There are signs up for road work at JKT & Lake Hefner. I doubt this is major work, anyone have some insight?

There are signs up for road work at JKT & Lake Hefner. I doubt this is major work, anyone have some insight?

I think just some concrete surface repairs at memorial interchange with various lane closures as they work

They are putting in Texas Turnarounds at the Portland / JKT intersection.

I think just some concrete surface repairs at memorial interchange with various lane closures as they work
Yep. Nothing related to the Access Oklahoma projects as far as I know.

I know several people along Indian Hills who have already sold their property to the OTA. Seems that the OTA is pretty confident that this portion will move forward.

I feel it would be smarter to sell earlier rather than fight it. It’s going to get built. Just matter of where.

You fight it they might just buy your neighbor out and make a small curve in the road and then you end up not getting bought and a tollway in your backyard

According to the hearing at the OK supreme court the OTA attorney indicated that OTA is studying connecting state HW 62 to the I-35 South extension near Purcell. I'm sure it would be near the HE Bailey spur HW 62 interchange.
17670

According to the hearing at the OK supreme court the OTA attorney indicated that OTA is studying connecting state HW 62 to the I-35 South extension near Purcell. I'm sure it would be near the HE Bailey spur HW 62 interchange.
17670


I’m sure it would somehow connect up to Newcastle/airport extensions. Would give a good bypass for traffic on 40west of town to 35 for truck traffic to bypass the city. Bet with all the warehouses in west okc this could be very beneficial and help relieve i35 traffic in the city.

According to the hearing at the OK supreme court the OTA attorney indicated that OTA is studying connecting state HW 62 to the I-35 South extension near Purcell. I'm sure it would be near the HE Bailey spur HW 62 interchange.
17670

This particular stretch seems very silly, 12 miles or so of highway that pretty much just parallels I-35.

According to the hearing at the OK supreme court the OTA attorney indicated that OTA is studying connecting state HW 62 to the I-35 South extension near Purcell. I'm sure it would be near the HE Bailey spur HW 62 interchange.
17670

This is a great route for OTA to expand and alleviate I35 traffic. I-35 between Purcell and Norman is continuously congested, just thick traffic at all hours of the day. When I was in the industry 20 years ago, that stretch of I-35 had the most debris removal (tires, couches, appliances) counts than anywhere in the state -- I know, very odd stat. But ODOT was called out there for such removal more than anywhere else and there were more object related accidents there than anywhere as well. Not sure how that stat is today. It also had the highest crossover rate until they installed the Brifen cable barriers. As for me, I would totally take that route out of Edmond around the JKT/airport then back to I-35 there using this connector during rush hour traffic trying to get down to the DFW metro for the weekend. As it is to get out of Edmond south on a Friday, it takes over an hour fighting I35 or finagling different roads and highways to get out of town.

Expect construction at the SH-74 Hefner parkway Kilpatrick interchange. Minor projects:



The finished $4.4 million project will add protected turnarounds on the east and west sides of the interchange to ease current traffic congestion and increase safety.

- https://kfor.com/news/get-ready-for-traffic-jams-memorial-rd-kilpatrick-tpk-lake-hefner-pkwy/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&fbclid=IwAR3ki7ZXU4xufQD6Udto2cZFBnAMKyGYoz-WYDx9Wp57p5OAhdgwzLCzqiQ

They are putting in Texas Turnarounds at the Portland / JKT intersection.

Thank god.

They are putting in Texas Turnarounds at the Portland / JKT intersection.

Is there a map of this project? With the intersection of all 3 roads (HWY 74, Kilpatrick, and Memorial) where exactly are the turnabouts going? I would assume along east and west Memorial road under the Kilpatrick Bridge and Over HWY74?

