Access Oklahoma Turnpike Projects

[Plutonic Panda]

So where exactly is the IKEA being built?

Not sure. I don’t even know if it’s a done deal it’s still in negotiations from what I understand. But from what I was told if it does happen, it would be at the southwest corner of the interchange at I 35 where Indian Hills currently sits. That road will be converted into a one way service road.

There’s also a separate project to address the service roads from Moore to Norman along. I 35.

Once all of these projects are done, I would not be surprised to see HOV lanes proposed on I 35.

[bille]

Not sure. I don’t even know if it’s a done deal it’s still in negotiations from what I understand. But from what I was told if it does happen, it would be at the southwest corner of the interchange at I 35 where Indian Hills currently sits. That road will be converted into a one way service road.

There’s also a separate project to address the service roads from Moore to Norman along. I 35.

Once all of these projects are done, I would not be surprised to see HOV lanes proposed on I 35.

Do you think this will address the addition of a service road in Moore from 19th up to 4th, as proposed in the corridor study from a few years ago?

[Jeremy Martin]

Totally agree with the above statement. I think just having the east/west connector in place could accomplish most of what they want the south expansion to do.

[mugofbeer]

Yl was listening to the OU football postgame show last night and they announced it as "the oklahoma Turnpike Authority Post Game Show." This seems like a total waste of money by the OTA.

[BoulderSooner]

Yl was listening to the OU football postgame show last night and they announced it as "the oklahoma Turnpike Authority Post Game Show." This seems like a total waste of money by the OTA.

the more people that use oklahoma turnpikes the more money it generates to fund it self .. ads for them are very appropriate

[shavethewhales]

People aren't going to go out and drive the turnpikes because they heard their name mentioned on a radio show... They shouldn't be trying to build the turnpike "brand". I agree, total mispend of money. In a perfect world, they would be focused on paying off the bonds, but the ruse is laid bare by antics like these.

[Snowman]

People aren't going to go out and drive the turnpikes because they heard their name mentioned on a radio show... They shouldn't be trying to build the turnpike "brand". I agree, total mispend of money. In a perfect world, they would be focused on paying off the bonds, but the ruse is laid bare by antics like these.

OG&E and other effectively monopolies have done similar for years either physically around field/stadium/arena or on team affiliated media. Plus may be part of deals where organization negotiates consistently purchasing large blocks of tickets and/or suits for employee perks, granted this would only be if show was produced internally to OU.

Alternatively regardless of who the organization is, they likely have some travel that ends up on OTA roads. So it is also plausible they offered advertisement for reduces cost of travel, and that ends up pretty trivial expense for OTA.

[Jersey Boss]

People aren't going to go out and drive the turnpikes because they heard their name mentioned on a radio show... They shouldn't be trying to build the turnpike "brand". I agree, total mispend of money. In a perfect world, they would be focused on paying off the bonds, but the ruse is laid bare by antics like these.

This +1. This is a prime example of misuse of funds. If you are listening tp local radio you are well aware of the availability of the turnpike.

[Swake]

I can see advertising the PikePass, but turnpikes themselves? No.

[mugofbeer]

I could also see if the south OKC / Moore / Norman toll roads were nearing completion and there was a need to educate the public on them, but right now the sponsorship is a waste of $.

[bombermwc]

I bet it's PR to try and make people think better of the OTA after all the bad publicity. As you said, they don't have to recruit people to their products. But they do need to work on their image in terms of being viewed as the bad guy. Teaming up with something like OU football, well that seems like an obvious "good guy" in Oklahoma to team yourself up with.

As far as Ikea, well the plot of land makes sense and the location is good. We'll see how that works out, I guess.

[jedicurt]

I bet it's PR to try and make people think better of the OTA after all the bad publicity. As you said, they don't have to recruit people to their products. But they do need to work on their image in terms of being viewed as the bad guy. Teaming up with something like OU football, well that seems like an obvious "good guy" in Oklahoma to team yourself up with.

my first thoughts as well... it's a way to try and get some good PR for them

[jn1780]

First major project of Access Oklahoma approved.

https://kfor.com/news/local/oklahoma...44-turner-tpk/

[bombermwc]

It's crazy to think how long its going to take them to get all the way to OKC at this rate. It'll be 20 years by the time they get there and we'll need another lane by then.

