Tourist Info Centers in Oklahoma

During a recent cross-country drive I noticed that other states have placed their tourist information centers next to the highway - with easy on-off access for drivers. What a brilliant idea!! This is a tactic that the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation must have discarded if they ever even considered it in the first place. Our tourist info centers are invariably located off the highway in impossibly difficult-to-get-to locations that even locals can't get to.

Take the relatively new and expensive Oklahoma tourist info stop in Oklahoma City at the junction of I-35 and the Turner Turnpike. To stop, a tourist has to get off the highway completely, go around a loop and down a street and into a parking lot. Just for fun, next time you pass this area try to get to it. If you do blunder into it with luck you'll notice that the parking lot is empty. There are several of these new centers around the state - everyone of them impossible to get to.

We have many controlled access turnpikes in Oklahoma yet do you think the Tourism Dept. would put the tourist info centers on the turnpikes with easy on-off access? Nooooooo!! That would make too much friggin sense.