Interstate 35 (I-35), in the US State of

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 ...

, runs from the Red River at the

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

border to the

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

state line near Braman for a length of . I-35 has one auxiliary route in the state, I-235, in the inner city of

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 ...

. A second auxiliary route, I-335, is the designation for the

Kickapoo Turnpike The Kickapoo Turnpike, signed Interstate 335 (I-335) since November 2024, is a controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The northern section from U.S. Route 62 in Oklahoma, U.S. Route 62 (US 62) to I ...

, although it will not meet I-35 until the southern extension of the turnpike to a junction with I-35 in

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's ...

is built. Excluding the Panhandle, I-35 forms the informal bisector for

central Oklahoma Central Oklahoma is the geographical name for the central region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is also known by the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation, Oklahoma Department of Tourism designation, Frontier Country, defined as the 12 ...

, and along with

US 81 U.S. Route 81 or U.S. Highway 81 (US 81) is a major north–south U.S. highway that extends for in the central United States and is one of the original United States Numbered Highways established in 1926 by the American Association of Sta ...

/ US 283 in

western Oklahoma On a simple east/west basis, Western Oklahoma is popularly considered that part of the state west of I-35. I-35 creates a north/south line through the approximate center of the main body of the state (i.e., without regard for the Oklahoma Panhand ...

and US 69/

US 75 U.S. Route 75 is a north–south U.S. Highway that runs in the central United States. The highway's northern terminus is located at the Canadian border near Noyes, Minnesota, at a now-closed border crossing. From this point, the highway ...

in the eastern portion, it provides one of the main north-south corridors through the state.

Route description

I-35 enters Oklahoma

with With or WITH may refer to: * With, a preposition in English * Carl Johannes With (1877–1923), Danish doctor and arachnologist * With (character), a character in ''D. N. Angel'' * ''With'' (novel), a novel by Donald Harrington * ''With'' (album ...

U.S. Highway 77 (US-77) on a bridge over the Red River in Love County, south of Thackerville. US-77 splits off at exit 1 (Red River Road) but parallels the Interstate for its entire length in Oklahoma. I-35 maintains a near–due north–south course through Love and

Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Carter ...

counties. I-35 provides four exits to Ardmore. After leaving Ardmore, it has a brief concurrency with State Highway 53 (SH-53) and enters Murray County and the

Arbuckle Mountains The Arbuckle Mountains are an ancient mountain range in south-central Oklahoma in the United States. They lie in Murray County, Oklahoma, Murray, Carter County, Oklahoma, Carter, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, Pontotoc, and Johnston County, Oklahoma, ...

. I-35 then passes through Garvin County and the county seat of Pauls Valley. North of exit 79 ( SH-145), I-35 enters McClain County. There, it passes through

and Goldsby. SH-9 joins the Interstate crossing over the

Canadian River The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .Cleveland County, after which it splits off again. It then serves as a major urban Interstate in Norman and

Moore Moore may refer to: Language * Mooré language, spoken in West Africa People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior ...

. Between Norman and Moore, US-77 joins the Interstate again. It then enters

and

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 ...

near milepost 120. Near

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

, I-35 splits off the mainline (which becomes I-235/US-77) and runs concurrent with I-40 for before splitting off to the north again. I-44 then joins I-35 between mileposts 133 and 137. In Edmond, US-77 joins the Interstate yet again. At milepost 146, I-35 enters

Logan County Logan County is the name of ten current counties and one former county in the United States: * Logan County, Arkansas * Logan County, Colorado * Logan County, Idaho (1889–1895) * Logan County, Illinois * Logan County, Kansas * Logan County ...

. It serves Guthrie at exit 153 (South Division Street), where US-77 splits off, and at exit 157 ( SH-33/East Noble Avenue). The Interstate then crosses the Cimarron River into

Payne County Payne County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 81,646. Its county seat is Stillwater, Oklahoma, Stillwater. The county was created in ...

and enters Noble County shortly thereafter. It provides two exits to

Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...

and serves as the western terminus of the Cimarron Turnpike ( US-412). After providing access to

Tonkawa The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe from Oklahoma and Texas. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct language, extinct, is a linguistic isolate. Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Tonkawa ...

and Blackwell in Kay County, it crosses into Kansas, becoming the Kansas Turnpike.

