Oklahoma State Highway 34

State Highway 34
Route information
Maintained by ODOT
Length:	188.5 mi[2] (303.4 km)
Existed:	June 15, 1931[1] – present
Major junctions
South end:	SH-6 northeast of Eldorado
North end:	K-1 at the Kansas state line
Highway system
Oklahoma State Highways Oklahoma turnpike system ← SH-33 I-35 →

State Highway 34 (abbreviated SH-34 or OK-34) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It runs for 188.5 miles (303.4 km)^[2] south-to-north in the western part of the state. The highway begins northeast of Eldorado, in the southwest corner of the state, and extends north to the Kansas state line between Woodward and Coldwater, Kansas.

SH-34 has always been a lengthy highway, starting with its commissioning in June 1931, when it was a border-to-border highway stretching from Texas to Kansas. Most of SH-34 has followed the same basic corridor since its inception, with the exception of the portion of highway north of Woodward. The southernmost portion of highway, connecting it to Texas, became solely SH-6 in 1987.

There are three letter-suffixed spur highways branching from SH-34. SH-34A and SH-34B serve small towns in Greer County off the mainline of SH-34, while SH-34C serves Boiling Springs State Park.

Route description

State Highway 34 begins at SH-6 six miles (10 km) northeast of Eldorado.^[3] Heading north from there, it intersects US-62 just east of Duke. The highway continues north into Greer County to its county seat of Mangum, where SH-34 joins US-283. Two miles (3 km) north of Mangum, SH-9 joins, for a four-mile (6 km) concurrency with SH-34 and US-283.^[3] Thereafter, SH-9 splits off to the east.

Nine miles (14 km) north of Mangum, SH-34B branches off to the west, connecting to the town of Brinkman, and four miles (6 km) later, SH-34A branches off to the west to the town of Willow.^[3] US-283 splits off to the northwest two miles (3 km) after that, and SH-34 continues north, crossing into Beckham County. SH-34 then bridges over the North Fork of the Red River. In Carter, the highway serves as the western terminus of SH-55. Five miles (8 km) north of Carter, SH-34 crosses SH-152.^[3].

SH-34 continues on to an interchange with I-40 west of Elk City. Here, the highway begins a concurrency with eastbound I-40 that lasts for 6 miles (9.7 km).^[3]. SH-34 exits the Interstate from the left on the east side of Elk City, turning back to the north and exiting Beckham County.

SH-34 next enters Roger Mills County. SH-73's western terminus is at SH-34 at nine miles (14 km) north of Elk City.^[3] North of this junction, SH-34 lies along the Roger Mills–Custer county line, which it continues to follow as it passes through the east side of Hammon, where it meets State Highway 33. North of town, the route crosses over the Washita River, and shortly thereafter turns northeast to fully enter Custer County. Northwest of Moorewood, the highway crosses into Dewey County.^[4]

SH-34 crosses SH-47 two miles (3 km) south of Leedey, and crosses the Canadian River near the unincorporated settlement of Trail. The highway then passes through Camargo. Just east of Vici, SH-34 joins US-60 and SH-51 for a one-mile (1.6 km) concurrency, then SH-34 heads north again at Vici.^[3] The highway passes through Sharon north of Vici, then joins US-183/US-270/SH-3 four miles (6 km) southeast of Woodward.^[3] At Woodward, SH-34 again sets off to the north alone, and right after crossing the North Canadian River, SH-34C branches to the east about two miles (3 km) north of Woodward, connecting to Boiling Springs State Park.

SH-34 joins US-64 in far eastern Harper County for a four-mile (6 km) concurrency to the east, crossing the Cimarron River 17 miles (27 km) east of Buffalo. The highway then turns back to the north, where it is 10 miles (20 km) to its terminus at the Kansas state line.^[3]

History

State Highway 34 was first designated on June 15, 1931.^[1] At that time, the highway began at the free bridge over the Red River north of Quanah, Texas and followed what is today SH-6 to the point that is now SH-34's southern terminus. There, it turned north, following its current alignment. Its 1931 alignment did not differ significantly from that of the present day (although it followed US-66 through Elk City prior to the establishment of I-40) until it got to Woodward. Rather than continue north out of town, the SH-34 of that day instead turned west, then north, passing through Fort Supply and crossing into Harper County just north of that town. It then began a concurrency with US-60 in Buffalo, turning east and connecting with its final segment, bringing it to the Kansas state line. Thus, SH-34 started life as a border-to-border highway.^[5]

SH-34 was rerouted north of Buffalo on January 30, 1934.^[1] The new alignment continued due north out of Buffalo to the Kansas state line along a new road. The old portion of SH-34 between US-64 and the Kansas state line became part of SH-50.^[6]

