Skip to main content

Oklahoma interstates and highways designated as Alternative Fuel Corridors

The Oklahoma Federal Highway Administration has designated the I-35, I-40 and I-44 highways as alternative fuel corridors, a special designation aimed at improving the mobility of passenger and commercial vehicles that run on alternative fuels. This new designation means special highway signage indicating the nearest alternative fuelling station will eventually be placed along these highways by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. The federal Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act directed th
November 22, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The Oklahoma 831 Federal Highway Administration has designated the I-35, I-40 and I-44 highways as alternative fuel corridors, a special designation aimed at improving the mobility of passenger and commercial vehicles that run on alternative fuels. This new designation means special highway signage indicating the nearest alternative fuelling station will eventually be placed along these highways by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

The federal Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act directed the FHWA to designate national highway corridors for EV charging, hydrogen, propane and CNG fuelling.

The Association of Central Oklahoma Governments and the Indian Nations Council of Governments partnered with ODOT to nominate several Oklahoma highways as alternative fuel corridors. The FHWA approved I-35, I-40 and I-44 as signage ready natural gas fuel corridors and planned electric vehicle (EV) charging corridors, meaning Oklahoma is making strides in development of its EV infrastructure. Oklahoma is the only state with all of its interstate system designated as signage ready for CNG and is now linked to a national network of alternative fuel corridors via highway connections with Texas and Missouri.

Oklahoma was uniquely qualified to designate natural gas corridors due to the wide availability of CNG fuelling along the state’s interstates and highways, and its central position along major highways that cross the nation from coast to coast and from Mexico to Canada. Oklahoma leads the nation in CNG fuelling stations per capita, with at least one natural gas fuelling station on every 100 miles of interstate highway in the state. Most stations can accommodate both passenger and commercial vehicle fuelling.

While Oklahoma’s electric vehicle charging network is less developed, a diverse group of EV stakeholders including convenience stores, electric utilities, auto dealerships, and local governments is working together to identify and construct strategic locations for high-capacity EV chargers that will ensure border-to-border charging within Oklahoma, and connections to neighbouring states.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITS-NY Announces 2012 Project of the Year Award Winners
    June 13, 2012
    The Intelligent Transportation Society of New York (ITS-NY) has announced the 2012 ITS-NY Project of the Year Winners at its Nineteenth Annual Meeting and Technology Exhibition in Saratoga Springs, NY. “These winning projects feature ITS and technologies at work in New York State to improve traveller mobility and safety, as well as the efficiency of New York State’s transportation system across all modes of travel,” said Dr Isaac Takyi, ITS-NY president. Winning Projects were announced in the following ITS
  • Tolls ‘on the rise as highway funding dries up’
    April 9, 2015
    The US-based Brookings Institution has commented on the highway funding debate in the US in a paper by Robert Puentes, a senior fellow with the Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program He says that, as uncertainties abound over federal transportation spending and another shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund looms, states and localities are stepping up to address their infrastructure challenges head on. By raising gas taxes, launching ballot initiatives, and forging public-private partnerships, regions ar
  • The sunshine subsidy for Colorado’s tollways
    January 10, 2014
    David Crawford reports on energy cost cutting on US highways. Just over a year after switch-on and with two global awards under its belt, the longest solar-powered toll road in the US is generating heightened interest in highway applications of alternative energy. The E-407, which loops around the eastern perimeter of the Denver metropolitan area in Colorado, won the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) President’s Overall Award for Excellence at its September 2013 Annual Meeting in
  • Smoothing out city freight movements
    May 28, 2014
    David Crawford welcomes a national first. Urban freight movements, while commercially and socially vital, are a growing logistical headache for planners and people alike. Figures from France’s Lyon Laboratory of Transport Economics indicate that goods transport in major urban areas accounts for: 20% of traffic; 35% of CO2 emissions made by all urban trips; and 50% of the diesel used; while final km delivery runs account for 20% of the total cost of the transport chain.