History

Some sections of I-35 in Oklahoma City were already built in 1953 before the Interstate System was created. Following the passage of the Federal Highway Act of 1956 that created the Interstate Highway System, the

Oklahoma Department of Transportation The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) is an government agency, agency of the government of Oklahoma responsible for the construction and maintenance of the state's transportation infrastructure. Under the leadership of the Oklahoma Se ...

(ODOT) approved the location of the future Interstate north of Oklahoma City to the Kansas state line on a route previously surveyed by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority for a proposed toll road. As a free road, the first of that section of I-35 were opened to traffic in 1958 from US-177 near Braman north to the Kansas border, where it continued as the Kansas Turnpike. This was followed by completion of the entire route from Oklahoma City northward to Braman by 1963 in several phases, including Edmond to Guthrie in 1960, Guthrie to

in 1961, Perry to Blackwell in 1962, and Blackwell to Braman in early 1963. To the south of Oklahoma City, I-35 was completed through Norman south to

in June 1959. In

, it opened in two parts: the northern half, connecting Moore to Oklahoma City, opened in January 1960. The southern half, linking it to Norman, was opened to traffic in June 1967. The Moore–Norman segment was originally a four-lane section of US-77 built in 1951 that did not meet full

Interstate Highway standards Standards for Interstate Highways in the United States are defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in the publication ''A Policy on Design Standards: Interstate System''. For a certain highway t ...

and included several at-grade intersections within the City of Moore, including some with traffic signals, and upgraded accordingly to include grade separations to bring up to full Interstate Highway standards and frontage roads to serve local traffic needs. Also not up to full Interstate Highway standards prior to 1967 was a section in the vicinity of Lindsey Street in the southern portion of Norman where another at-grade intersection still existed which dated back to the original highway's construction in the early 1950s—this was also brought up to full Interstate Highway standards in 1967 with the construction of interchanges on I-35 at Lindsey and a short distance to the south for the future SH-9 bypass that would be built around the southern side of Norman in the early 1970s. Further south, I-35 was completed from Marietta south to the Red River bridge in 1963, at which point a nearly gap of uncompleted Interstate would exist between Purcell and Marietta until the late 1960s with traffic continuing to be routed over paralleling US-77. This was in large part due to efforts of the towns of Wynnewood, Paoli, and Wayne fighting to keep I-35 as close as possible to US-77. This was successful due to a threat from Governor

Henry Bellmon Henry Louis Bellmon (September 3, 1921 – September 29, 2009) was an American Republican politician from the U.S. State of Oklahoma. A member of the Oklahoma Legislature, he went on to become both the 18th and 23rd governor of Oklahoma, mai ...

to build a toll road rather than I-35, and legislation preventing state funds for the Interstate from being spent if it were more than from the U.S. Highway. The uncompleted gap of I-35 in Southern Oklahoma was narrowed in 1967 and 1968 when two sections were completed from US-70/ SH-199 in Ardmore south to SH-32 in Marietta. In 1969, the section of Interstate bypassing Ardmore was completed north from US-70 to SH-142, and, the following year, 1970, brought the completion of I-35 from SH-7 near Davis south to Ardmore, at long last bypassing the winding section of US-77 through the Arbuckle Mountains. This stretch through the Arbuckles was particularly expensive and difficult to construct, taking almost two years and requiring the blasting and removal of of rock. A few months later, in January 1971, I-35 was finally completed across the State of Oklahoma, when the remaining portions of the Interstate from Purcell to SH-7 near Davis were opened to traffic. In 2008, ODOT announced plans to widen of I-35 through Norman, from the Main Street interchange (exit 109) to the McCall Bridge over the

