Next steps for OTA as construction resumes

Turnpike work that suffered a nine-month delay is starting up again in Cleveland County. The state says this work is meant to serve as a congestion reliever route for the I-35 southern corridor.

In Aug. 2023, the State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority(OTA), with work resuming in early 2024 on some of the corridors.  

Many homeowners in the area have been fighting to keep their property in the south extension.

The OTA said it is resuming engineering work on the South extension, which it says will help alleviate congestion on the southern corridor of Interstae 35.

"We're just restarting the process to take a good close look at where should the south extension of alignment to move to. We know it needs to move. and so we're going to do a route alignment study that will give us a lot of information to develop solid engineering plans,” said OTA Spokeswoman Lisa Shearer-Salim.    

Leaders at Pike Off OTA have spent at least two years fighting against proposed turnpikes that could impact hundreds of homes.

Salim says OTA plans to engage with the public through a public engagement process later this year. She says that as of now, they don't have any dates for when that will happen.  

For any immediate concerns, Salim said to visit accessoklahoma.com or call the OTA hotline at 844-56-access or email info@accessoklahoma.com.  

Salim added that they usually respond within 24-48 hours.