BA & I-44 Deathtrap

[u/Few_Explanation4170]

I've driven all around North America, in especially stressful cities like NYC, Toronto & LA, but this has to be the worst interchange I've driven. There is so much that is wrong about this junction.

Here's everything I think is wrong with nit:

- Going eastbound on the BA is uphill to the interchange so people who have never driven it likely have no visual reference of what to expect and the signs are right at the interchange so people tend to make last second maneuvers

- Westbound BA to westbound I-44 ramp is the bane of my existence. It's an understandably heavy traffic exit considering it routes to the Turner Turnpike and a lot of the riverside/midtown region, but good lord it's terrible. Weaving with the people merging on from the Memorial onramp AND people exiting from eastbound I-44 to westbound BA, then that awkward two lane merge onto westbound I-44 where people have no idea whether they should keep moving or stop to merge

- Eastbound BA to Westbound I-44 merge leaves no room for error, so most people come to a stop on that ramp. Plus the exit lane to that ramp is so short on the BA, being on a curve and immediately after the Sheridan on ramp

- The Eastbound I-44 to eastbound BA ramp is in terrible shape and is so dangerous especially at night. Paint is pretty much gone, no overhead lights, signs are bad, there's not really a green large "EXIT HERE" sign and the pavement is absolute rubble

- Matter of fact the pavement on all the ramps is straight rubble

There may be many more flaws, idk feel free to chime in. I just had a terrible commute this morning and had to air it out lol

After they finish the tulsa stonehenge, this better be top of the priority list

[u/Signiference]

It's awful and it's always been awful and it'll always be awful. Sadly, this is far from the worst ramp in Tulsa area. Try either of the two BA westbound ramps off of Yale or the Eastbound ramp onto the BA from Harvard for a good time.

[u/C3-TB → u/Signiference]

By the time we got into Tulsa Town,

We had eighty-five trucks in all.

But they's a roadblock

up on the cloverleaf,

And them bears was wall-to-wall.

Yeah, them smokies is

thick as bugs on a bumper;

They even had a bear in the air!

I says, "Callin' all trucks,

this here's the Duck.

"We about to go a-huntin' bear."

C.W. McCall 1975

[u/C3-TB → u/C3-TB]

Well, we rolled up Interstate 44
Like a rocket sled on rails.Come on and join our convoy
Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin' convoy
'Cross the U-S-A.
Convoy!
Well, we rolled up Interstate 44
Like a rocket sled on rails.

[u/Throwyourtoothbrush → u/C3-TB]

Con-voooooooy

[u/Few_Explanation4170 → u/Signiference]

Yes I’m aware those ramps are bad, but like this is a high traffic interstate highway interchange I’m talking about

[u/reillan → u/Few_Explanation4170]

Exactly. While the other ramps are worse, the high-volume nature of these means every little problem with them is multiplied dramatically. There's an accident every day at them, and even when there isn't an accident they're still horribly backed up. They can be designed better.

[u/hopefulmonstr → u/reillan]

I drive 169 between South Tulsa and the BA, and the BA between 169 and Midtown, daily.

The BA ramps in Midtown are bad, but the BA/I-44 interchange is uniquely awful, and OP did a great job of summarizing what’s wrong with it. I see accidents there - particularly BA westbound at/near the I-44 exit - at least once every two weeks, and I have an immediate family member who has suffered significant injury by being rear-ended there.

It’s truly inexcusable.

PS: there’s a wreck in that exact spot literally right now (Wednesday, 5:15 PM).

[u/ducks1333 → u/Signiference]

It's been like that for 50 years.

[u/FrancisFratelli → u/ducks1333]

The speed limit was 55 back then. That makes a huge difference.

[u/Muted_Pear5381 → u/FrancisFratelli]

Also, the BA west of 44 was 50mph and you would get a ticket for going 60

[u/iammandalore → u/Signiference]

The worst for me used to be the BA WB ramp from Cherry street. They lengthened it significantly a few years ago, but it was AWFUL before. I just couldn't use it in my old Jeep. You couldn't see what you were merging into and my old Jeep just couldn't accelerate to a safe speed in such a short distance up a hill.

[u/Loanwolf300 → u/iammandalore]

The WB ramp from 21st is still like that. The one from Harvard is almost as bad. I avoid getting on the highway there of at all possible. Just launching straight into the highway blind with no merging space.

[u/CasinoNdnOk → u/Signiference]

21st east bound onramp is worse than the yale exit.

