| State: | OK |
| Type: | SH |
| Route: | 87 |
| Maint: | ODOT |
| Map: | Ok-87 path.png |
| Length Mi: | 14.58 |
| Direction A: | West |
| Direction B: | East |
| Terminus A: | near Harris |
| Terminus B: | at the Arkansas state line |
| Previous Type: | SH |
| Previous Route: | 86 |
| Next Type: | SH |
| Next Route: | 88 |
State Highway 87 is a highway in southeastern Oklahoma, running for 14.58miles. It passes through the extreme southeastern corner of the state, running entirely through McCurtain Co. It has no lettered spur routes.
SH-87 begins at an intersection with US-259 near the unincorporated community of Harris, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Red River. SH-87 heads east from here, proceeding along many curves. The highway is two-lane for its entire length, and much of it is very narrow with no shoulders (though a short stretch of highway that was realigned to approach a new girder bridge that replaced an old through truss bridge was built with shoulders). The highway crosses no major rivers, but does bridge Walnut Bayou. SH-87 ends at the Arkansas state line, where it becomes Arkansas Highway 108.
SH-87 is shown on the Oklahoma state highway map as concurrent with US-259 to at least Idabel.[1] However, this is an error, as the highway is only signed from US-259 to the Arkansas state line, and is shown on ODOT's internal control section maps as ending at US-259.[2]
State Highway 87 first appeared on the June 1944 state highway map. When it was originally commissioned, the highway was a spur route; its western end was in Idabel, and its eastern end was approximately the location of the present-day US-259–SH-87 intersection. Towards the end of its route, SH-87 served Harris.[3]
By 1948, SH-87 was extended, setting its eastern terminus at its present location at the Arkansas state line.[4] However, this terminus proved to be temporary at first, as the highway was rerouted to turn north to end at SH-21 (now SH-3) in Tom in 1952.[5] However, by 1957, the state line terminus had been reestablished, and SH-87 has ended there to the present day.[6]
In the early 1960s, SH-87's length was at its zenith, as the highway stretched from Idabel to the Arkansas state line. However, on 1963-01-07, US-259 was established.[7] [8] The section of SH-87 from Idabel through Harris was turned over to the new U.S. route, setting the western terminus of the highway to its present-day location.