Metadata show Oklahoma Turnpike Authority modified public meeting agendas (https://stateimpact.npr.org/oklahoma/2022/10/20/metadata-show-oklahoma-turnpike-authority-modified-public-meeting-agendas/)

Metadata show Oklahoma Turnpike Authority modified public meeting agendas (https://stateimpact.npr.org/oklahoma/2022/10/20/metadata-show-oklahoma-turnpike-authority-modified-public-meeting-agendas/)

Wow, just wow. I hope Prater looks into this and that Johnson is interviewed. Totaly shocked such chicanary would be going on under this administration

“Allegations of wrong doing by altering or modifying agendas following two OTA Board meetings based on a search of metadata are both ill-informed and inflammatory,” the spokesperson wrote. “The only modification to the documents posted to the OTA website was the addition of signatures, certifying the meetings occurred.”

In response, the spokesperson was asked why out of the last two years, only two months’ agendas show modifications after the meetings had taken place, and why it would take nearly four weeks to add certification signatures for the January meeting when it only took a day to modify the February meeting. StateImpact will update with a response when available.

While the January and February agendas do show the signatures of OTA Deputy Director Joe Echelle and Executive Director Tim Gatz on the meetings’ motions to adjourn, the motion to adjourn isn’t signed on any other agendas for the last two years.

Buried at the very bottom of that article is in my opinion probably the innocent explanation for the entire thing. No other public meeting agendas in the last two years were modified after the meeting but also no others in the last two years had signatures added to the motion to adjourn. Assuming the latter is the reason for the former is a very short jump, but assuming that something corrupt is going on with no other evidence is quite a bit more of a leap.

Buried at the very bottom of that article is in my opinion probably the innocent explanation for the entire thing. No other public meeting agendas in the last two years were modified after the meeting but also no others in the last two years had signatures added to the motion to adjourn. Assuming the latter is the reason for the former is a very short jump, but assuming that something corrupt is going on with no other evidence is quite a bit more of a leap.

yep

Buried at the very bottom of that article is in my opinion probably the innocent explanation for the entire thing. No other public meeting agendas in the last two years were modified after the meeting but also no others in the last two years had signatures added to the motion to adjourn. Assuming the latter is the reason for the former is a very short jump, but assuming that something corrupt is going on with no other evidence is quite a bit more of a leap.

As the article also stated, OTA has not yet produced the original version of the agenda. It remains to be seen what else if anything besides signatures were changed.

The innocent explanation does not address this point that the article made. In response, the spokesperson was asked why out of the last two years, only two months’ agendas show modifications after the meetings had taken place, and why it would take nearly four weeks to add certification signatures for the January meeting when it only took a day to modify the February meeting. StateImpact will update with a response when available.

As the article also stated, OTA has not yet produced the original version of the agenda. It remains to be seen what else if anything besides signatures were changed.

The innocent explanation does not address this point that the article made. In response, the spokesperson was asked why out of the last two years, only two months’ agendas show modifications after the meetings had taken place, and why it would take nearly four weeks to add certification signatures for the January meeting when it only took a day to modify the February meeting. StateImpact will update with a response when available.

There are plenty of innocent explanations for that too. Do remember that these files are getting created and managed by normal bureaucrats probably in some cube farm down on MLK Avenue. Maybe it was a new guy learning the process and getting it wrong. Maybe someone was out sick and so the first modification was delayed.

Considering that the files in question are named 25January2022_Agenda.pdf (https://pikepass.com/pdf/25January2022_Agenda.pdf) and February 22 2022 Agenda.pdf (https://pikepass.com/pdf/February%2022%202022%20Agenda.pdf) (I was curious so I tracked them down on the OTA website) I can promise you that their internal practices are at the very least sloppy enough to not have standardized filenames. Innocent inconsistency with how each meeting agenda is handled is entirely believable.

There are plenty of innocent explanations for that too. Do remember that these files are getting created and managed by normal bureaucrats probably in some cube farm down on MLK Avenue. Maybe it was a new guy learning the process and getting it wrong. Maybe someone was out sick and so the first modification was delayed.

