State Highway 3, also abbreviated as SH-3 or OK-3, is a highway maintained by the U.S. state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. Traveling diagonally through Oklahoma, from the Panhandle to the far southeastern corner of the state, SH-3 is the longest state highway in the Oklahoma road system, at a total length of via SH-3E ( see below).

Route description

In the northwest

Highway 3 begins at the Colorado state line north of Boise City, Oklahoma. At this terminus, it is concurrent with US-287/

US-385 U.S. Route 385 (US 385) is a spur of U.S. Route 85 that runs for 1,206 miles (1,941 km) from Deadwood, South Dakota to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Route description , - , TX , 545 , 877 , - , OK , 36 , 58 , - , CO , 317 , 510 ...

. It remains concurrent with the two U.S. Routes until reaching Boise City, where it encounters a traffic circle which contains five other highways. After the circle,

splits off, and SH-3 overlaps US-287, US-56, US-64, and US-412, though US-56 and US-287 both split off within the next . In

Guymon Guymon ( ) is a city and county seat of Texas County, in the panhandle of Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 12,965, an increase of 13.3% from 11,442 in 2010, and represents more than half of the population ...

, US-64 splits off. At Elmwood,

US-270 U.S. Route 270 (US 270) is a spur of US 70. It travels for from Liberal, Kansas at US 54 and US 83 to White Hall, Arkansas at Interstate 530 (I-530) and US 65. It travels through the states of Arkansas, Oklahom ...

joins US-412, coming from a concurrency with State Highway 23. SH-3 remains concurrent with

through Watonga. In Seiling, US-183 leaves the concurrency but is quickly replaced by

U.S. Highway 281 U.S. Route 281 (US 281) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway. At it is the longest continuous three-digit U.S. Route. The highway's northern terminus is at the International Peace Garden, north of Dunseith, North Dakota, at t ...

. SH-33 joins the roadbed later. In Watonga, SH-33 and SH-3 split off from US-270 and US-281. Highways 3 and 33 remain concurrent for 28 more miles, until Kingfisher, where SH-3 joins U.S. Highway 81. It will stay concurrent with US-81 for , through the town of Okarche. Three miles after Okarche, SH-3 leaves US-81. This marks the first point that SH-3 has not been part of a concurrency.

Through Oklahoma City

Beginning at the split from US-81, Highway 3 becomes a major artery in the Oklahoma City highway system, commonly known as the '' Northwest Expressway'' because it is a diagonal route and because it serves the northwestern part of the metro area. It skirts the northern limits of El Reno before entering the Oklahoma City limits. The often-congested Northwest Expressway passes through the suburb of Warr Acres and passes close to Lake Hefner. At the intersection with the Lake Hefner Parkway, SH-3 again re-enters a concurrency. The Lake Hefner Parkway ends very shortly after, and SH-3 becomes concurrent with Interstate 44 through the western side of the city. Near Will Rogers World Airport, Highway 3 transfers to I-240 along the southern side of the city. After I-240 ends, SH-3 is transferred onto I-40 (also carrying US-270), which it remains concurrent with for .

SH-3E/3W split

In Shawnee, SH-3 splits into two highways, SH-3E and SH-3W. SH-3W splits off I-40 onto

U.S. Highway 177 U.S. Route 177 (US-177) is a spur of U.S. Route 77. It currently runs for 233 miles (375 km) from South Haven, Kansas at US-81 to Madill, Oklahoma at US-70. It passes through the states of Kansas and Oklahoma. Route description Oklahoma ...

, along with

, at I-40 milemarker 181. It continues along with US-270 and 177 through the west side of Shawnee, and continues south of that city until

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and ...

, where US-270 splits off. South of Asher,

, SH-3W leaves US-177 and veers southeast toward Ada. SH-3E, the longer of the two split routes, was the original routing of Highway 3 before the two highways were split. It remains on I-40 for after SH-3W splits off. When it does split off, it soon joins SH-18. It follows a route closer to the center of Shawnee. After leaving Shawnee, it heads southeast toward Seminole. Here, it meets US-377/ SH-99. SH-3E merges onto this highway, and they will remain concurrent until after they reach Ada. In

Ada Ada may refer to: Places Africa * Ada Foah, a town in Ghana * Ada (Ghana parliament constituency) * Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria Asia * Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, Tur ...

