Abandoned Interstate Highway in Oklahoma USA [I-44 & Route-66]

[@ariscaprice7766]

Please do more of these abandoned roads

[@CoolERoadTrips]

Wil try!

[@rjmcallister1888]

OKDot moved the Will Rogers Turnpike just east of it's original alignment so it would match up with a new interchange at US 412 and the Creek Turnpike. Used to be it paralleled 66 until it reached the intersection of 66, US 77 and OK 33 (now US 412). The Creek Turnpike was built to connect the Will Rogers and Turner Turnpikes to have a clear route around Tulsa and on to OKC. Before then, you had to follow 66 through Tulsa to reach the Turner off Southwest Blvd.

[@RobertOrtwein-ub3nv]

I'm a old otr truck driver I've been on that road in a cabover

[@samwasthebest6633]

That was a real dangerous stretch of interstate, glad it’s changed.

[@billjenkins3699]

Wow why was it dangerous

[@TheChoochooboy99]

I remember when this turnpike had toll booths at each end rather than just the one near Vinita. God I’m old.

[@CoolERoadTrips]

😅😅

[@aaronholcomb237]

There could be some pretty bad traffic jams at the ends of the turnpike when this was the case. I remember being in one on the day that OU played Tulsa at Skelly Stadium in the mid 1980s.

[@TheChoochooboy99]

@@aaronholcomb237 yes the Turner Turnpike was the same as well. Toll booths on each end rather than the one in the middle. It did get rather ugly sometimes. 😁

[@davidk8301]

I remember those days too...

[@dorisgrayson3839]

I love these old high ways . Grandpa and my family drive on them

[@kevincraig9704]

I drove this stretch of Will Rogers Turnpike back in early 1982. The thing I remember most about it were the signs every few miles that said something like "Do not drive into fog. It's most likely a tornado, not fog."

[@CoolERoadTrips]

Wow lol

[@robertlee6781]

It never be torn up. Look at the abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike. That has two tunnels too.

[@theschiznit8777]

Drag racers dream come true.

[@bellaxxi4116]

For real. You could really bring in some Money by turning this into a drag strip and hosting 3 mile runs

[@jonaschiko8648]

This needs to be a DIY drag racing area

[@TheoPlayzButTesting]

Old Road Segment Of I 44

[@GARGOLASPERFORMANCECOATINGS]

I live near this area and every time I drive by it and slow down to see it, I say the same thing perfect area to record zombie apocalypse type of scenes, a very good solid area to make a 1/2 mile drag strip and put the money back into the community, sits in a area where the car noise wouldn’t be a problem!

[@captainredpill1782]

There would be no reason to go through the expense and time needed to tear this strip apart. It can easily serve as an emergency landing strip for small aircraft with nowhere else to land.

[@GLOATINGMAPLE01]

This has been abandoned for like 20 years it was abandoned in 02

[@EdwardM-t8p]

The old I-44 and the land around it can be developed as an industrial or business area and called something like "Turnpike Street Industrial Park".

[@CoolERoadTrips]

Cool idea

[@willthetrill4849]

No way! It needs to be used for drag racing

[@janetjacoby9507]

So sad. So many memories of a simpler time

[@thatredneckcanadian519]

this would make a decent drag strip.

[@andrewdevore4799]

My mind after finding out about this place: this could be good for drag racing

[@elizabethhicks5794]

I'll be dag gum, so wasted, used that turnpike all the time, did not know they shut it down

[@coreysmith8560]

This is now a tourist attraction. It's nice they kept this. Only thing that changed was that one overpass being torn and the road being returned to surface level.

[@johnmarshall8021]

Has the state made any plans in getting this to connect with any other major highway (I.e. wv bridge to nowhere that is being an highway constructed)

[@CoolERoadTrips]

No Plans, and probably never will be unless it’s removal

[@SnowmanTF2]

Both end of it run into active interstate highways, it basically was abandoned because additional freeways were added. Building slightly west of the existing road allowed it to be done with less traffic disruption and a simpler juncture between all four directions to be made. If anything the most likely alternate could have been making it a local city street, but it is still a few miles out from current dense sprawl, so would have been even further out when having consistent traffic could have reduced the plant growth slowing decay.

[@bellaxxi4116]

If I was as rich as Elon Musk I’d buy this and turn it into a drag strip. Screw 1/4 mile races, time for top speed drag runs

[@bellaxxi4116]

@Roozlers yea but if you buy it and renovate it a lil bit, you’ll make money off it.

[@lastotallyawesomebleach204]

I'd buy it and fill one side end to end with junk cars (with dummies inside of them) to resemble a traffic jam. I'd even rig up all the cars so I could turn on the head and tail lights at night. Other side of the median would be a drag strip or go kart track.

