MarketU.S. Route 60 in Oklahoma
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U.S. Route 60 in Oklahoma

U.S. Route 60 (US-60) is a transcontinental U.S. highway extending from near Brenda, Arizona to Virginia Beach, Virginia on the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way, 352.39 miles (567.12 km) of the route lies within the state of Oklahoma. The highway crosses into the state from Texas west of Arnett and serves many towns and cities in the northern part of the state, including Arnett, Seiling, Fairview, Enid, Ponca City, Pawhuska, Bartlesville, and Vinita. US-60 exits Oklahoma near Seneca, Missouri. In Oklahoma, US-60 has three business routes, serving Tonkawa, Ponca City, and Seneca. The first 60.2 miles (96.9 km) of the route, from the Texas line to Seiling, is also designated as State Highway 51 (SH-51).

Route description
. US-60 enters Oklahoma in Ellis County, just east of Higgins, Texas. SH-51 begins at the state line concurrent with US-60, and will remain so for the next . US-283 follows US-60 and SH-51 into Arnett, where they serve as the southern terminus for SH-46. East of Arnett, US-283 splits off to the south. US-60/SH-51 continue east through the unincorporated location of Harmon and on into Dewey County. In Ponca City, US-60 Business reunites with mainline US-60 and ends. This intersection is also where the three-way concurrency between the U.S. routes breaks; US-77 heads north along US-60 Business, deeper into Ponca City, US-177 heads south toward Stillwater, and US-60 heads east to cross the Arkansas River. US-60 next comes to a junction with SH-123 as it enters Bartlesville. The SH-123 junction lies a few feet into Washington County; south of the junction, US-60 and SH-123 form a concurrency, and the two routes curve slightly to the west and straddle the Washington–Osage county line. It intersects with US-169 Alternate at Maple Street, then with US-169 itself at Ash Street. In the east part of Nowata, US-60 transitions from Cherokee Avenue to Fairview Avenue, which it remains on as it exits town. east of Coody's Bluff, the highway junctions with SH-28. US-60, now with no other highways concurrent with it, will parallel the BNSF rail line for the remainder of its time in Oklahoma. The next town the route passes through is Fairland; here, it has a brief concurrency with SH-125. US-60 crosses the Neosho River (also known as the Grand River) into Twin Bridges State Park. Within the park, the highway serves as the southern terminus of SH-137. US-60 crosses the Spring River to exit the park. Northeast of Wyandotte, US-60 has a brief concurrency with SH-10. As it approaches the state line, US-60 Business splits from US-60, serving Seneca, Missouri. US-60 then leaves Oklahoma, continuing into Newton County, Missouri. ==History==
History
US-60 as designated in the original U.S. highway system had a western terminus in Springfield, Missouri. On May 29, 1930, AASHO approved an extension westward to Amarillo, Texas, bringing the route through Oklahoma for the first time. From west to east, US-60 displaced US-164 (from Amarillo to Enid, its entire length), SH-11 (from Ponca City to Pawhuska), and SH-25 (from Pawhuska to Vinita). The section of highway between what was then US-59/US-66/US-69 (now only US-59/US-69) north of Afton and Seneca, Missouri was purpose-built as US-60. The first two changes to US-60 in Oklahoma after its inception occurred in the northeastern part of the state. The highway's routing through Bartlesville was changed on September 15, 1936. At the request of the Ponca City Chamber of Commerce, the Oklahoma Highway Commission approved several changes to the highway marking in the vicinity of that city. Both US-77 and US-60 had a bypass route marked around town as a "Belt Line", while city routes (the precursor to business routes) were marked through town. The US-60 Belt Line approximated the route of present-day US-60 Business, while the US-60 City Route penetrated further into downtown Ponca City. These routes were established on September 9, 1938. US-60 would be realigned through many of the towns it served in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The highway was adjusted through Fairland to use Connor Avenue, a shorter, straighter route through town; this change was approved on July 11, 1949. The highway's route through Nowata was altered next, on November 13, 1950. Previously, US-60 followed Delaware Avenue to Oak Street, where it turned south, before turning back to the east on Cherokee Avenue; after the change, it turns south on Pine Street and joins Cherokee Avenue further west. On the same date, the highway