What this highway is actually called depends
entirely on where you are and who you talk to. Before the creation of
the Okmulgee Beeline, this was part of US-75. It came into Sapulpa and
upon this point along the same road as then-US-66, at which point it
turned and headed south. When the Beeline was created and US-75
rerouted there, the roads between
Tulsa and Okmulgee that were no longer part of US-75 became
Alternate-US-75.
My earliest recollections, back in the early 70s, had Alt-75's northern terminus point in the picture upper left, Terminus Junction in Sapulpa. The rest of the route was already duplexed by US-66 & SH-33, so a third designation was unnecessary. (Many road maps, however, still show this highway as Alt-US-75, still going all the way to Tulsa. Not so. At no point are any part of any 75 and any part of OK-66 multiplexed.)
Eventually I think the government wanted to do away with the "Alternate" designation, so the state renamed what was left of the highway US-75A, as witnessed by the signs at the northern terminus point (upper left of the above pics), which have yet to be changed. Most of the signs along the highway, however, look like the one at upper right, taken at the SH-67 junction in Kiefer, and lower left, taken between Sapulpa and Kiefer. As these are brand new signs, recently replaced due to Kiefer's widening of 67 and Creek County's not-as-recent resurfacing & slight rerouting of 75A, it would be safe to assume that the state officially considers this road to be State Highway 75-A.
That is, until you get to Beggs, near the southern end of the highway. From that point on to the southern terminus at US-75 the highway is still designated Alternate-US-75, as shown by the picture in the lower right, taken within the Beggs city limits. In addition, the BGSs on US-75 designating the exit for this road still refer to it as Alt-US-75. As this section of road has not has a major overhaul for as long as I can remember, I would think it safe to assume that these are just very old signs that aren't going to get replaced until they have to be, and that the entire highway, from one end to the other, is State Highway 75A.
But until I hear otherwise from somebody in an official capacity with the state, I have to go by what the signs say. I will overlook the US-75A signs at the northern terminus as a typo, as that intersection is the only place where those signs occur. But as "Alternate" signs are exclusively everywhere from Beggs to the southern terminus, I will assume that we are actually talking about two totally different highways: State Highway 75A at the north end, and Alternate-US-75 at the southern end.
Southern Terminus of Alternate-US-75: US-75 junction with OK-16.
Left: first assurance shield for Alt-75. Right: Beggs intersection
where Alt-75 duplexes with OK-16.
Transition Point from Alternate-US-75 to OK-75A: Creek/Okmulgee County Line
(Click on any of the
above pictures for a larger version)
Upper row: View from the county line (Left: looking south/Right: looking north).
Lower left: First signage of any sort on the highway south of the county line, designating the road as "Hwy 75 Alt". Between the county line and Beggs, all street signs for this road are similarly signed.
Lower right: First appearance of any sort of '75' as part of a highway designation north of the county line, an assurance shield just north of Mounds. Based on the lower two pics I have been able to determine thie transition point for the two highways as the county line.
On the map at the top of this page, the blue section is the part of the road signed OK-75A, the purple section Alt-US-75.
Northern Terminus of OK-75A: corner of Main & Dewey, Sapulpa's Terminus Junction
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My earliest recollections, back in the early 70s, had Alt-75's northern terminus point in the picture upper left, Terminus Junction in Sapulpa. The rest of the route was already duplexed by US-66 & SH-33, so a third designation was unnecessary. (Many road maps, however, still show this highway as Alt-US-75, still going all the way to Tulsa. Not so. At no point are any part of any 75 and any part of OK-66 multiplexed.)
Eventually I think the government wanted to do away with the "Alternate" designation, so the state renamed what was left of the highway US-75A, as witnessed by the signs at the northern terminus point (upper left of the above pics), which have yet to be changed. Most of the signs along the highway, however, look like the one at upper right, taken at the SH-67 junction in Kiefer, and lower left, taken between Sapulpa and Kiefer. As these are brand new signs, recently replaced due to Kiefer's widening of 67 and Creek County's not-as-recent resurfacing & slight rerouting of 75A, it would be safe to assume that the state officially considers this road to be State Highway 75-A.
That is, until you get to Beggs, near the southern end of the highway. From that point on to the southern terminus at US-75 the highway is still designated Alternate-US-75, as shown by the picture in the lower right, taken within the Beggs city limits. In addition, the BGSs on US-75 designating the exit for this road still refer to it as Alt-US-75. As this section of road has not has a major overhaul for as long as I can remember, I would think it safe to assume that these are just very old signs that aren't going to get replaced until they have to be, and that the entire highway, from one end to the other, is State Highway 75A.
But until I hear otherwise from somebody in an official capacity with the state, I have to go by what the signs say. I will overlook the US-75A signs at the northern terminus as a typo, as that intersection is the only place where those signs occur. But as "Alternate" signs are exclusively everywhere from Beggs to the southern terminus, I will assume that we are actually talking about two totally different highways: State Highway 75A at the north end, and Alternate-US-75 at the southern end.
Southern Terminus of Alternate-US-75: US-75 junction with OK-16.
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Transition Point from Alternate-US-75 to OK-75A: Creek/Okmulgee County Line
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Upper row: View from the county line (Left: looking south/Right: looking north).
Lower left: First signage of any sort on the highway south of the county line, designating the road as "Hwy 75 Alt". Between the county line and Beggs, all street signs for this road are similarly signed.
Lower right: First appearance of any sort of '75' as part of a highway designation north of the county line, an assurance shield just north of Mounds. Based on the lower two pics I have been able to determine thie transition point for the two highways as the county line.
On the map at the top of this page, the blue section is the part of the road signed OK-75A, the purple section Alt-US-75.
Northern Terminus of OK-75A: corner of Main & Dewey, Sapulpa's Terminus Junction
Terminus Junction in Sapulpa, where state highways
33, 97 and 75A all end, while 66 passes on through. The view is looking
to the south, and the beginning of 75A.
Left: another shot of the junction signs in Kiefer. Right: approach
to Terminus Junction from the west.
Terminus Junction pictures taken 8 November 2002. Kiefer night picture taken 12 October 2002. Kiefer day picture and southern terminus pictures taken 21 November 2002. Transition point pictures taken 5 July 2003.
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Terminus Junction pictures taken 8 November 2002. Kiefer night picture taken 12 October 2002. Kiefer day picture and southern terminus pictures taken 21 November 2002. Transition point pictures taken 5 July 2003.