Oklahoma State Highway 33
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| State Highway 33 | |||||||
| Length: | 234.4 mi (377.2 km) | ||||||
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| West end: |  TX-33 at the Hemphill/Roger Mills County Line |
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| East end: |  OK-66 between Sapulpa and Kellyville |
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Oklahoma's State Highway 33 (abbreviated OK-33 or SH-33) is a major highway that traverses most of the state, and at one time traversed the entire state. Its general orientation is west to east. All mileages listed herein are from the western terminus of the highway at the Texas state line.
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[edit] Route description
[edit] Roger Mills County
OK-33 begins at the Hemphill, Tex./Roger Mills, Okla. county line. At milestone 4.2, OK-30 intersects leading to Erick. The highway runs alongside the Black Kettle National Grassland to its intersection with US 283 at milestone 15.7. OK-33 is duplexed with US-283 to mile 16.9, where it begins a triplex with OK-47, which leads east to Putnam. Along the triplex, the highway passes through the National Grassland, and at milestone 24.8 OK-33 swings off to the left while US-283 and OK-47 continues toward Cheyenne. At mile 29.5, OK-33 passes Strong City, and at mile 42.7 passes the town of Hammon with its intersection with OK-34.
[edit] Custer County
The intersection with OK-34 marks the county line. Mile 53.6 marks Butler, and at 53.8 OK-44 runs out, which leads south to Foss Lake, the town of Foss, and later Altus. At mile 66.2 OK-33 comes to US-183, which leads south to Clinton. OK-33 continues north duplexed with US-183 two miles to mile 68.2, where US-183 contines northward to Taloga and OK-33 turns east once again. At mile 72.6, the highway intersects Custer City's Main Street before turning to the left. At mile 81.7 OK-33 enters Thomas at its second intersection with OK-47. At 83.8, OK-54 ends, which leads to Weatherford. At 87.0, OK-33 crosses the South Canadian River, and at mile 90.1 OK-33 enters Dewey County.
[edit] Dewey County
As OK-33 enters Dewey County, the section line road on the county line can be followed a few hundred yards west to the unincorporated settlement of Fay. After a mere 1.5 miles in Dewey County, OK-33 enters Blaine County at milestone 91.6.
[edit] Blaine County
At mile 94.2, OK-33 reaches an intersection involving five state highways. If the driver continues straight at this intersection, he will be on OK-58, which leads to Canton Lake. A left turn will follow the triplex of OK-3, US-270, and US-281, which is the so-called Governor George Nigh Northwest Passage to Woodward and the panhandle. This corridor is at least three lanes (one lane each direction with an alternating passing lane) all the way through the panhandle into Colorado. A right turn at the intersection, which is the natural movement from the driver's point of view, will be the east/southeast direction of the aforementioned triplex, which becomes a quadriplex with OK-33. The highway becomes four full lanes at this point. At mile 101.3 the US-270/US-281/OK-3/OK-33 quadriplex crosses the North Canadian River. At mile 103.8 the driver has entered Watonga and has reached the intersection with OK-8. Going north on OK-8 will lead to Roman Nose State Park. The south leg of the intersection, where US-270 and US-281 diverge, leads to Hinton and Red Rock Canyon State Park, and provides an alternate route into Oklahoma City. Upon leaving Watonga, the remaining duplex (OK-3/OK-33) reduce to the three-lane arrangement mentioned above, and continue eastward to mile 115.7, the Kingfisher County line.
[edit] Kingfisher County
Once OK-3/OK-33 have entered Kingfisher County, the road reduces to the conventional two lanes. At mile 131.5, the duplex intersects US-81 in downtown Kingfisher. US-81 northbound goes to Enid and Wichita, whereas OK-3 diverges south onto US-81 southbound, which leads to Okarche, where the two highways split to reach Okla. City and El Reno respectively. This general vicinity is also the location of the crossing of the Chisholm Trail. At mile 146.3, OK-33 intersects OK-74F, which straddles the Logan County line south to Cashion.
