Try To Avoid The Road Construction On The Way To OKC

One of the best things about living in Lawton is the location in Southwest Oklahoma. Yes, it's hot and usually pretty dry, but it's close to both OKC and Dallas when it comes to events and concerts, higher end shopping and big ticket items. One of the worst things about that drive to OKC is the road leading into the metro area. As the turnpike turns into free I-44 at Newcastle it eventually turns over into South OKC around I-240. That stretch of 44 between 240 and I-40 has needed a fresh rebuild my entire life. I can't tell you how old it is, but it might as well be considered a WPA Great Depression project as old as it feels to drive.

Here's the great news, they're finally rebuilding that potholed stretch of road. Before too long, OKC will welcome all of us from Southwest Oklahoma with smooth roads into our capitol city... but until that day, you might want to avoid it. Both directions coming and going have been squeezed into a couple of slow single lanes, and the amount of traffic this route sees means you can add almost an hour to the trip both ways... but there is a way around it.

On my way to OKC earlier this week, seeing the endless brakelights ahead of me, I opted to hop off I-44 at Highway 37/134th Street. I took that road a mile or two over to another big throughway and found a path to I-240 without having to stop. It was pretty great. Took the same route home.

While that's a solid route if you're headed to the East side of OKC or Bricktown, what if you're trying to get to West OKC? Easy, after the second toll booth up the turnpike, there's that turnpike spur to Norman, but it also goes in the other direction up through Mustang and on the border of Yukon. This way you can save some time by going out of your way. What else could you ask for since there's nothing we can all do except wait for the new road to be constructed.

On the plus side, while we're used to road projects lasting years and months in Lawton, those in the bigger metro areas usually only last a few weeks, two-three months tops. It's a small price to pay for better roads in a place where they actually spend their road money on roads.