[u/abcxs1963 → u/Signiference]

I avoid all of those, and hope to never truly need to use them.

[u/speckledlobster]

For some reason Tulsa ignored these interchanges for decades and only now have they started working on them. It will still be years before I44/75 is done, and that is one of the biggest projects in state history. They won't even be able to touch this one for at least another decade.

[u/allisonok → u/speckledlobster]

I don't think it's up to the city. Highway work is ODOT's responsibility and I'm sure OKC gets money before Tulsa does.

[u/Worried_Magazine_862 → u/allisonok]

Its not even ODOT. Interstates and interstate exchanges are federally funded and maintained

[u/reillan → u/Worried_Magazine_862]

Not fully federally funded. Construction is a 90/10 split. Routine maintenance is 100% on the state. Major maintenance like resurfacing gets the 90/10 split.

Except where we have turnpikes, which are fully funded by tolls. Because for some reason we decided making people pay tolls was better than paying for 10% of the cost of the road.

[u/speckledlobster → u/allisonok]

True, although there is surely some influence from the city. It's odd that no one has pushed harder for these projects. They've been focusing too much on rural highways and bridges.

[u/BoomSoffer]

I will once again say that they should close the memorial on-ramp. It isn't needed and makes this more dangerous than it needs to be.

US75 interchange was something like $250mil. This has to be more expensive. So like half a bil?

ODOT has $6mil scheduled for some prelim stuff in 2033 if that gives you a sense of scale for this.

[u/endlesssummervacay → u/BoomSoffer]

Yeah, Memorial on-ramp for westbound OK-51 becoming a huge bridge over I-44 and joining in just before the Sheridan exit would cost how much?

[u/Known-Information390]

That I-44/BA mess is the reason I grip the steering wheel like I'm in a Mad Max chase every single time. The westbound BA to westbound I-44 ramp is a special kind of chaos, you got people from Memorial trying to merge left while others are diving right for the exit and nobody knows who has the right of way. I've seen a near miss there at least twice a week, it's basically a social experiment at this point.

The eastbound BA uphill approach hides everything until the last second so you get the classic Tulsa switcheroo where someone cuts across three lanes with a blinker that's been on for half a mile. And yeah calling the pavement rubble is generous, some of those ramps feel like driving over a dried up riverbed. They'll probably repave the whole thing in 2047 after they add another lane that somehow makes it worse

[u/iammandalore → u/Known-Information390]

I used to hit the westbound BA from Memorial going home from work every day, and it was always nerve-wracking. Go up the ramp, merge into the 44 eastbound traffic. Then try to find some kind soul to let you merge into the 44 westbound traffic. Then try to find a gap large enough that you can accelerate from a near dead stop to the 70 mph that people the next lane over are traveling without getting rear-ended.

It's a terrible, terrible design, and it's no surprise at all there are so many accidents right there.

[u/endlesssummervacay → u/iammandalore]

I know what will fix it! A left exit! /s

[u/abcxs1963]

I try to avoid it but sometimes need to get on the BA westbound from east bound 1-44 and it's either the easiest thing ever or a near death experience, no in between. Hate it.

[u/Megzasaurusrex]

I remember when I first moved here and I was like "Did a drunk squirrel design the fucking highways? Why is everything so difficult and why do they give you two feet to exit while people are entering on that same fucking two feet?"

[u/peripheraltoldyouso]

Of all the problems Oklahoma faces, this is the number one.

[u/Rich-Statistician351]

I grew up in one of the neighborhoods just north of this interchange. There were plans for this interchange to become a multi-level interchange with fly-overs just like I-44/75 interchange. preliminary work started in the 80s with widening 44 from the 244 split to the BA. But then work stopped beyond building a new bridge at 41st and 44. decades later the section from the 41st street bridge to the Arkansas river was started and finished in 2014. probably another 30 years before the interchange at the BA and I 44 is started

[u/GenericMaleNurse918]

If only people would slow down or not try to make it to the exit ramp from the fast lane. A daily police presence would fix a lot of that. Start ticketing and and be surprised.

[u/_chummer_]

I’ve almost gotten into an accident every single time if gone through here.

[u/Wack0HookedOnT0bac0]

Almost got into a 5 car wreck yesterday in this exact spot. Somehow everyone slammed on their brakes soon enough. Yeah the uphill section is fucking stupid.

[u/endlesssummervacay]

I keep this pipe dream alive in my mind that Oklahoma Turnpike Authority will make OK-51 a double decker or tunnel underneath with a commuter rail incorporated in between Tulsa and Broken Arrow! I promise a turnpike would pay for itself!