Considering that the files in question are named 25January2022_Agenda.pdf (https://pikepass.com/pdf/25January2022_Agenda.pdf) and February 22 2022 Agenda.pdf (https://pikepass.com/pdf/February%2022%202022%20Agenda.pdf) (I was curious so I tracked them down on the OTA website) I can promise you that their internal practices are at the very least sloppy enough to not have standardized filenames. Innocent inconsistency with how each meeting agenda is handled is entirely believable.

Good points and all are plausable. Only time and testimony will tell what actually happened here.

There are plenty of innocent explanations for that too. Do remember that these files are getting created and managed by normal bureaucrats probably in some cube farm down on MLK Avenue. Maybe it was a new guy learning the process and getting it wrong. Maybe someone was out sick and so the first modification was delayed.

Considering that the files in question are named 25January2022_Agenda.pdf (https://pikepass.com/pdf/25January2022_Agenda.pdf) and February 22 2022 Agenda.pdf (https://pikepass.com/pdf/February%2022%202022%20Agenda.pdf) (I was curious so I tracked them down on the OTA website) I can promise you that their internal practices are at the very least sloppy enough to not have standardized filenames. Innocent inconsistency with how each meeting agenda is handled is entirely believable.

Here is an update to this topic.

https://www.normantranscript.com/news/ota-agendas-modified-more-than-once-attorneys-and-forensic-expert-allege/article_a26c5e8a-5663-11ed-b842-3b3c20dfd069.html
... is the second time Labarthe accused OTA of changing its agendas. In a motion to depose OTA employees Oct. 19, he included court exhibits alleging OTA had amended both meeting agendas.

The Jan. 25 meeting was created on Jan. 18 by OTA employee Todd Gore and amended on Feb. 13 while the Feb. 22 meeting created on Feb. 13 by OTA employee Jenny Johnson was amended Feb. 23, court exhibits indicated.

Cameron Smith, an information technology expert and Army intelligence officer, told the court he saw the article about the amended agenda allegations in The Transcript and volunteered to help Ward.

Smith, who also worked for the Air Force, is a contractor for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

After learning that two Norman residents listed in the lawsuit downloaded the five-page agendas, Smith said he searched for the original agendas using the “Wayback Machine,” a web tool that captures original internet pages before the pages are modified or taken down.

Pikepass.com now shows 47 pages, “which purports to be the agenda” for the January meeting, and 52 pages for the February agenda, his statement to the court reads.

“Each of these differs tremendously from what the Wayback Machine revealed, namely that each of these was but a five-page document as posted by the OTA on its website,” according to Smith’s statement.

Here is an update to this topic.

https://www.normantranscript.com/news/ota-agendas-modified-more-than-once-attorneys-and-forensic-expert-allege/article_a26c5e8a-5663-11ed-b842-3b3c20dfd069.htmlIt
... is the second time Labarthe accused OTA of changing its agendas. In a motion to depose OTA employees Oct. 19, he included court exhibits alleging OTA had amended both meeting agendas.

The Jan. 25 meeting was created on Jan. 18 by OTA employee Todd Gore and amended on Feb. 13 while the Feb. 22 meeting created on Feb. 13 by OTA employee Jenny Johnson was amended Feb. 23, court exhibits indicated.

Cameron Smith, an information technology expert and Army intelligence officer, told the court he saw the article about the amended agenda allegations in The Transcript and volunteered to help Ward.

Smith, who also worked for the Air Force, is a contractor for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

After learning that two Norman residents listed in the lawsuit downloaded the five-page agendas, Smith said he searched for the original agendas using the “Wayback Machine,” a web tool that captures original internet pages before the pages are modified or taken down.

Pikepass.com now shows 47 pages, “which purports to be the agenda” for the January meeting, and 52 pages for the February agenda, his statement to the court reads.

