Oklahoma Turnpike Officials Hold Noble Townhall As Groups Push To Delay Construction

Engineers and leaders of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority held a town hall at Noble High School Thursday as locals and lawmakers plot ways to delay or destroy plans for new toll roads.  

Before the meeting started, OTA deputy director Joe Echelle told reporters the agency hopes to gather information from residents and answer individual questions.  

“We’re trying to reach out and provide them with additional information about their individual needs as well as information gathering on our part,” Echelle said.  

More than a dozen engineers working on the Access Oklahoma project, which includes two turnpikes south of Oklahoma City, spoke with residents at the event. Click here for the Access Oklahoma website.  

The OTA is planning three other town hall meetings next week in Newcastle, Norman, and Moore. 

Some residents, however, did not come with questions. Lisa Meyer, a Noble resident and a board member of the anti-turnpike group Pike Off OTA, said she came only to voice opposition to the project.  

“We want to curtail the OTA. They're way too powerful,” Meyer said. “I stand in defiance here. I don’t have any questions of the OTA because I don’t feel like we will get an honest answer.”  

Since its unveiling in February, the Access Oklahoma project has faced harsh scrutiny from Oklahomans who live along the planned roadways as well as local and state officials.  

Both the Norman city council and Cleveland County Board of Commissioners voted to oppose the project, although neither has any decision-making power over the OTA.  

Related: Norman City Council Votes On Resolution Opposing Turnpike Extension

State lawmakers in the House Transportation Committee on Thursday advanced a bill that would delay the construction until OTA completes additional studies of the proposed route and its potential impacts.  

Hundreds of homeowners could be forced to sell their homes to the state under the current plan, according to estimates by Pike Off OTA. The OTA has not provided an estimate on the number of impacted properties, citing an ongoing design phase for the project.  

Echelle said the route is not likely to change from the study.  

“Unless there’s something profound that we don’t know about, it’s probably going to be very close to the alignment that we’re currently projecting,” he said.  

Virginia Sanders, a Noble resident of 15 years, said she hopes the route moves farther away from local school zones.  

She said the OTA’s lack of flexibility on the routes is frustrating.  

“They’re not responsible to anybody because they’re self-funding. I don’t understand how—this is America. Every government is supposed to be responsive to the citizens,” Sanders said.