Area 51 F-117 became operational in 1983, operations at Groom Lake have continued. The base and its associated runway system were expanded, including expansion of housing and support facilities. In 1995, the federal government expanded the exclusionary area around the base to include nearby mountains that had hitherto afforded the only decent overlook of the base, prohibiting access to of land formerly administered by the Bureau of Land Management. On 22 October 2015 a federal judge signed an order giving land that belonged to a Nevada family since the 1870s to the United States Air Force for expanding Area 51. According to
Oklahoma State Highway 51 area. In Sand Springs, SH-51 crosses the Arkansas River with SH-97 before merging onto the Sand Springs Expressway (U.S. Highway 412/U.S. Highway 64). When this freeway ends at I-244 near downtown Tulsa, Highway 51 merges onto I-244 southbound only to exit one mile (1.6 km) later, where it overlaps US-64/US-75. This freeway is actually Interstate 444, but the interstate designation is not shown on signs. After one more mile, SH-51 leaves the interstate with US-64 and becomes the Broken Arrow Expressway, a freeway running northwest-southeast through Tulsa which is known as "The BA" by locals and local media. US-64 leaves