, SH-3E and SH-3W are reunited and become SH-3 once again.

Ada to Atoka

SH-3 then becomes part of the Richardson Loop, a freeway around the west and south sides of Ada. Throughout the Richardson Loop, it overlaps SH-1 and US-377/SH-99 at different times. The highway then becomes two-lane once again and heads southeast to the town of Coalgate, where begins an concurrency with

U.S. Highway 75 U.S. Route 75 is a major north–south U.S. Highway that extends in the central United States. The highway's northern terminus is in Noyes, Minnesota, at the Canadian border, where it once continued as Manitoba Highway 75 on the other sid ...

, lasting through Atoka. In Atoka, US-75 splits off to join

U.S. Highway 69 U.S. Route 69 (US 69) is a major north–south United States highway. When it was first created, it was only long, but it has since been expanded into a Minnesota to Texas cross-country route. The highway's southern terminus (as well a ...

Antlers to Arkansas

Two miles west of Antlers, the highway has an interchange with the Indian Nation Turnpike, and in Antlers it intersects

U.S. Highway 271 U.S. Route 271 (US 271, US-271) is a north–south United States highway. Never a long highway, it went from bi-state route (Arkansas and Oklahoma) to a tri-state route (Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas). Its southern terminus is in Tyler, ...

. After reaching the town of Broken Bow,

, it turns southward and overlaps US-259 and

US-70 U.S. Route 70 or U.S. Highway 70 (US 70) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. It is a major east–west highway of the Southeastern, Southern and Southwestern United States. E ...

. Near

Idabel Idabel is a city in and county seat of McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 7,010 at the 2010 census. It is located in the southeast corner of Oklahoma, a tourist area known as Choctaw Country. History Idabel was est ...

, the highway splits off after being with US-259 for . Twenty-eight miles later, it becomes Highway 32 as it crosses the state line into Arkansas.

History

The current SH-3 was designated on 15 May 1939. The original highway included all of current SH-3 up to Antlers, where it terminated at US-271. It was extended to the Arkansas state line on 4 August 1952. SH-3 ended there concurrent with US-70 and SH-7, near DeQueen, Arkansas. On 7 January 1963, the highway was given its own alignment from near Idabel to Arkansas, taking over that of SH-21, which was eliminated at that time. From the highway's commissioning to 1976, there was only one fork of SH-3 between Shawnee and Ada, which was the path of current SH-3E. SH-3W and SH-3E were created on 4 October 1976; the new SH-3W took over all of SH-13. Other than minor realignments, the highway remains essentially the same today. In the early 1980s, Governor George Nigh was able to obtain $97.1 million to upgrade the highway between Oklahoma City and Colorado, despite opponents labeling the project "the highway to nowhere". House Concurrent Resolution 1067 labeled the highway as "Governor George Nigh's Northwest Passage." ODOT officially so named the highway on 2 February 1981.

Notes

* SH-3's concurrency with Interstate 44 in Oklahoma City is an example of a wrong-way concurrency – I-44 West is SH-3 East and vice versa. * SH-3's concurrency with US-70 is also a wrong-way concurrency, as US-70 is signed as going west and SH-3 as going east. * The SH-3 bypass around Atoka is named the Cecil B. "Bud" Greathouse Bypass. It was designated by ODOT on 4 October 1982.

SH-3A

SH-3 had one lettered spur, SH-3A, which continued the alignment of the Northwest Expressway for two more miles before ending at Interstate 44 near

Penn Square Mall Penn Square Mall is a two-story, regional shopping mall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. It is located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and NW Expressway, near Interstate 44. The mall's anchor stores consist of JCPenney, Macy' ...

. It was originally known as SH-66A, a spur off

U.S. Highway 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

, which once ran through the area. The combined effect of US-66 being decommissioned and "3A" being a more logical name for an extension of Highway 3 led to the name change. State Highway 3A was decommissioned in 2009.

Junction list

SH-3E

SH-3W

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
SH-3 at OKHighways.com

003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: *003, fictional British 00 Agent *003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) *1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway *''O03 (O2)'' and other related ...