Interchanges removed from controversial Oklahoma turnpike design amid local opposition

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority is moving forward without two interchanges on a planned turnpike after the proposal failed to secure approval from the Norman City Council.

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority had proposed building the interchanges at Alameda Drive and Tecumseh Road as part of its South Extension Turnpike, which will carry traffic from Interstate 40 south and west to Interstate 35.

But OTA has removed the interchanges from the roadway design because the Norman City Council on Aug. 25 rejected a resolution for the both interchanges, as well as a third at Etowah Road, said Joe Echelle, OTA executive director.  His remarks were made Tuesday at the regular monthly OTA meeting in Oklahoma City.

Echelle said without an approved resolution, OTA cannot transfer the right-of-way and maintenance responsibilities for the interchanges to the city, which is standard practice.

The interchanges were expected to be part of a 15-year, $8.2 billion statewide turnpike improvement project, dubbed ACCESS.

The designers were told not to change anything that would preclude the interchanges from being built at a future date, Echelle said.

However, the cost of adding the interchanges at a later date will increase, Echelle said.

“If the city comes back in a decade and the interchanges are not necessary to the turnpike’s need, then that onus of carrying the burden of the bulk of the engineering, the design, the utility relocation, and any right-of-way that is necessary gets shifted to the requestor,” Echelle said.

Last month, University of Oklahoma President Joseph Harroz Jr. told OTA that he and the university supported the interchanges, saying they were “essential” and “desperately needed.”

If city councilors change their mind, the interchanges can be included up to a point, Echelle said.

Some residents have expressed concerns about the turnpike’s impact on the quality of life, property values and the environment and have fought to prevent its construction.