[BG918]

It's crazy to think how long its going to take them to get all the way to OKC at this rate. It'll be 20 years by the time they get there and we'll need another lane by then.

IMO finishing the I-44 Turner Turnpike project should take precedence over all other turnpike projects.

[Snowman]

It's crazy to think how long its going to take them to get all the way to OKC at this rate. It'll be 20 years by the time they get there and we'll need another lane by then.

Given the lead time of this type of project, this probably was something that was technically in the pipeline before the increased funding was passed, future projects will probably happen with more frequency.

[jn1780]

It's crazy to think how long its going to take them to get all the way to OKC at this rate. It'll be 20 years by the time they get there and we'll need another lane by then.

This is just the first project awarded related to widening. They may not necessary wait for total completion before awarding the next section. The biggest hurdle in OK road construction is financing and OTA has that.

[BoulderSooner]

This is just the first project awarded related to widening. They may not necessary wait for total completion before awarding the next section. The biggest hurdle in OK road construction is financing and OTA has that.

this is correct ... there will be multiple contracts to multiple different companies

[shavethewhales]

^Absolutely. I44 is the main artery of the state, and the primary money maker for OTA as well. It only makes sense to make it the focus of the system. I wish they were going faster too, but these are big jobs that involve a ton of excavation and full depth heavy duty concrete construction while keeping a massive roadway active. The added interchanges make it even more difficult. Looks like the majority of that $98 million to get to Bristow is being spent on a single new interchange.

They need to start working from the other end at the same time. They also need to start thinking about the Will Rogers turnpike on the other end of I44. Unfortunately I doubt we'll see a major expansion push on it until Turner is much farther along.

[macfoucin]

I wonder how many overpasses they'll have to replace like this one on the Turner between OKC and Bristow?

[BoulderSooner]

I wonder how many overpasses they'll have to replace like this one on the Turner between OKC and Bristow?

for this specific project only the route 66 bridge over 44 ..

[rte66man]

for this specific project only the route 66 bridge over 44 ..

Are you referring to the Kellyville bridge? It was replaced during the last widening. There aren't any other roads with overpasses of 44 until you get to the decrepit OK16 bridge west of the Bristow exit.

[BoulderSooner]

Are you referring to the Kellyville bridge? It was replaced during the last widening. There aren't any other roads with overpasses of 44 until you get to the decrepit OK16 bridge west of the Bristow exit.

maybe they won't replace that bridge but the is becoming a full interchange ??

[bombermwc]

Well that's good to hear. Those small bridges were cheap to build way back, but don't help for future construction. I just hope that they put a little better thought into how they are constructed, for future expansion ability. Maybe it wont ever be 4 lanes, but who knows....maybe we want a rail line down the middle one day???? Just saying, we shouldn't build the new stuff with such small space tolerances.

For Will Rogers, do you think that the traffic on that side warrants that compared to say HE Baily? I just haven't noticed that once you pass Claremore, that the Will Rogers has just that much traffic. Maybe I was just at the wrong times of day though???

[Swake]

Well that's good to hear. Those small bridges were cheap to build way back, but don't help for future construction. I just hope that they put a little better thought into how they are constructed, for future expansion ability. Maybe it wont ever be 4 lanes, but who knows....maybe we want a rail line down the middle one day???? Just saying, we shouldn't build the new stuff with such small space tolerances.

For Will Rogers, do you think that the traffic on that side warrants that compared to say HE Baily? I just haven't noticed that once you pass Claremore, that the Will Rogers has just that much traffic. Maybe I was just at the wrong times of day though???

The plan currently is only to widen the Will Rogers to Claremore where traffic counts are 28k-31k. But even beyond that section Will Rogers is much busier. From Claremore to Joplin traffic counts range from a low of 19k to a high of 22k. The overall high for the Bailey is 22k at Chickasha, which is close to the low for entire Will Rogers. The Bailey section from Chickasha to Lawton only sees 13k cars and south of Lawton only 7k.

https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/...Rogers_Web.pdf
https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/...Bailey_Web.pdf

The Will Rogers isn't all that much lower than the Turner except near Sapulpa.
https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/...Turner_Web.pdf