Oklahoma transportation czar to retire, capping long state career 

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Department of Transportation Executive Director Tim Gatz is retiring at the end of October.

Gatz announced his retirement Monday during a meeting of the Oklahoma Transportation Commission, which oversees the agency.

His retirement comes after 37 years of state service.

“I’ve grown up at this agency and it’s incredibly important to me,” Gatz said. “The men and women that I’ve had the opportunity to get to know and work with are unlike any that I’ve ever encountered. I loved every one of them.”

Gatz was appointed ODOT executive director in 2019 and reappointed. He began his career with the agency in 1990 as a drafting technician and held various other positions.

He said his decision had nothing to do with politics.

“Service to the citizens of the state of Oklahoma has absolutely been the honor of my lifetime,” Gatz said.

Gatz was instrumental in getting a $8.2 billion, 15-year turnpike improvement and expansion project off of the ground.

He is the former director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and serves as Gov. Kevin Stitt’s Transportation Secretary.

Transportation Commissioner Michael Junk called Gatz the “gold standard for public service.”

“We are indebted to you,” he said.

Gatz, of El Reno, earned a bachelor’s in landscape architecture from Oklahoma State University in 1989 and is a registered professional landscape architect.