was realigned through Bartlesville. The US-60 system through Ponca City was next to be reworked, on July 14, 1952. The previous US-60 and US-77 Belt Line routes and City Routes were removed in favor of a new US-60 route bypassing the city to the south on Harding Avenue and proceeding east across a new Arkansas River bridge—the present day route. Further west, US-60 and US-177 were realigned in Tonkawa on May 4, 1953, replacing an alternate US-60/US-177 that previously paralleled the main highway there. The mid-1950s saw two alterations of US-60 in rural areas. The first concerned the section of US-60 between then-US-59/US-66/US-69 and Fairland. Previously, US-60 diverged from the other three U.S. routes further north and headed due east towards Fairview. The new (present-day) alignment of US-60, approved December 17, 1956, instead diverged at an interchange also serving the Will Rogers Turnpike, then headed northeast to Fairland. After realignment, the route was shorter than before. The next change occurred on April 23, 1957, in Major County, northeast of Orienta. Here, the highway was realigned due to a new bridge over the Cimarron River; the old highway was turned over to Major County to maintain. On July 17, 1958, the Highway Commission approved a reroute of US-60 and US-81 through Enid. Rather than passing through the north half of the city on Grand Avenue and North Enid Boulevard as the two routes did previously, they now proceeded north along Van Buren Avenue. The next changes to the route occurred in Osage County. A segment of US-60/SH-11 west of Pawhuska with many curves was replaced with a newer, straighter alignment on October 6, 1958, with the old highway segment being transferred to the county. Further straightening of the route, further west, was approved on April 3, 1961. The easternmost stretch of US-60 in Oklahoma was revised in 1965. Previously, US-60 passed directly through Seneca, Missouri. In 1965, the Oklahoma and Missouri Departments of Highways submitted a request to reroute US-60 to the south, and to redesignate a portion of old US-60 serving Seneca, as well as a segment of Missouri Route 43 connecting to the new US-60, as US-60 Business. The remainder of the bypassed portion of US-60 in Missouri, east of Route 43, was to be abandoned. This request was approved by the Oklahoma Highway Commission on March 1, submitted to AASHO on May 5, and approved by AASHO on July 12. Two realignments to US-60 occurred on March 6, 1967. First, a portion of US-60 west of Nowata was straightened. Second, a segment of US-60/SH-11 east of Burbank was rerouted to the south on a straighter alignment; this new alignment also removed a concurrency with SH-18. On April 3, 1967, the Oklahoma Highway Commission approved a realignment of a short segment of US-60/US-64/US-81 north of Enid in Garfield and Grant Counties. AASHO received applications for both the Burbank and Enid-area relocations on April 24 and approved both of them at the organization's June 20 meeting. Further west, the Oklahoma Department of Highways constructed a section of highway bypassing Tonkawa to the north and east. The Highway Commission approved moving US-60 to this highway and designating the old highway as US-60 Business on August 9, 1971. AASHO received an application for this change on October 8 of that year and approved it on December 4. The section of highway between the Tonkawa bypass and the Ponca City bypass was upgraded next; this road was designated as US-60/US-77/US-177 on November 7, 1974. This change was submitted to AASHO, now renamed to , on April 29, 1975, received on May 1, and approved on June 17. On January 6, 1986, the Oklahoma State Transportation Commission (which had replaced the Highway Commission) approved rerouting US-60/SH-11 on the east side of Pawhuska. While the two highways still passed through Pawhuska from west to east, after turning north, the new route bypassed much of the city. The application for this alteration was submitted to AASHTO on September 22, received the same day, and approved on November 8. The next change to US-60 did not take place until the 21st century. On March 19, 2001, US-60 and SH-51 west of Arnett were moved slightly to connect to a new bridge. Because ODOT demolished the old highway rather than turning it over to Ellis County, this change did not require approval from the Highway Commission. Finally, on October 4, 2004, the Transportation Commission approved the realignment of US-60, US-412, and SH-8 at their junction near Orienta. No further changes to the route are on record. ==Junction list==
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