Interstate 44 (I-44) is an

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

in the central

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls metropolitan area, Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Archer County, Tex ...

, at a concurrency with U.S. Route 277 (US 277), US 281, and US 287; its eastern terminus is at I-70 in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. I-44 is one of five Interstates built to bypass US 66; this highway covers the section between

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

and St. Louis. Virtually the entire length of I-44 east of

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

, was once US 66, which was upgraded from two to four lanes from 1949 to 1955. The section of I-44 west of Springfield was built farther south than US 66 in order to connect Missouri's section with the already completed Will Rogers Turnpike, which Oklahoma wished to carry their part of I-44.

Route description

, - , TX , , - , OK , , - , MO , , - , Total ,

Texas

In the US state of Texas, I-44 has a short, but regionally important, stretch, connecting Wichita Falls with Oklahoma. The route runs almost due north to the Texas–Oklahoma state line at the Red River. In Wichita Falls, I-44 runs concurrently with US 277, US 281, and US 287 and is known locally as the "Central Freeway". I-44 provides access to downtown Wichita Falls and

Sheppard Air Force Base Sheppard Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located north of the central business district of Wichita Falls, in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the largest training base and most diversified in Air Educatio ...

Oklahoma

I-44 in Oklahoma is mostly three separate

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...

s; it is paralleled by former US 66 from Oklahoma City to the Missouri state line. In southwestern Oklahoma, I-44 is the H. E. Bailey Turnpike and it runs northeast–southwest (and vice-versa). In the Oklahoma City area, I-44 is either six or eight lanes; it runs concurrent with

I-35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexico–Uni ...

for about in Oklahoma City. From Oklahoma City, I-44 runs northeast–southwest as the

Turner Turnpike The Turner Turnpike is a controlled-access toll road in central Oklahoma, connecting its two largest cities, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Authorized by the Oklahoma Legislature in 1947 and opened in May 1953, it is the oldest of the state's twelve ...

towards

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

. After I-44 leaves Tulsa, it becomes the Will Rogers Turnpike to the Missouri state line.

Missouri

I-44 enters Missouri in the city limits of Joplin near the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

of Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas. It misses the Kansas border by less than . The first exit in Missouri is for US 166. I-44 continues through the southern part of Joplin, where it runs concurrently with the new Missouri segment of

I-49 Interstate 49 (I-49) is a north–south Interstate Highway with multiple segments. The original portion is entirely within Louisiana with an additional signed portion extending from I-220 in Shreveport to the Arkansas state line, three ne ...

. East of Joplin, I-49 splits off on its own alignment to

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

. I-44 then continues east on the former US 166 to

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

. At the northeast part of Mount Vernon, I-44 heads northeast, while old US 166 continued east on Route 174. The section of road to Halltown is a completely new road, not bypassing any previous highways. At Halltown, the road follows the general pathway of US 66 all the way to downtown St. Louis. I-44 passes through Springfield on the north side of the city and continues northeast. At Waynesville, I-44 enters a very hilly and curvy area until it passes Rolla. Although the road still passes through some hilly areas, none are as steep as that particular stretch. At

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

, I-44 widens to six lanes, later to eight lanes. The Interstate passes through the suburbs of St. Louis and then into downtown St. Louis, passing the

Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary Catenary arch, arch, it is the world's tallest arch and List of tallest buildings in Missouri, Missouri's ...

before finally terminating near the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, continuing from there as I-70 from the west end of the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge. Until a future second span of the new bridge is completed, there will be no way for I-44 traffic to utilize the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial span without first exiting to surface streets. I-44 traffic wishing to continue northeast and east must use the Poplar Street Bridge and I-55/I-64 to cross the

. At some places, an "Alternate I-44" is posted. One such ran between Rolla and Springfield via US 60 and US 63, and another ran via US 63 and US 50 between Rolla and Union. These were completed to provide traffic relief during road work. The latter of these alternate routes detoured traffic around three-hour delays due to road work near

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

History

I-44 was originally signed in 1958 as an Interstate designation of the

linking Oklahoma City and Tulsa and the Will Rogers Turnpike linking Tulsa and the Missouri state line southwest of Joplin, along with the US 66 bypass in Tulsa that linked that city with the two turnpikes and the continued four-lane highway from the Missouri border to an interchange with US 71 south of Joplin previously designated as US 166. As US 66 was being bypassed by I-44, the Route 66 Association requested the designation Interstate 66 for I-44 from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

to Oklahoma City; The

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway A highway is any public or private road ...

