Oklahoma State Highway 63

State Highway 63
Route information
Maintained by ODOT
Length:	96.7 mi (155.6 km)
Existed:	November 6, 1935[1] – present
Major junctions
West end:	US-69 in Kiowa
East end:	AR-8 at the Arkansas state line
Highway system
Oklahoma State Highways Interstate U.S. Turnpikes ← US-62 US-64 →

State Highway 63 (abbreviated SH-63) is a 96.7 mile (155.6 km)^[2] state highway in southeastern Oklahoma. It runs from U.S. Highway 69 in Kiowa to the Arkansas state line. SH-1 forms a concurrency with SH-63 for 37.8 miles (60.8 km), nearly forty percent of the highway's length.^[2] SH-63 has one spur route, designated as SH-63A.

SH-63 was added to the state highway system on November 6, 1935 as a short link highway between Talihina and SH-2. The highway was gradually extended to its present length between then and 1960. When the current incarnation of SH-1 was established, the middle of SH-63 was turned over to the new highway, leaving SH-63 in two separate parts. The two sections were connected via a concurrency in the early 1980s.

Route description

SH-63 heads northeast from Kiowa, passing through Pittsburg and crossing under the Indian Nation Turnpike near Blanco. In Haileyville, it meets US-270/SH-1 and begins a concurrency with them. After passing through Hartshorne, US-270 splits off. Seven miles (11 km) later, the highways pass through unincorporated Higgins, then continues east for 9 miles (14 km), where they meets State Highway 2 and the two highways concur with it.^[3]

The SH-1/2/63 concurrency heads south for six miles (10 km).^[3] West of Buffalo Valley, SH-2 splits off to the south as SH-1/63 head east. In Talihina, the highways meet US-271, which SH-1 joins. SH-63 heads east alone, passing through Whitesboro and Muse. In Big Cedar, it crosses U.S. Highway 259. It then enters Ouachita National Forest and ends at the state line. Arkansas Highway 8 continues on to Mena.

History

State Highway 63 was first established on November 6, 1935 as a connection between SH-2 and US-271 in Talihina.^[1] On April 1, 1936, the highway was extended east to end at the Arkansas state line.^[1][4] This remained the highway's extent for the remainder of the 1930s and the 1940s.

The highway was extended west for the first time on August 4, 1952, when SH-63's western terminus was set at US-270 near Hartshorne.^[1] The highway was extended further west on January 29, 1960, bringing it to US-69 in Kiowa.^[1] The SH-63 of 1960 had the same basic route as that of the present day.^[5] Minor realignments to the highway occurred on September 6, 1962 northwest of the northern SH-2 junction, and through Haileyville and Hartshorne on August 3, 1964.^[1]

The current State Highway 1 was designated on February 5, 1968.^[1] The portion of highway between Haileyville and Talihina was made solely part of SH-1. This left SH-63 in two discontinuous sections, one between Kiowa and Haileyville and one from Talihina to the Arkansas line.^[6] This situation would persist for fifteen years. On July 7, 1983, SH-63 was restored between the two segments, forming the SH-1/63 concurrency.^[1] No further changes have occurred to the highway since.

Junction list

County	Location	mi[2]	km	Destinations	Notes
Pittsburg	Kiowa	0.0	0.0	US-69	Western terminus
	Haileyville	21.9	35.2	US-270 / SH-1	Western terminus of US-270/SH-1 concurrency
	Hartshorne	24.6	39.6	US-270	Eastern terminus of US-270 concurrency
Latimer	​	39.9	64.2	SH-2	Northern terminus of SH-2 concurrency
	​	46.0	74.0	SH-2	Southern terminus of SH-2 concurrency
	​	57.9	93.2	SH-63A	Southern terminus of SH-63A
Le Flore	Talihina	59.2	95.3	SH-82	Southern terminus of SH-82
		59.7	96.1	SH-1	Eastern terminus of SH-1 concurrency
	Big Cedar	85.4	137.4	US-271
	​	96.7	155.6	AR 8	Eastern terminus, Arkansas state line
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

SH-63A

SH-63 has one lettered spur, SH-63A. SH-63A begins at SH-1/63 two miles (3 km) west of Talihina. It heads north for ¹⁄₄-mile (0.40 km) before forking into two separate highways. The west fork goes to the Choctaw Nation hospital, while the east fork goes to the Oklahoma Veterans Center.^[7] The west fork is exactly 1.00 mile (1.61 km) long, and the southern and eastern forks together are 1.40 miles (2.25 km), for a total combined length of 2.40 miles (3.86 km).^[8]

References

Route map: Bing / Google

1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Oklahoma Department of Transportation. "Memorial Dedication and Revision History, SH 63". Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
2. 1 2 3 Stuve, Eric. "OK-63". OKHighways.com. Retrieved 2007-02-21. 
3. 1 2 Official State Map (PDF) (Map) (2009–10 ed.). Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2010-05-03. 
4. ↑ Map Showing Condition of Improvement of the State Highway System and Landing Fields (PDF) (Map) (May 1936 ed.). Oklahoma Department of Highways. Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
5. ↑ Oklahoma 1961 Road Map (PDF) (Map). Oklahoma Department of Highways. Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
6. ↑ Oklahoma 1969 (PDF) (Map). Oklahoma Department of Highways. Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
7. ↑ Stuve, Eric. "OK-63a". OKHighways.com. Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
8. ↑ Oklahoma Department of Transportation (December 5). Control Section Maps: Latimer County (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2010-05-04.  Check date values in: |date= (help)