Stretch Of Oklahoma Interstate Will Be Named After Sen. Jim Inhofe

A portion of an Oklahoma interstate will be named after Sen. Jim Inhofe during a groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for next week.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation said it will break ground at 10 a.m. Tuesday on the soon-to-be-named U.S. Sen. James Inhofe Interchange located at Interstate 40 and South Douglas Boulevard in Midwest City.

Among those attending will be Sen. Inhofe, U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice and Midwest City mayor Matt Dukes.

ODOT officials said the interchange construction, which is part of a larger project worth an estimated $170 million, will reconstruct the interchange into a "single-point urban interchange."

The new U.S. Sen. James Inhofe Interchange is intended to safely move high volumes of traffic within a smaller amount of space.

Inhofe -- who previously served as Tulsa's mayor from 1978-1984 and later as a U.S. Representative from 1987-1994 -- was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994. He announced his retirement from Congress back in February. His resignation will go into effect in Jan. 2023.

Related: U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe Formally Submits Notice To Retire

Last week, U.S. Representative Markwayne Mullin was elected to succeed Inhofe after he defeated Democratic challenger and former U.S. Representative Kendra Horn.

Related: Republicans Lankford, Mullin Win Oklahoma Senate Seats