OTA awards $70 million in contracts as first bridge deck is poured on Toby Keith Expressway
Crews poured the first concrete bridge deck on the Toby Keith Expressway on Tuesday, the same morning the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Board awarded three new construction contracts totaling about $70.2 million, with two of those for the new turnpike.
The board also approved a dedicated stream restoration site to offset ACCESS Oklahoma construction, accepted a preliminary $173.9 million operating budget for 2027 and heard a farewell from Oklahoma Secretary of Transportation Tim Gatz, who announced his retirement this week after 37 years of state service.
Toby Keith Expressway projects advance in Cleveland County
Duit Construction Co. won a $53.6 million contract to build the Toby Keith Expressway between South Santa Fe Avenue and South Telephone Road west of I-35, including an interchange at Telephone Road. The project also widens 0.84 miles of Telephone Road and includes water line work for the City of Norman. Manhattan Road & Bridge won an $11.9 million contract to build turnpike bridges over Santa Fe Avenue.
The awards bring the number of Toby Keith Expressway projects underway or about to start between I-44 and I-35 to eight, totaling about $328 million, said OTA Executive Director Joe Echelle. Two more projects expected in the next few months will complete the turnpike's first connection between the interstates.
Echelle shared photos of that morning's deck pour on the corridor’s bridges, known as the 10 Mile Flats, which are expected to open to traffic in a little more than a year.
“This is the very first bridge deck pour to be done on the Toby Keith Expressway,” Echelle said. “So, the first real concrete is being laid this morning.”
K&R Builders won the third contract, $4.7 million, to rehabilitate two Cimarron Turnpike bridges in Payne County. All three bids came in 4.8 percent to 5.8 percent below engineers’ estimates.
OTA Director of Engineering Darian Butler said all three contractors have worked for OTA before and that the volume of work is drawing more firms to bid.
“We’re starting to dig deep into the contracting community with the amount of work that’s out there,” Butler said.
OTA secures stream restoration site to offset ACCESS Oklahoma construction
The board approved a $17.9 million agreement with Resource Environmental Solutions LLC, doing business as HGS, to restore and protect streams at a site in Oklahoma that will offset any environmental impact of ACCESS Oklahoma construction.
When a highway project disturbs streams or wetlands, the federal Clean Water Act requires a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and damage that can't be avoided must be made up for by restoring streams somewhere else. That restoration is measured in credits. OTA and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation have bought credits in the past from privately run restoration sites, known as mitigation banks, but those sites have little left to sell, Butler said.
HGS will create a restoration site dedicated to OTA's needs, producing up to 118,000 credits at a fixed $152 each. The ACCESS Oklahoma program will need close to 140,000. The site will be near ACCESS Oklahoma projects, though it has not been chosen, Butler said.
In the past, OTA and ODOT sometimes bought land next to a project to restore and then had to maintain it. Under this agreement, the land stays in private hands, Echelle said.
“It remains someone else's, not government property that we're mitigating on or mitigating with,” Echelle said. “And it locks in the credit price.”
“This is a big deal” said board member John Jones. “I don’t know if everybody realizes how big a deal it is. But with all the upcoming work we have to do with the ACCESS program, to be able to count on this is a big win.”
Board accepts preliminary 2027 budget with focus on safety
The preliminary 2027 operating and maintenance budget of $173.9 million is 5.36 percent higher than this year’s. It also includes a $200.7 million capital plan.
The largest increases are about $3.4 million for Oklahoma Highway Patrol services, including additional turnpike troopers, and about $3.7 million to oversee the ACCESS Oklahoma program, said OTA Director of Finance Wendy Smith.
“That’s the theme running through, is safety,” Smith said.
The budget cannot be increased now that it has been accepted. The board will consider final approval in December.
OTA wins 4 marketing awards for Wellston bridge celebration, publications
The Oklahoma City chapter of the American Marketing Association presented OTA with four awards at the start of the meeting.
OTA earned an Award of Excellence for its social media promotion of the April ribbon cutting for the reconstructed I-44/Turner Turnpike bridge over Route 66 in Wellston. Awards of Merit recognized the overall Wellston public relations campaign, the PIKEPASS seasonal road trip activity kits and OTA’s 2026 Outlook publication.
Nicole Smith, the chapter’s president, said a record number of entries were judged this year by marketing and communications experts from across the country rather than local reviewers.
“One judge noted that the campaign understood that this was about more than planning an event,” Smith said of the Wellston campaign. “It was an opportunity to create a meaningful moment for the organization and the community.”
OTA worker recovering after being struck on Muskogee Turnpike
An OTA maintenance employee is recovering at home after being struck Sept. 18 while his crew removed debris near mile marker 6 on the Muskogee Turnpike.
The crew’s pickup was on the shoulder with its emergency lights on when approaching traffic braked suddenly and a truck pulling a trailer jackknifed, Echelle said. Kelly Martin heard the squealing tires and was trying to jump the guardrail when he was hit.
“If he hadn’t jumped the guardrail, then this conversation would be totally different,” Echelle said.
ODOT and OTA have lost two workers and seen several others injured in work zones in just over a year, Echelle said, reminding drivers that state law requires them to move over or slow down for vehicles with flashing lights on the shoulder.
“It’s one of the most dangerous jobs that you can do as a state employee in Oklahoma,” he said.
Gatz bids farewell to OTA Board
Gatz, who announced his retirement Monday at the Oklahoma Transportation Commission meeting, thanked the board and OTA staff. As OTA’s executive director, Gatz pushed to speed up the turnpike system’s conversion to cashless tolling, Echelle said. There has not been a toll-zone crash since the conversion was completed in 2024.
“We didn’t wait for an NTSB report to tell us that interoperability and going cashless tolling was a good thing to do,” Gatz said, referring to a National Transportation Safety Board report released last month on a 2024 toll plaza crash.
“You’re making a difference in this state every day, and never lose sight of that,” he said.
“Your wisdom and your knowledge and you, as a person, are going to be missed by many,” Chairman Will Berry told him.
WATCH this month’s Board meeting on OTA’s YouTube channel. The next OTA Board meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 5.