Turnpike extension triggers turmoil in Cleveland and McClain counties

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority is moving forward with the southern turnpike extension through Cleveland County but this time, they want input from the public. 

It is something, some residents in the path say, they did not get the first time. 

Not only are these residents filled with a variety of emotions from the turnpike authority wanting to take their homes, many have lost faith in the state agency.

Amy Cerato President of Pike Off OTA 

“I spent almost 20 years of my life creating a garden and a backyard and a landscape,” said President of Pike Off OTA Amy Cerato.   

“They're revenue bonds supported, which means they sell bonds to a private investor to pay for their projects and they revolve on debt so it's just a continuous debt,” added Cerato.  

OTA said work on the south extension will alleviate congestion on I-35. The South Extension Turnpike will also connect the future East-West connector with I-35 to the south near Purcell.   

Many of the residents do not believe this.  

“We believe that the turnpikes are being built not because of for traffic or revenue purposes. They are being built because the turnpike authority is underwater. They're financially in trouble,” said Pike Off OTA volunteer Randy Carter.   

Since 2022, residents of Norman and Purcell have been fighting against the turnpike expansion. After numerous legal battles, the state Supreme Court ruled in February the project could move forward. 

OTA Spokeswoman Lisa Shearer-Salim added, "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.