March OTA Board Meeting Wrap-up: ACCESS Oklahoma public meeting dates set for April

Secretary of Transportation Tim Gatz announced the first ACCESS Oklahoma public meetings scheduled in April in Noble, Newcastle, Norman and Moore at Tuesday’s monthly Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Board of Directors meeting. 

The first round of town halls for ACCESS Oklahoma, OTA’s 15-year, $5 billion, long-range plan, are scheduled for the following dates:  

• Thursday, April 14, from 6-8 p.m. at Noble High School
• Monday, April 18, from 6-8 p.m. at Newcastle Public Schools administration building
• Tuesday, April 19, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Norman Central Library
• Thursday, April 21, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Moore Library – Pioneer Library System 

“These meetings are all open to the public and are another opportunity for us to engage the public, receive comments that will ultimately factor into our decision making and help us ensure that we’re taking everything into consideration as we develop and deliver the ACCESS Oklahoma program,” Gatz said.

To learn more about ACCESS Oklahoma, visit www.AccessOklahoma.com or call the ACCESS Oklahoma hotline at 1-844-562-2237.

Also, during the meeting, the board approved a partnership with the City of Stroud to construct a service road that, in the short-term, will create a detour while the westbound Turner Turnpike travel plaza reconstruction takes place. The service road also will provide benefit to Stroud when the SH-99 interchange to the Turner Turnpike is reconstructed as part of the ACCESS Oklahoma long-range plan.   

The board also approved the construction of new traffic turnarounds for those accessing Memorial Rd. at the John Kilpatrick Turnpike and SH-74/Lake Hefner Parkway interchange. The $4.5 million contract was awarded to Allen Contracting Inc./Shell Construction Co. of Oklahoma City. This project will improve traffic flow and wait times at a busy interchange in northwest Oklahoma City. 

The board, a six-member panel appointed by the governor to an eight-year term to oversee turnpike development, awards project contracts for road and bridge construction on a monthly basis. 

The next Oklahoma Turnpike Authority board meeting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 26 at the Oklahoma Department of Transportation Commission Room, 200 N.E. 21st St., Oklahoma City. The meeting also will be available to view live online.