The U.S. Bureau of Land Reclamation denied the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s request to cross sections of Lake Thunderbird and Norman Dam, causing the agency to modify its current alignment for the South Extension Turnpike, part of ACCESS Oklahoma.
The USBR did not approve OTA’s application because the plan did not meet the land’s congressionally authorized purposes, according to an email to ACCESS stakeholders. The email read that the USBR indicated willingness to work with OTA on the alignment.
OTA Deputy Director Joe Echelle wrote in the email that the authority has time to work on the South Extension’s alignment, as it is in the final phase of ACCESS’s $5 billion and 15-year plan.
Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Executive Director Joe Echelle in June 2022 speaking to residents concerned about the ACCESS Oklahoma turnpike plan.
“This is the planning process working as it should. New alignments often get changed early on,” Echelle wrote. “Now we’ll start gathering information to make adjustments.”
The email stated that the OTA proposed an alignment that took into consideration the least impactful route in terms of homes, businesses and the environment. Their proposed route would also be the most beneficial for future traffic growth, according to the email.
Randy Carter, communications director of anti-turnpike grassroots organization Pike Off OTA, wrote in a text to OU Daily that while their organization is pleased with the denial, the OTA could move their route to affect more residents.
“It’s likely that the OTA will just move their route one way or the other to avoid Reclamation land and bring down their reign of terror upon a whole new group of homeowners and landowners in the area,” Carter wrote.
When OU Daily reached out to the OTA for further comment, Director of Strategic Communications Jessica Brown resent the email to stakeholders.
This story was edited by Karoline Leonard and Jazz Wolfe. Mary Ann Livingood and Nikkie Aisha copy edited this story.
