Several council members spoke out against a proposed turnpike in Norman at Tuesday’s meeting, including Mayor Breea Clark, who promised to fight its construction.
Over 4,000 people have joined a Facebook group titled “NO MORE TURNPIKES, Oklahoma!” to share information about the proposed turnpike. The group has planned a March 23 rally at the Oklahoma Capitol Building to protest the proposal.
The turnpike is part of the ACCESS Oklahoma Plan, a$15 billion long-range state turnpike proposal divided into several parts. The council first discussed it in a study session on March 1.
On March 5, Ward 5 Councilmember Rarchar Tortorello hosted a town hall featuring members of Poe and Associates, Inc. — a firm of consulting engineers — to answer questions about the turnpike from Ward 5 residents, the area of Norman most directly affected by the proposed turnpike’s path. Residents from across Norman attended the town hall, including several from surrounding areas like Noble and Slaughterville.
Tortorello opposed the turnpike in Tuesday’s meeting and announced he would host a weekly Facebook Live event on his page for residents on Thursday nights.
“People are afraid of the unknown. There's a lot of unknowns we’re looking at right now, and rest assured we are working as a council on your behalf to get as much information out as possible,” Tortorello said.
Tortorello said he was “in awe” at the cooperative work done by Normanites and Ward 5 residents to spread information about the turnpike.
The proposed turnpike would not only go through Ward 5 but also stretch along Indian Hills Road, which lies in Ward 8.
Ward 8 Councilmember Matthew Peacock said he hears residents’ concerns, seconding Tortorello’s words about the city council banding together to fight the turnpike.
“I hear you, we hear you, and we are looking at every available opportunity and option to impact this,” Peacock said.
Ward 7 Councilmember Stephen Holman said the Norman City Council passed a resolution in 1999 opposing an outer loop in east Norman and encouraged the council today to do the same.
A resolution is not legally binding and would not stop the turnpike, but Holman said he believes it would help residents in their fight against the turnpike.
“This (resolution) does help build a case for our residents who want to fight this, to know that their city government is aware and supports their stance,” Holman said.
During her announcement time, Clark said she is “not giving up” on fighting the turnpike, and neither should Norman residents. Further, Clark said this issue had united not only the city council but also Cleveland County and members of the state delegation.
Even if the turnpike would benefit Norman in the future, Clark said the way the turnpike plans were introduced to the public was “reprehensible.”
“People are traumatized over this. I’m very, very disappointed, that’s putting it mildly, about things we’ve had to deal with. That could be the poorest rollout I’ve ever seen for such a life-changing project that will impact hundreds of residents,” Clark said.
Clark also said she plans to host weekly “Turnpike Talks” to educate the community on the rollout process and any updates.
Clark said she already asked city staff to propose a similar resolution to the 1999 one mentioned by Holman for the March 22 meeting. The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) will meet with the council in a study session on March 29.
Later Thursday evening, Clark posted on her Facebook page a few takeaways and notes from an hour-long meeting with Oklahoma Secretary of Transportation Matt Gatz. After he shared his vision for the turnpike and statewide transportation efforts, Clark wrote she asked Gatz not to make that vision affect pre-existing homes.
“I got to look him in the eye and ask him to not plow his vision through neighborhoods and generational family homes in our city. I told him our city’s elected officials have never been more united, and this council could never get behind this beyond a poorly delivered project that we as a city had already said no to back in 1999,” Clark wrote.
In her post, Clark clarified there is still time to fight against the turnpike. No bonds toward construction will be sold beginning March 31 — the day of a financial meeting for ACCESS — and funding still needs to be approved for environmental impact and traffic studies.
Clark wrote she feels these studies would provide information that may impact the route design. She also asked why public input was not sought out before the announcement.
“Why in the world wasn’t public input requested before they released a proposal that has not only angered but traumatized the people in or near the proposed route? How do they expect property owners to feel like they’re going to be listened to after how this was rolled out?” Clark wrote.
Clark added the OTA has not made any land purchases yet and has only spoken about purchasing land to those who’ve reached out. While she wrote she would not tell someone what to do with their property, she asked for Normanites to hold off on this as it may set off a “domino effect” and prevent action from happening.
“I told (Gatz) they picked the wrong city to try and pull this, and he certainly picked the wrong ward,” Clark wrote. “I told him I don’t know how the OTA recovers from this botched delivery, the council will never support this, the residents will fight it to the very end, and I sure hope it’s all worth it.”