Canadian River The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .SH-74A/Lindsey Street interchange (exit 108B), due to its proximity to the SH-9 interchange (exit 108A). A public meeting held in Norman attracted 300 attendees, many bearing "Don't Close Lindsey" signs. Attendees cited the impact on local businesses and those attending

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

football games as grounds for opposing the closure of the interchange. A former OU economics professor estimated the interchange's closure would cost Norman $100 million over the course of 15 years. At the meeting, four proposals were displayed, only one of which displayed no access from Lindsey Street. A second proposal would preserve access to Lindsey Street but require the seizure of a newly built

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

dealership near the interchange. The third proposal would instead send the ramps around the dealership, and the fourth, the highest-cost alternate, would use bridges to prevent Lindsey Street and SH-9 traffic from conflicting. ODOT said their design standards did not require consideration of OU football traffic, because they only considered the 30th highest traffic percentile. One ODOT engineer was quoted as saying, "Otherwise, we'd have to 10-lane everything in Norman." In early 2011, a solution was unveiled that would retain access to Lindsey Street and reconstruct the interchange without displacing the dealership. In 2014, ODOT completed reconstruction of the Main Street interchange as a

single-point urban interchange A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic th ...

(SPUI) and widening of I-35 to just south of Main Street. In March 2015, ODOT began a two-year, $71 million project to reconstruct the Lindsey Street interchange as a SPUI, reconstruct the SH-9 interchange, and complete widening of I-35 to six lanes to the Canadian River. It was completed and opened in October 2017. In August 2018, construction began for a new bridge for Southwest 34th Street over I-35 in

. The road had previously been unconnected due to sections on either side of I-35 ending at the frontage roads for the interstate. During the project, I-35 was briefly shut down after construction debris was blown off the bridge and onto the roadway on April 13, 2019. The overpass was not damaged; the debris blown off it was scaffolding and plywood. The bridge was completed and opened on November 21, 2019. In April 2019, a bill was passed that increased the speed limit from on segments of rural Interstates. On I-35, the speed limit would be increased from the

state line to mile marker 90 near Purcell, and from just north of mile marker 147 near Edmond to the

state line. All of the new signs were installed by the end of 2020. Following this, it was announced in February 2022 that the speed limit of the freeway would become from 89th Street in Oklahoma City to just south of the SH-9 West interchange in Goldsby. This change will make the speed limit consistent in the area, where it previously was not (some of the area had speed limits). All of the new signs were installed by the end of March.

Future

ODOT began a redesign process for the I-35/ I-240 interchange in southeast Oklahoma City in 1998. It is currently a four-leaf cloverleaf interchange that has deemed to be outdated and the improvements will change it to a multi-level interchange with dedicated interstate ramps, turnaround lanes, and service roads for improved city street access in six phases. Phase 1 began in early summer 2016 and was completed in May 2017 while phase 1A construction began in mid-June 2017 and was completed in summer 2018. Construction on phase 1B began on June 5, 2023, and is expected to be completed in 2025. Construction is currently underway at I-35 and SH-9 West (Exit 106) in Goldsby to reconfigure the interchange into a

Diverging diamond interchange A diverging diamond interchange (DDI), also called a double crossover diamond interchange (DCD), is a subset of diamond interchange in which the opposing directions of travel on the non-freeway road cross each other on either side of the inte ...

. The new design is expected to "accommodate large volumes of turning traffic by shifting traffic to the left side of a divided roadway through a series of coordinated signals for safer and more efficient left turns."

Naming

*Through the Arbuckle Mountains, I-35 passes over the Honey Creek Pass. *The bridge over the Canadian River is the S.K. McCall Memorial Bridge. *In Norman, I-35 is the Dr. James E. and Representative Mina M. Hibdon Memorial Highway. *In Moore, I-35 is the Helen Cole Memorial Highway. The bridge over NE 27th Street is the Airman Kamenski D. Watson Memorial Bridge. *In Edmond, I-35 is the Shannon Miller Parkway.

Exit list

References

External links