Design
Because the Will Rogers Turnpike was built prior to authorization of the Interstate Highway System (in 1956), it uses a different set of design standards than are now current. As the road has been rebuilt, this is being brought in line with current design practice.
The original route of the Turnpike continued straight into and through Tulsa, becoming Skelly Drive in town (where tolls are not charged). In recent years with construction of the Creek Turnpike, the westernmost portion of the Will Rogers Turnpike was deleted so that the Creek and Will Rogers Turnpikes essentially form one road, with motorists required to exit at a standard cloverleaf interchange to stay on I-44. The new alignment adds over a mile of additional travel to motorists and truckers wishing to continue on I-44, encouraging them to instead remain on a toll facility for the duration of their journey (The Creek Turnpike takes a very roundabout route around Tulsa). The old pavement is now used as a training ground for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, among others.
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Famous quotes containing the word design:
“I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in providence, for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth.”
—John Adams (1735–1826)
“Nowadays the host does not admit you to his hearth, but has got the mason to build one for yourself somewhere in his alley, and hospitality is the art of keeping you at the greatest distance. There is as much secrecy about the cooking as if he had a design to poison you.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I begin with a design for a hearse.
For Christ’s sake not black—
nor white either—and not polished!
Let it be weathered—like a farm wagon—”
—William Carlos Williams (1883–1963)