Interstate 244 (I-244), also known as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Expressway (in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.) since 1984, the Crosstown Expressway, and the Red Fork Expressway, is a east–west Interstate Highway bypass route of I-44 around Tulsa, Oklahoma.
At both I-244's western and eastern terminus, the highway connects with I-44. I-244 runs from the western bank of the Arkansas River, across the river and past downtown Tulsa, before running through the northern half of the city and connecting again with I-44.
In downtown Tulsa, I-244 forms the northern and western legs of the "Inner Dispersal Loop". The southern and eastern legs are formed by the unsigned I-444 (signed as U.S. Highway 75 (US-75)).
Route description
I-244 begins at a stack interchange with I-44 (which is concurrent with State Highway 66 (SH-66) at this point). I-244 continues northeast from here, running parallel to Southwest Boulevard. Two interchanges provide access to 33rd West Avenue, 40th Place, and Southwest Boulevard. US-75 northbound then merges into I-244 eastbound at exit 2, forming a concurrency with the Interstate; US-75 south of here is a freeway headed south toward Glenpool and Okmulgee. The next three interchanges only provide partial access to the roads they link to. Exit 3A, which lacks a westbound exit ramp, provides access to Southwest Boulevard; exit 3B to 21st Street and Union Avenue and exit 4A to 17th Street and Southwest Boulevard provide only a westbound exit and eastbound entrance. North of exit 4A, I-244 and US-75 cross the Arkansas River. The westbound bridge opened in July 2013.
The westbound span temporarily carried both east and westbound traffic while the eastbound span was replaced. It opened to traffic in September 2014 with overall completion scheduled for the spring of 2015. However, the segment is also part of the future I-42 corridor, making this unlikely.