Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Seeking First Billion In Bond Funding For ACCESS Projects

In a special meeting Thursday, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority passed resolutions authorizing the issuance $1 billion in bond funding for ACCESS Oklahoma projects.  

The OTA must now seek approval to issue the bonds from the Oklahoma Council of Bond Oversight, and validation from the Oklahoma Supreme Court that it has the authority to move forward with the array of construction plans.  

Projects include widening sections of the Kilpatrick and Turner turnpikes, creating additional access points, and building new turnpikes in Cleveland County.    

Transportation Secretary Tim Gatz said seeking the bond funding “expeditiously is the right course of action.” He said getting the approvals would “bring certainty” to a question raised in a lawsuit brought by Cleveland County residents who oppose the proposed turnpike construction.    

“Going through that validation process brings certainty to that,” Gatz said. “We're not sidestepping or going around anything. were actually moving quicker towards the resolution of it so everybody's got certainty.”  

Attorney Robert Norman filed the lawsuit on behalf of the protest group Pike Off OTA, which challenges the OTA’s authority to use bond funding for the ACCESS Oklahoma projects.  

“I’m really concerned right now that they’re trying to short-circuit a full and fair hearing on the process,” Norman said.  

Several people attended the meeting with signs protesting the construction of new turnpikes. Pike Off OTA estimates about 600 homes could be in the route of the roadway. Gatz said Thursday they do not yet have an estimate of the number of homes impacted.  

“We will never lose sight of the fact that we are asking those property owners to make sacrifices. We've always got to keep that in the front of our minds,” Gatz said.  

The agency will begin contacting homeowners in the way of the proposed turnpikes after design and environmental studies, according to OTA Deputy Director Joe Echelle. He estimated the agency would begin reaching out to owners “next Spring.”  

First, the agency will begin work on projects that do not require obtaining right-of-way, Echelle said, including the widening of the Kilpatrick Turnpike.