Week of June 8, 2003: OK-1, Talimena Drive, at the US-259 junction. Turning left heads along OK-1 toward the Arkansas border, a right turn heads down the western end of Talimena Drive.



Week of June 15, 2003: The times, they are a-changin'. The 12th Street on-ramp to unsigned I-444 eastbound (southern leg of the Inner-Dispersal Loop, Downtown Tulsa). The above picture, taken last December, shows the original gantry and BGS that had been there for nearly thirty years, ever since the IDL was originally open for traffic. The blank areas were originally due to the fact that, when first opened, the south leg of the IDL only went as far as the next exit (13st Street/Denver Ave.) and stopped. When the rest of the IDL was opened several years later, presumably the blank areas were to be filled with "North US-75" and "Bartlesville". For some reason that never happened. Work crews are currently in the process of replacing all of these original BGSs along I-444. The lower picture, taken just a few hours before the original posting of this POTW, shows the replaced BGS, as it has looked for a little over a week



Week of June 22, 2003: The new half-mile extension of the Gilcrease Expressway from US-75 to Lewis Ave., opened for traffic last Monday. Looking east toward US-75 and the older part of the expressway. The BGS in the distance is a left exit for US-75 North. The back of the westbound sign at far left is a BYS (yellow) marking the end of the freeway. Inset: The northbound US-75 exit sign for this part of the freeway. The blank space will likely be filled by an OK-11 shield, but not until it is extended another mile to Peoria Ave., where OK-11 makes a turn and heads to the north. Given how long it took workers to do this half-mile, and the fact that Peoria is twice as far away, I don't see that happening until at least 2007.



Week of June 29, 2003: I-35 southbound/I-40 eastbound in Oklahoma City. The next left exit continues I-35 south, while the next right exit presents the southern terminus of I-235. The black space in the middle is called a Dynamic Sign, allowing for various messages to travellers, such as traffic problems, weather bulletins, Amber Alerts, etc. It was reported this past week that seven such dynamic signs are being installed in Tulsa, beginning this weekend.



Week of July 6, 2003: Northwest of Shawnee, sign gantry over what is about to become the western end of OK-3W, just before it rejoins OK-3E at I-40 and continues down the interstate as OK-3. This road, also duplexed as US-177, should have a 'TO' or 'JCT' with that OK-270, as it doesn't start until about a quarter-mile after the I-40 junction.