OKLAHOMA CITY — Transportation Secretary Tim Gatz on Tuesday outlined a 15-year, $5 billion roadway improvement plan that includes widening the rest of the Turner Turnpike.
The OTA recently completed a widening project at the east end of the toll road between the state’s two largest cities, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Widening the rest of the highway is needed, Gatz said.
“The facility, when completed, will be unlike anything that exists in this country,” Gatz said.
His comments were made during the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s regular meeting in Oklahoma City. No action was taken.
The plan includes introducing new access points across the turnpike system, Gatz said.
When the Turner Turnpike was built, some communities, such as Depew, were bypassed and left without a good connection to the highway, Gatz said.
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On the Turner Turnpike, new interchanges are needed to serve communities such as Bristow, Chandler and Stroud, he said.
Additional access points will increase safety and economic development, he said.
Plans also include widening the Will Rogers Turnpike and completing the Gilcrease Expressway’s northern leg and connecting it to the Tisdale Expressway in Tulsa.
The south end of the Will Rogers Turnpike from Tulsa to Claremore needs to be widened and include new interchanges, Gatz said. In addition, the two bridges over the Verdigris River need to be widened, Gatz said, adding that “it won’t be inexpensive.”
The plan also includes improvements to help alleviate traffic on Interstate 35 and Interstate 44 in south Oklahoma City.
Improvements are also planned for the Kilpatrick Turnpike in Oklahoma City and the Creek Turnpike in the Tulsa area.
On the Creek Turnpike, the bridges over Haikey Creek are due for major maintenance work, Gatz said.
A portion of the Kilpatrick Turnpike also needs to be widened, he said. The section is from Interstate 35 just south of Edmond to Interstate 40, said Terri Angier, a Transportation Department spokeswoman.
Gatz said tolls will have to be increased to pay for the plan.
“I’m very pleased to see the process begin for this critical development,” said Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Chairman Gene Love. “The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has always exemplified a successful business model. We, as the board, will make sure this plan and the projects that emerge from it will be done in a professional and fiscally responsible manner.”
Gatz said the plan could change.
“This is a transparent, early announcement,” he said. “We have a lot of work left to do to start to put detail to it.”
In related action, Gatz called attention to a section of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that provides an interstate designation for U.S. 412 from Interstate 35 east to Interstate 49 in Arkansas.
“That would include the Cimarron and Cherokee turnpikes and the section of 412 really between state Highway 99 and the end of the Cherokee Turnpike that is the Oklahoma Department of Transportation section,” Gatz said.
The designation can only be put on that section of U.S. 412 after the length is brought up to interstate standards, Gatz said.
“It means after we do the work to bring the corridor up to interstate standards, it is already approved to have an interstate shield put on it, designating it as the best facility available.
“It is not part of the turnpike plan but connects to a lot of it,” Gatz said.
In unrelated action, the OTA voted to raise Gatz’s annual salary to $240,000 from $185,000, a move that would have to be approved by Gov. Kevin Stitt. The board considered regional averages when considering the pay increase.
Gatz is head of the OTA and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, which both pay his salary.
September 2020 video: Aerial view of the Turner Turnpike near the Tulsa gate
Aerial view of the Turner turnpike near the Tulsa entrance
Changes are coming to the Turner Turnpike McDonald's. We answer your questions and tell you why it could save you money
When and how was the decision made?
"We started talking about it in 2008. Once we came down to a decision (about 2017), we started taking RFPs (requests for proposals)" from private vendors interested in putting restaurants or convenience stores in, Damrill said. The changes were approved in 2018 during a public OTA meeting without public comment. "On something like this, we don’t have to have public comment. Not because we didn’t want to hear from citizens. But because we weren’t affecting the traveling public," with route changes or detours. "We purchased a bit of right-of-way from the city of Chandler, but we didn’t buy any homes. We didn’t do any eminent domain."
How are turnpike vendors such as McDonald's chosen?
McDonald's was the only food vendor that applied, OTA spokesman Jack Damrill said.
For decades, eastbound and westbound travelers have shared the McDonald’s and EZ-Go convenience store near the Stroud exit on the Turner Turnpike. Tulsa World file
Do people coming from Oklahoma City to the Stroud service area and turn around avoid the toll now?
Currently, only cash customers coming from Oklahoma City and turning around at the Stroud service area avoid paying a toll; Pikepass customers do not, Damrill said. Drivers coming from Tulsa and turning around at the Stroud service area pay the full $4.50 (Pikepass) or $4.75 (cash) each way. But after the new westbound service area in Stroud is constructed, drivers will actually be able to save $4.50 to $5 if they stop at the Stroud exit — located just east of the Stroud service area, he said.
That's because the toll from Tulsa to the Stroud exit is $2 (Pikepass) or $2.25 (cash). Drivers coming from Oklahoma City who stop and turn around at the Stroud exit would save nearly the same amount — $2.20 (Pikepass) or $2.50 (cash)
"People accuse us of trying to rip them off when we are actually trying to save them money," Damrill said.
Does the Turnpike ever truly "pay for itself"?
The short answer: No, because the Turnpike is accruing debt when it does new projects and improvements, he said.
The Turner was the first and only turnpike authorized by the original turnpike legislation of 1947 and the initial intent was for it to be toll-free when the bonds were paid off.
"In 1954 there was a vote of the people … that allowed other turnpikes to be built. In order to build new facilities, we incur new debts. The people of Oklahoma voted to allow cross pledging," which means "all the monies from all the turnpikes are put into one pot to pay for the debt we incur. The Turner Turnpike does not just pay for the Turner Turnpike. That’s called cross pledging.
"Without cross pledging we could not have the Will Rogers and the Creek ... any other turnpike" that does not pay for itself, he said. If there was a vote reversing cross-pledging for the turnpikes they would revert to the state Department of Transportation, he said. But with an annual operating and maintenance cost of $125 million it would be "extremely difficult for ODOT to find that extra money," Damrill said.
In addition, the OTA pays $20 million per year to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. "That would be another $20 million the Department of Public Safety would have to come up with."
The OTA is also funding a state trooper academy next year. "Without an academy (and more troopers) we would be hurting as well," he said.
Why not build a service area on one side of the turnpike with access via bridges from the other side?
"We actually looked at a single-sided duel access service area with bridges," he said. "Bridges would cost $40-$50 million. We can spend that money much more wisely than building two bridges into a service plaza."
Will the service area stay open during construction?
The current McDonald’s on the Turner Turnpike — Interstate 44 — was completed in 1987. Before that, the site had a Howard Johnson restaurant and a gas station, he said.
Damrill said plans call for the current McDonald’s and EZ-Go to remain open as long as possible while the highway is being realigned and until the new building housing both can open.
When will expansion of the Turner Turnpike from four lanes to six between Tulsa and Bristow be done?
Construction should be done on the majority of the project by late May or early June, Damrill said.
The 22-mile, $300 million project involves expanding the turnpike from four lanes to six and adding lighting between west Tulsa and Bristow. Tolls are funding the project.
The last phase of the project will be reconstruction of the Oklahoma 66 interchange in Sapulpa and improvements from there through about 7 miles east to west Tulsa.
Just how many people travel the turnpike?
The Turner Turnpike has about 14,300 vehicles passing each direction through Stroud each day, according to 2017 OTA traffic counts, the most recent available.
That number is up more than 17% from about 12,200 vehicles per day in each direction in 2007.
The Turner is the busiest turnpike in the state with the exception of the Kilpatrick and Creek turnpikes, located in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas, respectively.
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