would be removed and replaced with I-344 shields along with the yellow "TOLL" banner. I-240 will not be part of the turnpike; it will instead connect to I-344 via a short extension along Airport Road.

Tolls

, it costs $6.65 with PlatePay ($3.20 with Pikepass) to drive the entire length of the turnpike.

Exit list

References

External links