| US 81 | |||
| Get started | Terral | ||
| End | Renfrow | ||
| Length | 229 mi | ||
| Length | 368 km | ||
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According to Allcitycodes, US 81 is a US Highway in the US state of Oklahoma. The road forms a north-south route through the center of the state, running from the Texas border west of Oklahoma City to the Kansas border. The main places on the route are Chickasha, El Reno and Enid. The route is 368 kilometers long.
Travel directions
US 81 at Hennesey, south of Enid.
US 60/64/81 at Pond Creek.
At the village of Terral, the road crosses the Red River, which is the border with Texas. US 81 in Texas comes from Fort Worth. The road then heads due north, and after 30 kilometers reaches the intersection with US 70, the road from Lubbock in Texas to Ardmore and Durant. The road then continues north, through a rolling prairie area. From Duncan, the road has 2×2 lanes, which takes until Chickasha, 60 kilometers to the north. At Chickasha it connects with Interstate 44, the toll road from Wichita Falls and Lawton to Oklahoma City. They also cross the US 62 and US 277 there, both of which run a different route from Lawton to Oklahoma City. Then begins a 50-kilometer route to I-40. First they cross the Canadian River, after which they cross Interstate 40 at El Reno, just west of Oklahoma City.
From El Reno, the road has 2×2 lanes, which lasts until Enid, 105 kilometers to the north. You pass through a quiet rural area with many meadows. At Dover one crosses the Cimarron River, which flows towards Tulsa. You then reach the town of Enid, which has 47,000 inhabitants, and is the largest town on the US 81 route. In Enid, US 412, which is double-numbered, intersects with US 60 west of the town, and US 64 east of it and from Guymon to Tulsaruns. US 81 is then triple-numbered with US 60 and US 64 to Pond Creek, 30 kilometers north, where US 64 exits to Alva in the west, and US 60 to Ponca City in the east. US 81 then continues on its own until the border with Kansas. US 81 in Kansas then runs towards Wichita.
History
US 81 was created in 1926. The route has not changed in Oklahoma since then. Several sections of US 81 were already paved when it was created, particularly in the Duncan region and the wider Enid region. In 1930 the route was paved from Kingfisher to the Kansas border and from Addington to Chickasha. By 1934, nearly all of US 81 was paved with the exception of a short section south of Waurika in southern Oklahoma, which was paved by 1937. US 81 was thus one of the first US Highways in Oklahoma to be continuously paved.
Beginning in the mid-1960s, the first sections of US 81 were doubled into a divided highway. The first happened to Enid, Chickasha and Kingfisher. The last section between El Reno and Enid was doubled in the early 1990s, but most of it was already 2×2 in the mid 1980s.
Traffic intensities
2,000 vehicles cross the Texas border every day, and 24,500 vehicles drive in Duncan, but the suburban route is a lot quieter with 6,000 vehicles towards Chickasha. Between Chickasha and El Reno, there are between 3,000 and 5,000 vehicles, further towards Enid, up to 8,100 vehicles. The double numbering with US 60 and US 64 is relatively quiet with 2,900 vehicles. 750 vehicles cross the border into Kansas every day .