(AASHTO) rejected the request. At the time the I-44 designation was assigned in Oklahoma in the 1950s, Oklahoma signed the milemarkers west to east starting at Turner Turnpike's Oklahoma City terminus at the I-44/I-35 interchange (near Edmond). I-44 was extended in 1982 southwest of Oklahoma City along the existing H. E. Bailey Turnpike, thus raising the milemarkers by about 100. The addition of the new section was unusual in that it is a more north–south segment and did not directly connect to the previous western end at I-35. It now extends south of I-40, an exception to the Interstate numbering rules and its end point does not connect to another Interstate Highway. What was once I-244 around St. Louis is currently part of that city's I-270/ I-255 beltway. During the historic 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak, an F5

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

crossed I-44. This particular tornado had the fastest tornado wind speeds on record. The interstate was severely damaged where the tornado crossed it. In the end, this tornado was blamed for 36 deaths. A section of I-44 was moved slightly north between Powellville and Doolittle, Missouri. The old road is highly visible for eastbound traffic near Powellville. , the rocks carved away for the new roadbed have virtually no

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

, reflecting that this construction occurred rather recently. Originally, the eastern terminus of I-44 was at the intersection with I-55, I-64, I-70, and US 40, by the Poplar Street Bridge. However, when I-70 was rerouted to cross the Mississippi River at the newly constructed Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, I-44 was extended about north to end at I-70 at the bridge.

Junction list

;Texas : in Wichita Falls. I-44/US 287 travels concurrently through Wichita Falls. I-44/US 277/US 281 travels concurrently to west-southwest of

Randlett, Oklahoma Randlett is a town in Cotton County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 289 as of the 2020 United States census. Randlett is located about 22 driving miles south-southwest of the county seat of Walters, and is at the corner where U ...

. ;Oklahoma : west of Randlett : in Walters : northwest of

Geronimo Gerónimo (, ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands the Tchihen ...

. The highways travel concurrently to east of Medicine Park. : in Lawton. The highways travel concurrently to east of Medicine Park. : in Elgin : in Chickasha : in Chickasha : in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

. I-44/US 62 travels concurrently to

. : in Oklahoma City : in Oklahoma City : in Oklahoma City : in Oklahoma City. The highways travel concurrently through northeast Oklahoma City. : in

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Sited below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the ...

: on the Sapulpa– Oakhurst line : in

: in Tulsa : in Tulsa : in Tulsa. I-44/US 412 travels concurrently to the Tulsa– Fair Oaks line : in Big Cabin : in Vinita : northeast of Afton ;Missouri : in Joplin : in Joplin. The highways travel concurrently through the city. : in Springfield : in Springfield : in Rolla : south-southwest of Villa Ridge. The highways travel concurrently to the Sunset Hills– Kirkwood city line. : in Sunset Hills : on the Sunset Hills–Kirkwood city line : in

. The highways travel concurrently through St. Louis : in St. Louis : in St. Louis

Auxiliary routes

I-44 has two auxiliary routes. In

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, there is an I-244 and an unsigned I-444. There was also another

auxiliary route In road transportation in the United States, a special route is a road in a numbered highway system that diverts a specific segment of related traffic away from another road. They are featured in many highway systems; most are found in the In ...

located in

, but was decommissioned in 1974. It was instead signed as I-270. In Fall 2023, the AASHTO approved designating the Kilpatrick Turnpike in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

as I-344.

Business routes

All business loops of I-44 are located in Missouri. They serve Joplin, Sarcoxie,

, Springfield,

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, Waynesville– St. Robert, Rolla, and

. A business spur links I-44 with

Fort Leonard Wood Fort Leonard Wood is a United States Army, U.S. Army training installation located in the Missouri The Ozarks, Ozarks. The main gate is located on the southern boundary of the city of St. Robert, Missouri, St. Robert. The post was created in De ...

References

External links

*
Interstate 44 on Interstate-guide.com
{{Authority control 44 044 Roads in Greater St. Louis