Oklahoma Roads - OK 51/US 64

and 51/US 64


Above: Courtesy Jeremy Lance, a shield style you won't see anymore.


OK 51 left US 64 WB in Sand Springs, just west of Tulsa, courtesy David Backlin. You better believe this sign has been replaced, along with the curiosity of two shields with the same number of digits and different shapes. I'm betting it's the "1" in 51 that let it stay a circle.


An eastbound evening west of Tulsa. Put enough shields together, and something will eventually become non-cutout. You can see though, underneath all those shields is another Interstate shield. Yes, you have to follow a detour for the routes shown here, so "Closed - Follow Marked Detour" is appropriate (and no, F___ked does NOT mean anything other than that, except a poor choice of overlay placement). But during the next stage of construction when I-244 WB opens and EB closes, these shields can all be peeled away to reveal East I-244 and presumably North US 75.


I-244 EB shares space with OK 51/US 64 WB for a brief moment west of Tulsa (they come from US 75 in the first photo). The three routes head due north, so it's okay that they're going opposite directions. What's not okay is the molten lava that poured over the eyes of these signs' designer, permanently crippling his ability to design a three-digit shield properly. (The US 412 is not proper - it's a stretched 2dus - you can tell because the sides of the shield have "chipmunk cheeks" instead of looking the same as the US 64 sides.)

Amazingly, original button copy is preserved this close to downtown, on Cincinnati Ave. SB. Click on the last photo for a super-closeup of US 64's reflectors, which I am going to have etched into my bedroom ceiling so that I can relax as I go to sleep.


Sheridan Rd. in Tulsa (at US 64/OK 51, which I left in the bottom of the photo), courtesy David Backlin.


OK 51/US 64 EB on the Broken Arrow Expwy. I love seeing any remnant I can of Oklahoma's former circle signage (now replaced by the state outline chopping into the scalp of the route number), but I love even more seeing a state route/US route error. I don't love seeing a poorly put-together sign, though, and the "EXIT _ MILE" parts of both of these signs needs work (the 1 should be larger on the left sign). This is it on the concurrency for US 64, which as the other, correct signage notes, exits onto US 169 South. US 169 then ends when US 64 leaves the freeway (cleverly avoiding a toll on Creek Tpk. by using the first exit), so 169 may as well end here at OK 51.


Former OK 51 WB from where it hops onto the Broken Arrow Expwy. at the end of the tolled Muskogee Turnpike. Given the test striping going on, I wouldn't assume there's an original center stripe there among the others. This stub of OK 51 kept going and widened right into the current freeway to downtown.


Looking east from the stub toward the continuation of current OK 51. The very end of surface OK 51 was bent to the east for a direct connection to the Broken Arrow, so this no longer flows straight into it.

Onto US 64 alone

Exit 5B to US 412
Exit 5C to L.L. Tisdale Pkwy.
Onto I-244
Straight onto Muskogee Tpk.
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