[edit] Logan County
OK-33's path through Logan County mostly parallels the Cimarron River. At mile 152.0, OK-74 intersects OK-33 with a four-way stop. Northbound OK-74 leads to Crescent, and southbound OK-74 eventually becomes the Lake Hefner Parkway in Oklahoma City. For the next few miles, OK-33 passes through the Cedar Valley golf course complex, and at mile 161.2 intersects US-77 in downtown Guthrie, Oklahoma's first capital. Near the east end of Guthrie, OK-33 once again becomes a four-lane highway before intersecting I-35 at mile 162.9. At mile 163.1, OK-105 to Tryon cuts off to the right as OK-33 turns to the left. The historic OK-33 turns off to the right at mile 169.2, although the old alignment is not marked other than a sign pointing to the town of Langston. At mile 172.4 the driver may diverge from the highway to visit historic Langston University, before the new alignment merges with the old alignment at mile 173.3. At this point, the highway narrows to two lanes. The old alignment quickly diverges into the town at Coyle at mile 173.6, and the current roadway crosses the Cimarron River at mile 174.6.
[edit] Payne County
The Cimarron River forms the county line, where the scar from an old steel truss bridge is visible just east of the highway. Shortly into Payne County, the highway rejoins the old alignment at mile 175.5. At mile 185.1, US-177 goes north to Stillwater and duplexes eastbound with OK-33 for one mile. At 186.1, US-177 diverges south into Perkins and toward Shawnee. As OK-33 continues east through Payne County, it crosses the Cimarron River again at mile 193.1 before intersecting OK-108, which goes north to Ripley, at 193.5. At mile 195.3, OK-18 comes in from the south, and duplexes with OK-33 into Cushing, the "Pipeline Capital of the World." At mile 201.6, OK-18 diverges north toward Pawnee. Upon exiting Cushing, OK-33 becomes a four-lane road forging eastward, and at mile 208.1 converges with OK-99, whose south leg leads to Ada. The OK-33/OK-99 duplex continues east into Creek County.
[edit] Creek County
Mile 209.8 is the county line, and shortly thereafter at mile 210.2, OK-33 Bypass provides a route for trucks to circumnavigate Drumright to the north and west. At mile 211.9, on the east side of Drumright, OK-99 diverges to the north toward Pawhuska, and OK-16 travels south toward Muskogee. OK-48 intersects OK-33 at mile 223.1, which goes south to Bristow and north to Cleveland. At mile 234.2 OK-33 intersects I-44, which in this location is the Turner Turnpike, a toll road to Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Shortly thereafter, OK-33 runs out after a tenure of 234.4 miles at OK 66.
[edit] Historic alignment
In addition to the current alignment presented above, OK-33 extended at one time all the way to Arkansas. However, the advent of the ever-expanding US-412 in Oklahoma would have meant unnecessary duplexes beyond its current terminus.
From the intersection of OK-66, OK-33 duplexed the then-US-66 through Sapulpa onto New Sapulpa Road, eventually merging into I-44 in west Tulsa. The triplex followed the present alignment of I-44 through Tulsa to Dysfunction Junction, where OK-66 currently diverges into Catoosa. I-44 now continues another mile and a half or so to the Creek Turnpike, where the terminus of the Will Rogers Turnpike to Joplin, Missouri has been relocated. The old OK-33 followed the current US-412 to the junction of US-69, then north along US-69 a couple of miles, then back east, merging onto the current US-412 before crossing the Grand River. OK-33 followed the current Scenic US-412, whereas the Cherokee Turnpike parallels this narrow and winding road to the Flint Creek Valley. The historic OK-33 then followed the current alignment of US-412 to the Arkansas State Line, where it became AR-68 in Siloam Springs.
[edit] Spurs and loops
- Truck OK-33 (2.3 mi/3.7 km) bypasses Drumright to the north and west, connecting with OK-99 at the eastern terminus.
- OK-33C (decommissioned; 3.0 mi/4.8 km) is now OK-412A. Leads to Oaks in Delaware County.
- OK-33G (decommissioned; 5.3 mi/8.5 km) is now OK-412B. Goes through the Mid-America Industrial Park and ties in with OK-69A northeast of Chouteau.
- OK-33P (decommissioned; 1.2 mi/2.0 km) is now OK-412P. Goes south from US-412 along NS414 Rd. to EW60 (Admiral Pl.), then along EW60 to the Verdigris River.