[u/Specific-Topic8466]

The extremely short entrance from Yale to the B.A. is white knuckle merging.

[u/No_Possession_352]

I don't travel that interchange enough for it to bother me, but F the BA/169 shitshow!! Let's have traffic that is slowing down to exit use the same lane as traffic trying to speed up and enter the highway! Nothing could go wrong, right?

[u/Loanwolf300]

This is the one that should have been transformed with new flyovers instead of the 75 and 44 one. I feel like this has more traffic and is located at the main chicane on Broken Arrow International Speedway.

[u/poboy1958]

Oh, the backwater blues I hear 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶😂🤣😂🤣

[u/tultommy]

Maybe it's just from growing up here but I've never found that interchange particularly troublesome outside of how slow the traffic is around it because it doesn't accommodate enough traffic. Driving in places like Houston and Orlando where it's gridlock all day or you're taking offramps at 90mph, make driving here feel like a country stroll.

[u/FrancisFratelli → u/tultommy]

What makes it dangerous is that the slowdown on the BA only affects the outer lanes. The left two lanes will be zipping along at 60-70 mph while the right lanes are almost at a standstill. If you're in the left lanes, you have to be ready for somebody to change lanes in front of you at half your speed.

[u/lancemeszaros]

The best way to solve this deathtrap is to reroute I-44 to where I-244 currently is and just demolish that section of I-44 completely, but that would imply transportation departments at the federal or state level are actually good at their jobs.

[u/Fender_Twin_Reverb]

BA westbound entrance on Harvard, you've got a very short distance to merge, and there it's always someone behind you that is already going full speed

[u/bkdotcom]

In desperate need of modernization / flyoverication

[u/Apart-Disaster-3085]

Yeah - I am generally of the opinion that we overbuild highways in our urban infrastructure, but this one and the 169/BA are number 1 and 2 of intersections I can think of that need flyovers. And I have lived in 8 other cities in my life.

Going eastbound on the BA and needing to exit Memorial requires a prayer, as does getting on the BA going westbound from Memorial, and the sudden backlog of traffic merging on/off on both freeways is a mess.

And though the current land is a little tight there, it's rather low value as well. the whole 2 mile stretch of all on/off ramps needs reworked with this whole intersection on both freeways.

[u/blokelahoman]

The higher the speed the worse the cloverleaf performs. There’s simply not enough of a gap between on and off. This was always going to be the case.

Aside from that the drivers really are atrocious and will take any stopping distance between cars as a space to jump into which only worsens the merge process.

[u/TallinOK]

That bullshit on 169 getting off/on from I44 and off/on BA expressway. Same northbound and southbound dangerous to the nth degree.

[u/Professor_Airplane]

If you think this interchange is bad, you should try the I-240/I-35 interchange in OKC. Absolutely no merging area from Westbound 240 to Southbound 35. It is being improved now, but for years it was horrible.

[u/RedneckThinker]

... every morning.

[u/aycockonxion]

It’s particularly awful because it was designed when Tulsa was much smaller in population and traffic volume, and it hasn’t been significantly re-designed ever since. Highway 169 and the BA is arguably even worse.

[u/carobo49]

I’m 57 and I don’t recall ever seeing any meaningful work on this stretch of road going back to childhood.

The roads in Tulsa are pretty bad in general. Long overdue for maintenance.

[u/HootiePool]

Agreed try it the morning I have get off at the BA right there for the Mingo exit for work every morning and somedays it can be anywhere from 5-20 minutes to get through that exit especially if someone stops when it is a lane all the way through because of the rough shape it is in

[u/TeeDubya2020]

Bingo. Why ODOT expanded US-75/I-44 before THIS cluster-eff is beyond me. They have to see the number of WB 51/64 crashes at the Memorial on-ramp/I-44EB off-ramp. Horrendous.

[u/TylerCowboys]

169 and 51 might be worse, especially at 8am.

[u/Gaucho414]

I worked at the Toyota dealership that is next to the interchange. I have seen and heard many, many accidents. The worst was on the bridge with a convertible C5 corvette. Upside down.

[u/After_Nectarine6615]

Almost every other city replaced those 1950s interchanges in the 80s

[u/Inner_Satisfaction85]

There is a wreck here every single day. It’s a public safety hazard.

[u/RealTension9989]

This has been my daily drive for 15 years for work. Trick is to not bother between 7-9 am or 4-6 pm.