Members of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Board unanimously voted to reapprove items regarding the ACCESS Oklahoma Turnpike project previously found in violation of the Open Meeting Act during its Tuesday morning meeting.
ACCESS Oklahoma is a 15-year, $5 billion infrastructure plan that includes three new turnpike routes — the South Extension, the East-West Connector and the Tri-City Connector. The project was challenged in court by anti-turnpike grassroots organization Pike Off OTA in one suit and over 150 Cleveland County residents in the OMA case.
In December 2022, associate district court judge Timothy Olsen found that OTA willfully violated the Open Meeting Act, invaliding any action that was taken at both the Jan. 25 and Feb. 22, 2022 meetings. As a result, the OTA halted all contract work on ACCESS on Dec. 9, 2022.
Before the meeting Tuesday, lawyers in the OMA case requested a judge approve a temporary restraining order against the OTA in an attempt to prevent the authority from re-voting on invalid items, though this order was not granted.
The board unanimously voted to acknowledge violations, later reapproving items called into question including program, right-of-way and utility management contracts and design engineering services contracts. Those votes were also unanimous.
The contracts to consulting firms included five agreements totaling over $23 million to Poe & Associates, a contract of over $18 million to CEC, nearly $18 million to EST and just under $17 million to Benham.
The meeting included public comment for the first time since March 2022 on the agenda which followed a lengthy executive session where both the OMA lawsuit and the Pike Off OTA lawsuit — which claims the authority violated the state constitution — were discussed.
Speakers included Mark D. VanLandingham, senior vice president of government relations and policy at the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, said the chamber supported ACCESS Oklahoma and it’s goal of further connecting the metropolitan area. VanLandingham was the only speaker to voice support for the project during public comment.
Amy Cerato, OU civil engineering professor, spoke from her perspective as an engineer and member of Pike Off OTA, saying there is little practical need for the project.
“I understand that the proposed turnpikes have nothing to do with traffic engineering, they have nothing to do with relieving imaginary and inflated traffic congestion or overstated safety concerns,” Cerato said. “Instead, we’ve come to find out they have everything to do with money and deceptive development.”
On Jan. 2, Ward 5 Councilmember Rachar Tortorello, Cerato and Tassie Hirschfeld, lead plaintiff in the OMA case, authored a letter to Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt that called for the removal of Secretary of Transportation Tim Gatz and OTA Deputy Director Joe Echelle in light of the violations.
At a press conference following the meeting, Gatz said he had not seen the letter for himself but had heard about it, saying he was “challenged” to respond to it and called it “not unconcerning.”
Previously, the OTA said the public could expect some studies to be completed by early 2023. However, Gatz said these studies have been pushed back.
“We haven’t progressed as quickly as we thought,” Gatz said. “Again, the process going forward from this point … will be deliberate.”
Gatz said the authority is prepared to act “accordingly” to what the Oklahoma Supreme Court rules in the future regarding the OTA’s bond approval request.
Gatz added that litigation affected the way the authority could communicate with the public and take feedback, saying he hopes conversations will happen going forward.
“We do our best to be mindful of the public’s opinion,” Gatz said. “We do our best to engage them. We’ve been a little bit limited in the opportunities … and hopefully we can shore up some of those dialouges and some of that interaction for the future.”
