LAWTON – It’s been about a five-year process from start to finish, but it’s now legal to drive 80 miles per hour along a 59-mile portion of the Interstate 44/H.E. Bailey Turnpike between Lawton and Chickasha.
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority installed the new highway speed limit signs on April 18.
“We want to remind motorists to always drive for conditions as the posted, black and white speed limit signage designates the top speed safe to travel during good conditions. If inclement weather strikes, motorists are cautioned to slow down and drive at the speed safest for conditions at the time,” OTA Deputy Director T.J. Dill said in a press release.
In 2019, two state legislators from Lawton teamed up to introduce House Bill 1071, which pertained to motor vehicles and increasing certain highway speed limits. Rep. Daniel Pae (R-Lawton), serving his first term from District 62, was the primary House author of the proposal. Former state Senator John Montgomery was the primary Senate author.
The bill, which gave the OTA control of the maximum and minimum speeds, was not unanimously supported in the House or Senate, but it did have more than enough yes votes to send it to Governor Kevin Stitt’s desk. When he signed the measure into law in April 2019, it was Pae’s first major legislation, reported Southwest Ledger at the time. It was implemented in August 2020.
“A lot of folks mentioned the fact that many people already drive that limit of 80 miles per hour on the turnpike and the fact that we could just put that into statute and make it legal,” Pae said in an April 2019 interview with OU Daily.
In part, the statute designated that the speed limit could increase on Oklahoma turnpikes from 75 to 80 mph and on certain state highways from 70 to 75 mph. Pae said at the time, that he had worked closely with the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, the Department of Transportation and the Highway Patrol on language for the bill and gained their support. Driver safety was prioritized.
The intent of the law was a gradual speed increase along certain sections of the I-44/H.E. Bailey Turnpike based on traffic and/or engineering studies. The section of highway between Chickasha and Newcastle was signed for 80 mph in the summer of 2020, according to a recent OTA press release. The section between Lawton and the Texas state line will remain at 75 mph for now.
The I-44/H.E. Bailey Turnpike is 86.4 miles long and extends between Oklahoma City to US-70 near Wichita Falls and sees an average daily traffic count of 23,164 vehicles per day, according to the OTA. The agency has invested $34 million in H.E. Bailey Turnpike improvements in the past two years through capital im-provement projects.
Two work zones with reduced speed limits are expected to start this summer between Fletcher and Newcastle, which will reduce the 80 mph limit in those areas, said the OTA.