safety and convenience on this road is a priority for OTA. This reconstruction/safety project will occur between I-35 and SH-66, east of Bristow. These projects will create an “urban turnpike corridor” with lighting, wider lanes and additional lanes. It will allow for the future addition of truck-specific and high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes for quick and safe access. The design package includes interchanges at Post Rd, SH102, SH-18 in Chandler, N 3503 at Davenport, SH99 in Stroud, S 481st at Depew, SH-16 and SH-48 at Bristow, and SH-66, East of Bristow.
The decision by Judge Olsen was in response to an Open Meetings Act lawsuit filed in Cleveland County District Court by a group of Norman residents opposed to the ACCESS Oklahoma program Other ACCESS Oklahoma projects include the I-44 widening of the Will Rogers Turnpike, John Kilpatrick widening and new access points throughout Oklahoma’s toll supported network and new alignments, the Tri-City Connector, South Extension and Gilcrease Northwest segment.
In response to the decision, the OTA said, “It will move in a deliberate and thoughtful manner in compliance with the Court’s decision to progress ACCESS Oklahoma.”
Judge Timothy Olsen wrote in his decision that while the OTA knew the specifics of the ACCESS project “in great detail,” the January and February meeting agendas contained nothing that referenced the plan as required by the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act.
“The agenda items in question seem to be the opposite of what is required by the OMA,” Olsen wrote. “No person of ordinary education and intelligence could know from the agendas that ACCESS Oklahoma was to be rolled out at the meeting and/or even that the new turnpikes were being planned. The term ‘certain turnpikes’ is so vague that the use of the term in and of itself shows an intent to deceive the citizenry of Oklahoma.”