The next major change to SH-34 occurred in 1954. On November first of that year, the highway was realigned to follow a new road extending north of Woodward, intersecting US-64 east of Buffalo, and following existing highways north of the state line.^[1] This would put SH-34 on its present-day route north of Woodward.^[7] SH-50 would remain concurrent with SH-34 north of US-64 until November 9, 1964.^[8]

The next major change to SH-34 would be brought about by the establishment of the southern part of State Highway 6. The new highway was introduced on July 7, 1975.^[9] SH-34 remained in place; the two highways were concurrent from northwest of Eldorado to the Red River bridge, where they both ended. On January 5, 1987, the redundant section of SH-34 was removed, truncating it to its current southern terminus.^[1][9]

The final modification to SH-34 occurred just under a month later, on February 2, 1987, when SH-34 was realigned in Elk City^[1] to follow I-40 instead of the old alignment of the now-dead US-66, which had become a business loop of I-40. No further changes have taken place since then.

Junction list

County	Location	Mile[2]	Destinations	Notes
Jackson		0.0	SH-6	Southern terminus
	Duke	10.4	US-62
Greer	Mangum	26.3	US-283	Southern end of US-283 concurrency
		28.4	SH-9	Southern end of SH-9 concurrency
		32.3	SH-9	Northern end of SH-9 concurrency
			SH-34B	Eastern terminus of SH-34B
			SH-34A	Eastern terminus of SH-34A
		40.5	US-283	Northern end of US-283 concurrency
Beckham	Carter	50.4	SH-55	Western terminus of SH-55
		55.4	SH-152
		61.9	I-40	Western end of I-40 concurrency, exit 32A–B
	Elk City	67.6	SH-6	Exit 38
		70.4	I-40	Eastern end of I-40 concurrency, exit 41
		70.6	BUS I-40
Roger Mills–Custer county line		79.7	SH-73	Western terminus of SH-73
	Hammon	85.7	SH-33
Custer	No major junctions
Dewey		100.3	SH-47
	Vici	122.8	US-60 / SH-51	Eastern end of US-60/SH-51 concurrency
		123.7	US-60 / SH-51	Western end of US-60/SH-51 concurrency
Woodward		141.3	US-183 / US-270 / SH-3	Southern end of US-183/US-270/SH-3 concurrency
	Woodward	145.0	US-183 / US-270 / US-412 / SH-3	Northern end of US-183/US-270/SH-3 concurrency
			SH-34C	Western terminus of SH-34C
		174.6	US-64	Western end of US-64 concurrency
Woods		178.1	US-64	Eastern end of US-64 concurrency
		188.5	K-1	Kansas state line, northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

Spurs

• SH-34A is a 1.00-mile (1.61 km) spur connecting SH-34 with Willow, north of Mangum.^[10]
• SH-34B is a 1.03-mile (1.66 km) spur connecting SH-34 with Brinkman, north of Mangum.^[10]
• SH-34C is a 4.52-mile (7.27 km) spur connecting SH-34 with Boiling Springs State Park north of Woodward.^[11]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Oklahoma Department of Transportation. "Memorial Dedication and Revision History, SH 34". http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/memorial/legal/sh34.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-14. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Stuve, Eric. "OK-34". OKHighways. http://www.okhighways.com/ok34.html. Retrieved 2006-09-19. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Official State Map (Map) (2009–10 ed.). http://www.odot.org/hqdiv/p-r-div/maps/state-maps/2009state/pdfs/state-map.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
4. ^ DeLorme (2006). Oklahoma Atlas and Gazetteer (Map). 1:200,000. 
5. ^ Oklahoma State Highway Department. Map Showing Condition of Improvement of the State Highway System (Map) (December 1, 1931 ed.). http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/hqdiv/p-r-div/maps/state-maps/pdfs/1931gov.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-14. 
6. ^ Oklahoma Department of Highways. Map Showing Condition of Improvement of the State Highway System and Landing Fields (Map) (October 1935 ed.). http://www.odot.org/hqdiv/p-r-div/maps/state-maps/pdfs/1935.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-14. 
7. ^ Oklahoma Department of Highways. Oklahoma's Highways 1955 (Map). http://www.odot.org/hqdiv/p-r-div/maps/state-maps/pdfs/1955.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-14. 
8. ^ Oklahoma Department of Transportation. "Memorial Dedication and Revision History, SH 50". http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/memorial/legal/sh50.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-14. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Oklahoma Department of Transportation. "Memorial Dedication and Revision History, SH 6". http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/memorial/legal/sh6.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-14. 
10. ^ ^{a b} Oklahoma Department of Transportation. 2008 Control Section Maps – Greer County (Map). http://www.odot.org/hqdiv/p-r-div/maps/control-maps/greer.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
11. ^ Oklahoma Department of Transportation. 2008 Control Section Maps – Woodward County (Map). http://www.odot.org/hqdiv/p-r-div/maps/control-maps/woodward.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 

External links

• SH-34 at Roadklahoma
• SH-34C at Roadklahoma