Several hundred residents of Norman and surrounding towns expressed fears of losing their homes and the potential impacts on Norman’s wildlife due to a proposed turnpike that would be constructed through the center of Ward 5 at a town hall Thursday evening.
The turnpike, named ACCESS Oklahoma, is a $15 million project that aims to provide alternative options to drivers. The South Expansion Turnpike and the East-West Connector projects would most affect Norman, according to the ACCESS website.
The town hall, hosted by Ward 5 Councilmember Rarchar Tortorello, included representatives of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority from Poe & Associates, Inc., David Streb, Craig Moody and Sean Kavanagh. Moody said as of the ninth day of the project being in the public eye, his team had already received over 600 messages from concerned residents.
A representative directly from OTA was originally scheduled to attend this town hall, but informed Tortorello that they could not make the town hall, citing prior commitments.
Streb defended the project, saying it was needed to ease travel from Interstate 35, citing his hour and a half trip to Norman from Oklahoma City using the interstate. He stated that the new turnpike would relieve 25-35 minutes off commuter travel, which prompted outrage from the crowd.
“Is my property, my home, really worth 30 minutes of your time?” one man yelled.
The building holds 400 people and has an overflow room, yet many more were left standing. There was a line of people waiting outside Crosspointe and traffic was backed up on 24th Avenue due to the event. The town hall was also live streamed on Tortorello’s office Facebook page, collecting over 1,300 comments.
Cars lined up outside of Crosspointe to attend the town hall about the proposed ACCESS Oklahoma turnpike.
Streb said OTA was on day nine of a 15-year project and resident participation will be encouraged during the process.
Tortorello asked the team of representatives what environmental studies they had performed concerning any possible impact to Norman’s watershed and Lake Thunderbird.
“Councilmember, I can tell you we have not done that yet,” Streb replied, met with boos from the crowd. “We have not begun putting anyone in the field, whether it’s biologists or cultural research people to do those on the ground studies, and that is what we’re going to be doing over the next year.”
Moody added that OTA will be hosting their own town halls, not only in Norman but statewide, including a meeting in Noble in the near future. He also said that members of his team would be contacting affected individuals as the project progresses.
Public questioning opened with Linda Berry, who designed and built her home 30 years ago in the Cinnamon Run neighborhood which lies in the direct path of the turnpike. She asked what criteria was used by OTA to steer the project away from heavily populated neighborhoods.
Streb said that OTA “did everything they can” to miss as many rooftops as possible, but other things like sharp curves and possible bridge construction were taken into account.
“There’s things besides the homes but the Turnpike Authority is extremely sensitive to that and they’ve instructed us on all the alignments on this program to do the best we can to avoid expense,” Streb said.
Many residents spoke about their fears of losing their homes. When asked how many homes were to be impacted by the turnpike plan, Streb said he was unsure of the number.
“I bought my house to die in,” Roberta Provost, a Ward 5 resident, said. “You couldn’t offer me enough money to buy my house.”
Warren Kiper, a Ward 5 citizen of 18 years, said he didn’t have time to relocate and had already built an environment for his grandkids to grow up in. His property lies within 1,000 feet of the potential route.
“We’re building memories. It’s more than just a place to spend the night,” Kiper said. “I bought this place expecting to give to my kids and my grandkids.”
One resident asked the representatives what they would do if their house was at risk and how the residents should go about stopping that, adding that she did not attend the town hall to hear “what OTA will do for her.”
Moody answered that they did not come tonight to “tell them how to stop” the construction of the turnpike, but instead come with the goal to communicate to residents how the turnpike will affect them and work with them.
Ray Moody, a natural resource biologist, told the representative that he was shocked that the team had developed a path for the turnpike without taking an environment study first. He brought up concerns about several endangered species of birds and reptiles.
Inger Giuffrida, executive director of the Wildcare Foundation in Noble, asked the representatives if they could guarantee OTA does not purchase any property for the construction of the turnpike until environmental studies are conducted.
“The proposed route also creates a basic disaster for wildlife completely, whether it’s an endangered species or not,” Giuffrida said. “One way you can help establish trust is to guarantee that no one is bought out until those environmental studies are done.”
Streb told Giuffrida that he could not guarantee that could happen and deferred the question to OTA.
A Ward 5 resident asked Moody to confirm that the turnpike would not affect any cemeteries, as Blackburn Cemetery currently lays in the proposed path. Porter said that she had called Poe & Associates prior to the meeting, and they had promised her that the cemetery would not move.
Moody affirmed that OTA would “not touch” the cemetery, even though the current line runs directly through Blackburn. He said that the maps will be modified following environmental tests and surveyors, and the lines drawn today will not likely be the final plan.
Representative Jacob Rosecrants said he was trying to use common sense when first hearing the plan, but he is just “pissed” at the proposed turnpike and vowed to fight the turnpike.
“This is Norman and I think they (OTA) very much clearly underestimated Ward 5,” Rosecrants said. “I will do all I can from a legislative perspective to help you guys to the best of my ability.”
Mayor Breea Clark was not at the town hall, but did express her opposition to the turnpike plans in a Facebook post.
“This is unacceptable. No one on Council is happy about this. We have asked staff to look into legal options to stop this (the turnpike) from happening,” Clark wrote. “Norman residents weren’t even asked what they thought or how it would impact them. Your Council will not just sit by and say ‘Oh, well.’”