“Each of these differs tremendously from what the Wayback Machine revealed, namely that each of these was but a five-page document as posted by the OTA on its website,” according to Smith’s statement.

Man.....

BTW, the link needs to be edited and have the "it" at the end taken out so it ends in just .html

Edit made.

The only thing I can see is that the two OTA workers who edited the documents need to be taught the difference between an Agenda and post meeting notes or minutes. Everything that was talked about in the meeting is contained in the original 5 pages. You don't typically see the details in the 35 page version in an Agenda.

The only thing I can see is that the two OTA workers who edited the documents need to be taught the difference between an Agenda and post meeting notes or minutes. Everything that was talked about in the meeting is contained in the original 5 pages. You don't typically see the details in the 35 page version in an Agenda.

But that wouldn't serve to promote the atmosphere of conspiracy and crookedness.

I usually look for Occam's Razor in most situations and this is one of them. The easiest explanation is usually the correct one. Someone messed up.

I gotta admit, I am annoyed that I didn't think of doing an internet archive search in spite of going to the trouble of finding the posted agenda URLs.

The two internet archive links, for the record:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220000000000*/https://pikepass.com/pdf/25January2022_Agenda.pdf
(https://web.archive.org/web/20220000000000*/https://pikepass.com/pdf/25January2022_Agenda.pdf)https://web.archive.org/web/20220000000000*/https://pikepass.com/pdf/February%2022%202022%20Agenda.pdf

Is there a map of this project? With the intersection of all 3 roads (HWY 74, Kilpatrick, and Memorial) where exactly are the turnabouts going? I would assume along east and west Memorial road under the Kilpatrick Bridge and Over HWY74?

You are correct. Wouldn't make much sense the other way as there aren't any frontage roads to the south

I heard a rumor that the airport is not going to let the turnpike go across the west part of airport land shifting the connection between I 44 and airport road west. Has anyone heard this?

I heard a rumor that the airport is not going to let the turnpike go across the west part of airport land shifting the connection between I 44 and airport road west. Has anyone heard this?

That would not surprise me, the airport has long had another theoretical parallel north/south runway that has been on master plans southwest of the current runways/taxiways (though like a mile offset, so think 74th to 104th for length estimate), that OTA probably thought looked like a fantastic width of open land for a highway. Who knows if it will ever be built, but that does not mean the airport's hope it might has died. Plus if FAA funds have been involved with acquiring that land might make that beyond the airports option to transfer if they wanted to.

I had heard from several people at the OTA the airport turnpike project was the most likely to undergo significant changes. If Hoffmeister wins the entire program might in jeopardy anyways as she said she’s against much of the proposed expansions.

Well it does encroach on their master plan so it is absolutely their duty to defend that.

However, this 3rd parallel runway will never be needed and if it did the master plan adopted by previous airport administrations was illogical and short sighted. The 3rd parallel runway always should have been immediately east of the airport where the current Portland Ave and ARINC, SkyWest, etc are. Hangars can go anywhere, they don’t immediate runway access. Runways are best closer together (but outside of runway spacing requirements of course). An aviation based approach would place that runway there, put the warehouses to that unused space on the south, and the retail and hotel plans on the north. Instead several previous airport admins have allowed consultants to pick the best site for retail and warehouses (Lariat Landing) which need no runway access: to dictate where the actual aviation uses need to go. And besides a Kum and Go, there is no retail in almost a decade since Lariat Landing broke ground. Just Amazon which again could go south of all of the runways and be in an equivalent interstate access position,

Let's hope she wins.


I had heard from several people at the OTA the airport turnpike project was the most likely to undergo significant changes. If Hoffmeister wins the entire program might in jeopardy anyways as she said she’s against much of the proposed expansions.

i'm not sure that it will make much of a difference... if the bonds are issued before the next term begins, there isn't much a new governor could do to stop it.

i'm not sure that it will make much of a difference... if the bonds are issued before the next term begins, there isn't much a new governor could do to stop it.
I hope that’s the case. But I don’t think all the bonds have been issued yet. It’ll be interesting to see what happens and sad that if she does win and cancels this expansion. Hopefully if she does win she’ll have a change of heart.