[@oldretailsongooglemaps2619]

and aIso when did this highway close

[@CoolERoadTrips]

2002 I believe

[@ALT-9167]

If they don't tear this road up in the future, i'll most likely check it out, maybe clear weeds while i am at it

[@Joe-hb2ch]

Would travel it growing up every Memorial Day weekend on our way for our annual visit to my Great grandmother s who lived just outside of St. Louis. Tulsa born and raised.

[@danielburke4113]

When was this closed! I had been on it many times years ago.

[@CoolERoadTrips]

Believe this original portion closed in 2000

[@BulkyHealthyCat]

What's story I know only one highway in my nation it's abandoned it used to connect to old bridge and the bridge is removed now it's very small like 70 meters

[@babebrewer]

You should go explore Rocky Point in Inola, about 14 miles east of Catoosa 👍

[@CoolERoadTrips]

Oooo sounds nice

[@willthetrill4849]

Perfect top speed drag strip

[@bradye21playsIndieHorror]

Thank you! The other videos are all 2 minutes long.

[@CoolERoadTrips]

You’re welcome!!

[@SlowedByCinnamxn]

Why did this Section of I-44 get Abandoned in the First place?

[@CoolERoadTrips]

It was closed down to encourage the use of Creek Turnpike and cut down on the confusion navigating the junction of OK-66, US-412, I-44 and Creek Turnpike

[@alexcrawford1189]

This particular section was one of the most dangerous roads in Tulsa. If you look at the interchange where this meets Route 66 on Google Earth Pro (which lets you go back in time to see when this was still in use), you can see how sharp the turns were.

[@kc5krp]

How long is the entire abandoned stretch?

[@CoolERoadTrips]

Approx 1 mile

[@jhaeck1]

why did they stop using it

[@CoolERoadTrips]

To encourage people to pay the toll and take the Creek Tpk bypass moving westward toward OKC

[@TheWaynelds]

Wasn’t the old I-44 bridge destroyed during the Moore 2013 tornado?

[@CoolERoadTrips]

No, what bridge are you thinking of? Moore is about 100 miles away from this location in Catoosa.

[@Handle_Needs_3_Or_More_Charact]

You're thinking of the old highway bridge next to I-44 over the Canadian River in the OKC metro area, which I think had been closed to traffic at that time.

[@aaronholcomb237]

There used to be a truss bridge that ran parallel to I-44 just north of Newcastle. It was close to where both the 1999 and 2013 tornadoes crossed the interstate but I don't think it was necessarily damaged by either storm.

[@Handle_Needs_3_Or_More_Charact]

@@aaronholcomb237 nah, it got damaged by the 2013 storm. I saw it on a storm chaser vid after the tornado had passed and it was severely damaged.

[@Master_Disla]

Why they abandoned that highway?

[@WalterWhitesMemes]

re-alligned it

[@oldretailsongooglemaps2619]

why did this highway close.

[@CoolERoadTrips]

It was rerouted to facilitate a more straight-forward interchange with US-412 and Creek Turnpike. And ODOT/OTA just never took care of removing the original section

[@janetjacoby9507]

Every summer my family would drive from Az to Ohio and we would take this highway. In the 60s wow. Cant believe its not used anymore

[@CoolERoadTrips]

Oh wow!!

[@GLOATINGMAPLE01]

I want to go down this abandoned interstate on a 4 Wheeler

[@CoolERoadTrips]

Definitely could!!

[@Master_Disla]

Also, at the end of the highway, if they put a bridge, I would not be abandoned.

[@Henry-ol1jx]

Sorry you have to go further it's history

[@donavanjohnson409]

That highway really abandoned

[@CoolERoadTrips]

Yep It was crazy

[@kennypalermo9071]

@@CoolERoadTrips cool huh

[@donavanjohnson409]

@@CoolERoadTrips i enjoyed checking out the old abandoned interstate 44 with you

[@ralphbell6281]

It’s a section of I-44 that was abandoned to connect the new at the time Creek Turnpike and I-44. Yes, it’s really abandoned and no there are no plane to reconnect or remove at this time.

[@laffey.chan_]

Reminds me The Last Of Us

[@Surfguitarist59]

Man, this is cool; but also something from "The Twilight Zone." When did this stretch actually close?

[@CoolERoadTrips]

I believe it closed in 2002

[@KieraCameron514]

It should be made into an alternate I44.

[@toddcook7759]

It could be a local road instead of abandoned it

[@russellparker5272]

Tear out the concrete, back to pasture.

[@WilliamLutz-dj9zo]

I know you know that grass, weeds, and brush remove carbon dioxide from the air and add oxygen to it!!!

[@garrettwhite9526]

14:40

[@randyw8687]

can’t finish watching it because you are making to much human noises with breathing loud