U.S. Route 77 in Oklahoma

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U.S. Highway 77
Length: 268 mi (431 km)
South end: I-35/U.S. 77 south of Thackerville
North end: U.S. 77 south of Arkansas City, Kansas
Oklahoma State Highways
< SH-76 SH-78 >

In Oklahoma, U.S. Highway 77 runs north-south, paralleling Interstate 35, connecting Texas to Kansas and running for 268 miles[1] (431 km) through the central part of the state. It passes through many major cities, including Ardmore, Oklahoma City and its suburbs, Guthrie, and Ponca City. It has four lettered spur routes.

[edit] Route description

US-77 enters the state along with I-35 but splits off at the first exit in Oklahoma. Four miles later, it passes through Thackerville. It junctions with State Highway 32 near Marietta. It then enters Carter County and Ardmore, where it is named Commerce St. It crosses State Highway 53 south of Springer. It then enters the Arbuckle Mountains, providing access to Turner Falls and having some hairpin curves. It then passes through Davis (where it has a brief concurrency with State Highway 7. North of Davis, it passes through unincorporated Joy and passes through Wynnewood, where it carries State Highway 29. It then passes through Pauls Valley, Paoli, and Wayne. Next, it enters Purcell, where it concurs with State Highway 39 and 74.

US-77 and SH-39 split off SH-74 to head eastbound along Washington St. in downtown Purcell. Together, they cross the James C. Nance Memorial Bridge into Lexington, where SH-39 splits off. It then heads through Slaughterville and Noble before entering Norman, becoming Classen Blvd., and later, Porter Ave. US-77 heads west along Robinson Ave. before heading north along Flood Ave. Flood then merges into I-35 northbound.

I-35 and US-77 remain together until the Fort Smith Junction in downtown Oklahoma City, where it transfers onto Interstate 235. At Interstate 44, I-235 ends, but US-77 continues northbound as a freeway, called the Broadway Extension. The Broadway Extension is a major freeway linking the downtown area to Edmond. In Edmond, it heads east to meet I-35, which it joins again until Guthrie, where it splits off.

In Guthrie, US-77 meets State Highway 33. It continues northbound to serve as the eastern terminus of State Highway 164 and turns eastward toward Perry. After passing the north end of State Highway 86, it turns back northward and has a half-interchange with the Cimarron Turnpike. It then carries State Highway 15 for four miles. At Tonkawa, it begins a wrong-way concurrency with U.S. Highway 177 and U.S. Highway 60. It splits off to the north to head through Ponca City and Newkirk, before crossing over the Kansas line towards Arkansas City, Kansas.

[edit] Spur routes

US-77 has four lettered spur routes in Oklahoma:

  • SH-77C (0.4 mi) is an unsigned route through Purcell. [1]
  • SH-77D (2 mi) was a spur route through the Turner Falls area. It was decommissioned in February 2004.
  • SH-77H (9 mi) is Sooner Road through the Moore/Norman area, and ends at I-240.
  • SH-77S (17 mi) connects US-70 to SH-32 near Marietta. It passes along the eastern shore of Lake Murray.

In addition, US-77 has a truck route through downtown Pauls Valley.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Stuve, Eric. U.S. 77. OKHighways. URL accessed 9 March 2007.