Lake Hefner Parkway

Infobox_road
highway_name = Lake Hefner Parkway
marker_

alternate_name = part of State Highway 74
length_mi = 7.46
direction = South/North
starting_terminus =
ending_terminus = Kilpatrick Turnpike, Oklahoma City

The Lake Hefner Parkway is a freeway of length 7.46 mi (12.01 km) in northwest Oklahoma City that is part of a major north-south corridor across the western part of the city. It was opened in 1992. [http://www.okhighways.com/ok74n.html]

Traffic information

This highway experiences heavy congestion during the morning and afternoon rushes. The main points of congestion are approaching the Britton Road exit northbound (afternoon) and the northbound Northwest Expressway exit (most of the time). The southern portion of the freeway carried approximately 100 000 vehicles per day in 2004, while the northern portion carried around 50 000 vehicles per day. From the beginning of the freeway to the Kilpatrick Turnpike EAST exit, the mainline (excluding weaving lanes) is six lanes, whereas four lanes are present from the Kilpatrick exit to the end of the freeway at Portland Ave.

Median barrier system

This freeway experienced a propensity for crossover, head-on collisions in its early years. The Lake Hefner Parkway became the first highway in the nation to have installed Brifen Safety Fences, which have worked extremely well in practically eliminating crossover accidents. Four cables are woven through posts periodically placed on the left shoulder of the southbound road, and upon collision, tend to cause the offending vehicle to be guided along the cables to a stop, thus preventing a crossover. Once an incident occurs, damage is done to the cable system, but is generally as simple as replacing the posts, as they are designed to simply be pushed over so they can be run over instead of acting to push back against the vehicle. The cables have worked so well that they have also been installed on I-35 in Norman and I-40 in western Oklahoma City, where crossover accidents have been a common problem.

Exit list

ources

*All mileages listed herein are determined by using the path distance tool (Ctrl-6) in [http://earth.google.com Google Earth] and are computed from the midpoint between the overpasses of SH-66 at the south end of the freeway.

ee also

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External links

* [http://www.betterroads.com/articles/feb02b.htm An article concerning the then-new installation of the cable barriers]