PS, I’m not endorsing any of these governors either way I just want to see these roads built. Lol

Stitt will probably survive. If national politics were different, OK voters wouldn't be as willing to look past his corruption. The weaknesses of our two party system will win out

Stitt will probably survive.

he did a little more then "survive"


either way the Turnpike expansions should now move full steam ahead ..

^^^^ hopefully so. It will be nice when construction actually starts on the south OKC metro projects

^^^^ hopefully so. It will be nice when construction actually starts on the south OKC metro projects

agreed. i feel like i'm the only person in Norman who actually wants this. But then again, i will use it regularly.

Well the bond is up for debate in the courts....again. Something about the size of the bond being more than the law allows or something. I mean all the OTA has to do is split it in to two projects if that's the case. So i dont see this as anything other than a delay tactic. It's also entirely possible that they just build it anyway and charge a higher toll rate (that they will never decrease). So i dont think this will really change anything about the project.

The OTA has joined an app called PlusPass which allows you to manage your account and payment methods on it:

https://okcfox.com/news/local/oklahoma-turnpike-authority-announces-pluspass-mobile-app#

The OTA has joined an app called PlusPass which allows you to manage your account and payment methods on it:

https://okcfox.com/news/local/oklahoma-turnpike-authority-announces-pluspass-mobile-app#

^^
I hope this works well. I had long been a PikePass customer but have always hated their online services. I finally got fed up with it and when the pikepass/tolltag interoperability thing started, I joined NTTA in north Texas. It has an extremely easy website and app for the phone to manage your account.

I hope that eventually, these toll apps get the ability to work nationwide. ie. Pay a toll in CO, it gets billed to your OK account, & vice versa.

I hope that eventually, these toll apps get the ability to work nationwide. ie. Pay a toll in CO, it gets billed to your OK account, & vice versa.

It's supposed to be that way...

"This year marks the tenth anniversary of the landmark federal MAP-21 legislation that put a simple mandate to the toll industry, requiring that all federal-aid highway toll facilities implement technologies or business practices that provide for the interoperability of electronic toll collection by October 1, 2016 (four years after the enactment of the legislation)."

https://www.ibtta.org/blog/electronic-tolling-interoperability-setting-record-straight-and-preparing-future (it's a tolling industry article, so it sheds light from their side on why the law hasn't been met, but it's still a good data source)

^^^ they don’t seem to be enforcing that initiative in any way shape or form. I’ll be more excited when the OTA becomes interoperable with FastTrak or EZPass(as sh!t as I think that system is).

^^^ they don’t seem to be enforcing that initiative in any way shape or form. I’ll be more excited when the OTA becomes interoperable with FastTrak or EZPass(as sh!t as I think that system is).

It's not so much OTA becoming interoperable with EZPass as EZPass getting with 21st century technology and becoming interoperable with OTA. They still use those velcro transponders from 20 years ago.

It's not so much OTA becoming interoperable with EZPass as EZPass getting with 21st century technology and becoming interoperable with OTA. They still use those velcro transponders from 20 years ago.
Yeah I agree EZPass is a dinosaur.

So it's with the judge now. But if the judge doesn't agree with the OTA, then the whole thing is in jeopardy. We keep hearing that and the OTA keeps surviving. So i guess we'll find out shortly.

So it's with the judge now. But if the judge doesn't agree with the OTA, then the whole thing is in jeopardy. We keep hearing that and the OTA keeps surviving. So i guess we'll find out shortly.

this is the open meetings act law suit ... it would not put anything in jeopardy

So it's with the judge now. But if the judge doesn't agree with the OTA, then the whole thing is in jeopardy. We keep hearing that and the OTA keeps surviving. So i guess we'll find out shortly.

this is the open meetings act law suit ... it would not put anything in jeopardy

the bond issue arguments go before the Oklahoma Supreme Court next week and if validated the OTA can issue 500 mil in bonds and start construction on ACCESS Oklahoma ..

