Oklahoma Turnpike Authority held a public meeting Tuesday to gather Norman residents’ input on the proposed South Extension turnpike, as part of its ACCESS Oklahoma plan.
ACCESS Oklahoma is a 15-year, $8 billion plan to develop new turnpikes and renovate and expand existing highways statewide. It was originally approved by the Oklahoma State Supreme Court in August 2023.
Two turnpikes are planned for the Norman area: the South Extension Turnpike and the East-West Connector.
The South Extension would run approximately 19 miles through Cleveland County from the East-Connector on Franklin Road to south I-35 in Slaughterville. The project is expected to cost $1 billion and would be completed by 2036, according to the ACCESS Oklahoma website. In March, the South Extension was rerouted to avoid federal property at Lake Thunderbird.
The East-West Connector would cost an estimated $3 billion and run 28 miles, connecting Interstate 44 near Newcastle to Interstate 40 at the Kickapoo Turnpike across north Norman.
The meeting was one of two, with the first public meeting being held on May 21 in Purcell. The Norman meeting was scheduled for May 19 but was rescheduled due to a severe weather forecast.
Lisa Shearer-Salim, OTA’s communication and marketing manager, said OTA will take into account comments received at the meeting and use these to determine the new turnpike alignment.
“That input will be evaluated,” Salim said. “It will be used by our engineering design teams to help limit the impact as much as possible while getting a good route that will serve Oklahomans for the next 50 years.”
During the meeting, Normanites chanted over ACCESS Oklahoma representatives in opposition of the turnpike plan. Though the two meetings were intended to be the same, Tassie Hirschfeld, Ward 5, said each meeting played out differently.
“This is a real different vibe than the Purcell meeting, which was sort of quiet and just more informational,” Hirschfeld said. “This was like the city of Norman saying one more time, we do not want this, and we do not want to have the conversation that they insist on having.”
David Streb, president of Poe & Associates, the organization that manages ACCESS Oklahoma, expressed satisfaction with the meetings and said he appreciates Normanites allowing him to give his presentation before asking questions.
“I couldn’t ask for better meetings,” Streb said.
Press conference, resident concerns
Before the meeting, Norman residents held signs protesting the turnpikes as they gathered for a press conference held by Pike Off OTA, an organization overseen by Oklahomans for Responsible Transportation that opposes the turnpikes.
Randy Carter, Pike Off OTA member, spoke about the importance of the land the turnpike would cut through.
“When (Gov. Kevin Stitt) announced the ACCESS program in February of 2022, he said that these proposed turnpikes would only be going through unimproved farmland,” Carter said. “I can’t imagine any governor of Oklahoma thinking that farmland is unimproved land.”
Dave Moore, Pike Off OTA member, said Normanites have opposed the turnpike since it was announced in 2022.
“The most important thing here is the citizens of Norman just don’t want the turnpikes, and that has been made abundantly clear for years,” Moore said.
Ward 7 Councilmember and Mayor-elect Stephen Tyler Holman, who also spoke at the press conference, said the city stood with Pike Off OTA.
“The official stance of the city of Norman government is a unanimous resolution that was passed in 2022 that opposes this project happening in our city limits,” Holman said. “I do not foresee the city council voting to repeal that any time.”
Holman told OU Daily after the press conference that the main concerns regarding the turnpikes include the negative impact on Lake Thunderbird and the loss of homes and displacement of many Norman residents.
“Removing thousands of trees, wildlife displacement, impact to Lake Thunderbird from stormwater runoff, displacing hundreds of people, families, people who have had properties for multiple generations in their families, for a highway,” Holman said. “That doesn’t seem worth it to me.”
Kelly Wilson, Ward 6 resident and Pike Off OTA volunteer, believes the issues the turnpike may cause are not worth it.
“I do not feel that the impact to the residents is worth anything they will gain, any benefits they will gain, from having this turnpike,” Wilson said. “I do not believe that the eviction of hundreds of families is justification for the toll.”
However, Streb believes the OTA can determine a turnpike route that will affect the least amount of Normanites.
“If we felt that there wasn’t a way to get a good alignment through there, not a best -- a good one, we wouldn’t be here today,” Streb said. “We feel confident as engineers, we can find an alignment west of the one that’s been online, it’ll be off Lake Thunderbird, and it’ll be a viable alternative.”
Turnpike impact, future opposition
Crystal Henderson, Ward 5, was one of many Norman residents who owns farmland in the original proposed turnpike alignment. Henderson owns a five acre farm near Lake Thunderbird and sells produce and meat, including goat milk that new mothers who cannot breastfeed rely on.
Henderson is worried about Norman residents losing their homes to the turnpike and said someone will be affected, whether it’s her or someone else.
“It sucks when you have to say, ‘Well, don’t take my place, but it’s okay if you take my neighbor’s house,’” Henderson said.
Despite being unsure about the sustainability of her property and farming, Henderson encouraged Normanites to continue with their lives.
“You keep building, even with not knowing what’s happening,” Henderson said. “Just continue with your projects. Keep farming.”
Streb said Normanites can expect to find out which areas of Norman will be affected when the new turnpike alignment is finalized in the fall.
“There won’t be a limbo anymore,” Streb said. “Once that happens, we’re going to start the design, and the South Extension is going to be fully opened by the end of 2034.”
Wilson said she attended the meeting in Purcell and spoke to Streb, who she said did not answer her questions of how OTA considers the human impact of the project.
“The human impact isn’t considered and the human toll does not matter,” Wilson said. “They will build it.”
Hirschfeld is worried about Oklahomans losing their ability to protest and block the government from building something like the turnpike.
“The violence that this does to people when they are told that they have no power, no voice in the process — to lose their most cherished possessions, their ancestral family homes and farms — the sense of outrage and powerlessness, that feeling is common in dictatorship,” Hirschfeld said.
Hirschfeld believes the turnpikes have affected Oklahomans’ trust in state government and said people will no longer trust the Department of Transportation, OTA or the state government as a whole.
As OTA moves forward with the turnpike process, Holman expressed intentions to continue opposing the turnpike plan.
“As mayor, we will not be supporting this program, this project, in any capacity,” Holman said. “The OTA is really clear on the fact that if they do this project in Norman, they are doing it against the will of our people and the will of our elected city government.”
This story was edited by Ana Barboza and Natalie Armour.
