Future Interstate 644 Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation submitted an application to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials requesting the establishment of Interstate 644 along the Creek Turnpike encircling the Tulsa area on October 6, 2025. The application was subsequently approved by the Route Numbering Committee at the AASHTO November 2025 meeting.

Interstate 644 is proposed to follow the entire 32.79-mile long Creek Turnpike between west and east Tulsa. The Oklahoma Transportation Commission (OTA) approved a previous request by the Indian Nation Council of Governments (INCOG) for designating the Creek Turnpike as part of the Interstate System (Oklahoma Transportation Commission, 2025, Agenda Item 47) pursuant to Federal Public Law 109-59, Section 1908 9(a)(1). Approval was recommended by the OTC at the Commission Meeting held on April 7, 2025.

The SAFETEA-LU of 2005 previously added the Creek Turnpike as a future segment of the Interstate Highway System. However, no numerical designation was assigned. The language is found in Section 1908(a)(1), INCLUSION OF CERTAIN ROUTE SEGMENTS ON INTERSTATE SYSTEM AND NHS:

CREEK TURNPIKE, OKLAHOMA.-The Secretary shall designate as part of the Interstate System (as defined in section 101 of title 23, United States Code) in accordance with section 103(c)(4) of such title the portion of the Creek Turnpike connecting Interstate Route 44 east and west of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

As such, the Creek Turnpike is signed with Joplin and Oklahoma City for regional traffic along I-44 headed through Tulsa. It was assigned the designation of SH 364 by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) on March 10, 2014. The same minutes included the numbering of SH 351 for the previously unnumbered portions of the Muskogee Turnpike from Tulsa southeast to I-40 near Webbers Falls (Oklahoma Transportation Commission, 2014, Agenda Item 31).

Mileage by State

Oklahoma

32.79 mi

Data Sources

December 31, 2021 Interstate Route Log and Finders List

History

Funded by taxes, the Creek Turnpike was first envisioned as a toll free road connecting U.S. 64/169 (Mingo Valley Expressway) with Riverside Drive to the west. With construction seemingly more unlikely, the Creek and three other state projects, were proposed in the mid 1980s as turnpikes (Pearson, 1992a). When Legislature authorized construction of the route as a toll road, the proposed route extended northwest from U.S. 75 to IH 44 (Turner Turnpike) north of Sapulpa and northeast to IH 44 on the Will Rogers Turnpike. Feasibility studies however only favored the Turnpike Authority constructing the segment from U.S. 75 (Okmulgee Expressway) to Memorial Drive with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) building the link from Memorial Highway to U.S. 169 as a toll free road (Tulsa World, 1992a). Construction finally got underway in 1990 (Money, 1992).

The initial section of the Creek Turnpike opened to traffic between U.S. 64 (Memorial Drive) and Riverside Parkway in Tulsa on March 13, 1992 (Pearson, 1992a). The section west across the Arkansas River to Elm Street in Jenks opened on April 15, 1992 (Tulsa World, 1992b). Costing $105 million, construction at the time was ongoing to extend the toll road west to U.S. 75. The ODOT segment, between Memorial Drive and U.S. 169 was also under construction (Pearson, 1992a). The second segment opened between U.S. 75 and Elm Street on July 30, 1992 (Pearson, 1992b). The 3.8 mile long limited access highway connecting the Creek Turnpike at Memorial Drive with the Mingo Valley Expressway at 71st Street debuted to motorists on December 16, 1992 (Pearson, 1992c).

Construction on the Creek West Turnpike extension, lengthening the toll road from U.S. 75 to IH 44 (Turner Turnpike) at Sapulpa, concluded with a dedication ceremony held on December 15, 2000. Opening two weeks ahead of schedule, the five mile long stretch cost $70.5 million (Morgan, 2000).