All of it is related. If they invalidate the open meeting act, it means the entire plan has to be started over before it can proceed. Following the proper process, so yet it does put things in jeopardy. Doing it through the open process now that everyone knows the plans, means that everything about the plan has to be re-evaluated properly. That will cost money in surveys, engineering plans, etc. Not to mention that the route may change, which creates more expense for evaluation.

The bond is similarly an issue. Without funding, how is it going to get built? OTA doesn't have 500 Million in reserves (and it better freaking not or we have a problem). I dont know if the OTA is able to take out a loan, but i dont think so???? And i wouldn't want them to be able to either. It's not the approved way the money is supposed to be used.

All of it is related. If they invalidate the open meeting act, it means the entire plan has to be started over before it can proceed. Following the proper process, so yet it does put things in jeopardy. Doing it through the open process now that everyone knows the plans, means that everything about the plan has to be re-evaluated properly. That will cost money in surveys, engineering plans, etc. Not to mention that the route may change, which creates more expense for evaluation..

i am not sure that this is an accurate read on the situation ..

i am not sure that this is an accurate read on the situation ..
Hopefully the courts make the right decision so the OTA can put this crap to rest and get on with these projects.

Hopefully the courts make the right decision so the OTA can put this crap to rest and get on with these projects.

Hopefully the courts make the right decision so those of us directly affected by this cash grab can put this crap to rest and get on with our lives as they are now.

Hopefully the courts make the right decision so those of us directly affected by this cash grab can put this crap to rest and get on with our lives as they are now.
Perhaps living inside of a major metropolitan area isn’t for you. Have you considered moving out to the wonderful Hollis, Oklahoma. Virtually zero percent chance a turnpike is built by you and you can live in your own little NIMBY bubble as long as you’d like.

Oh, and I got news for you, whether this tollway is or isn’t built, get ready for the traffic because it’s coming.

Perhaps living inside of a major metropolitan area isn’t for you. Have you considered moving out to the wonderful Hollis, Oklahoma. Virtually zero percent chance a turnpike is built by you and you can live in your own little NIMBY bubble as long as you’d like.

Oh, and I got news for you, whether this tollway is or isn’t built, get ready for the traffic because it’s coming.


Traffic on Indian Hills? Only if it's induced.

Traffic on Indian Hills? Only if it's induced.

Drive indian hills between i35 and sooner, any weekday at 5. That traffic is there. Not to mention Franklin, Tecumseh, Robinson, and even parts of 34th in Moore.

Drive indian hills between i35 and sooner, any weekday at 5. That traffic is there. Not to mention Franklin, Tecumseh, Robinson, and even parts of 34th in Moore.

I live off Indian Hills, but thanks for letting me know.

Hopefully the courts make the right decision so those of us directly affected by this cash grab can put this crap to rest and get on with our lives as they are now.

lol you mean that decision that you want ..

legally the OTA has the right to do this ... and the courts will see that ..

I think the link between Newcastle and Moore/Norman has been needed for a while now.
I do not at all understand the eastern route between Norman and the lake. I'm assuming it's to bypass tribal land east of T-bird?
I'm still at a loss as to how a non governmental organization (OTA) has eminent domain power? Or, is it just assumed that the state will take what the OTA needs and give it to the OTA?

I think the link between Newcastle and Moore/Norman has been needed for a while now.
I do not at all understand the eastern route between Norman and the lake. I'm assuming it's to bypass tribal land east of T-bird?
I'm still at a loss as to how a non governmental organization (OTA) has eminent domain power? Or, is it just assumed that the state will take what the OTA needs and give it to the OTA?

Where do you get that OTA isn't a governmental organization?