The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority is preparing to resume engineering design work on the South Extension Turnpike, which is part of the ACCESS Oklahoma long-range plan. The South Extension will serve as a traffic reliever route for the congested I-35 Southern Corridor by moving heavy truck traffic out of the city center. It will also improve safety by lessening congestion and crashes between Purcell and Oklahoma City.
Director Joe Echelle shared in the March 4 OTA Board meeting that after all legal challenges were cleared in 2023 work resumed on some turnpike corridors in the ACCESS Oklahoma plan in early 2024. While OTA is just restarting work on the South Extension project, it is clear the preliminary alignment will be moved as part of the upcoming engineering design work.
“I can say with certainty that OTA and their project team plan to be accessible to the citizens and stakeholders as much as possible,” Echelle said. “We want property owners in the area to reach out to us as plans develop to select the best route. We will make them our priority on this project with special attention given to minimizing the impact on them.”…