Concurrent road work on The Broken Arrow South Loop continued to 3 p.m. on August 15, 2001, when five miles of the 12.9 mile long section opened to traffic. Costing $200 million to construct, the south loop extended southeast from U.S. 64/169 in Tulsa to S Elm Place / 161st E Avenue in the city of Broken Arrow (Parrish, 2001a). The second portion of the Broken Arrow South Loop opened to motorists at 3 p.m. on November 20, 2001. Disconnected from the rest of the Creek Turnpike, it opened between E 101st Street to the Muscogee Turnpike in Broken Arrow (Parrish, 2001b).

The remaining 4.2 mile long link of the South Loop, between S Elm Place and E 101st Street in Broken Arrow, opened following six months of delays at 2 p.m. on April 15, 2002 (Marler, 2002). The 12.9 mile long highway cost $223.5 million overall to construct, around $26 million over budget. The overrun was due to a combination of construction costs and right-of-way purchases (Hoberock, 2002a).

The final section of the Creek Turnpike, extending 9.1 miles north from the Muskogee Turnpike to the exchange joining IH 44, U.S. 412 and the Will Rogers Turnpike, opened on August 16, 2002. Costing $385 million, work on the extension commenced in March 1999. $687 million in bonds were sold by the OTA in 1998 to finance the construction. The bonds were to be retired in 2028 (Hoberock, 2002b).

West End  ‐ Tulsa, OK

Future West at

Hilton Road spans SH 364 (Creek Turnpike) one mile from the wye interchange with IH 44 westbound. 07/11/26

East at Future

SH 364 (Creek Turnpike) branches east from IH 44 (Turner Turnpike) in Sapulpa for Jenks, south Tulsa and Broken Arrow. 07/11/26

East End  ‐ Tulsa, OK

Future East at

SH 364 (Creek Turnpike) advances north across the rural east side of Tulsa to a cloverstack interchange (Exit 33) with IH 44, U.S. 412 and the Will Rogers Turnpike. 07/12/26

West at Future

The Will Rogers Turnpike west realigned southward in 2002 to seamlessly transition onto the Creek Turnpike. IH 44 makes a TOTSO (turn off to stay on) movement west, overlapping with U.S. 412 into Tulsa. 07/12/26

West at Future

U.S. 412 heads west Inola along an at-grade expressway to IH 44 (Will Rogers Turnpike) and SH 364 (Creek Turnpike) east. 07/12/26

References

1. Oklahoma Transportation Commission (OTC). (2025, April 7). Agenda for the Transportation Commission meeting. Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT). Retrieved August 7, 2026 from https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/odot/about-us/transportation-comission/agenda/2025/r/tc_agenda-202504-r.pdf
2. Oklahoma Transportation Commission (OTC). (2014, March 10). Minutes For The Special Transportation Commission Meeting. Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT). Retrieved from https://www.odot.org/tcomm/minutes14/tc_minutes-20140310.pdf
3. Pearson, J. (1992, March 13). Creek Turnpike Finally to Open. Tulsa World.
4. Piece of a piece of a road. (1992, March 13). Tulsa World.
5. Money, J. (1992, April 26). Turnpike Authority Making Progress on Construction. The Oklahoman.
6. Extending the pike. (1992, April 13). Tulsa World.
7. Pearson, J. (1992, July 30). Final Leg of Creek Turnpike to Open Today. Tulsa World.
8. Pearson, J. (1992, December 2). Mingo Valley's Last Stretch To Be Opened. Tulsa World.
9. Morgan, R. (2000, December 15). Ribbon-cutting ceremony set today for opening of Creek West loop. Tulsa World.
10. Parish, A. (2001, August 16). South Loop of pike opened. Tulsa World.
11. Parrish, A. (2001, November 18). Turnpike section near NSU-BA will open Tuesday. Tulsa World.
12. Marler, B. (2002, April 15). Connecting portion of two pikes to open. Tulsa World.
13. Hoberock, B. (2002, February 17). Turnpike opening scheduled. Tulsa World.
14. Marler, B. (2002, August 13). Turnpike final leg to open. Tulsa World.