Norman Residents Strongly Oppose Turnpike Expansion Plan In Tense Town Hall Meeting

Hundreds of angry residents yelled at engineers during Thursday night's town hall meeting over a proposed turnpike expansion through Norman.

For those in the path of the proposed expansion, it's about being forced to sell to the state through eminent domain.

For others, it's about what this could mean for their community and their property value.

This proposed extension of the Kickapoo Turnpike connects to I-35 in Purcell.

It runs right past Lake Thunderbird, through rural ward 5.

In addition to the Kickapoo extension, there is a proposed east-west connector from Newcastle to Franklin.

It's part of the 15-year, $5 billion Access Oklahoma project.

The governor and secretary of transportation say this is necessary based on future growth.

More than 400 Norman and Cleveland County residents packed into a town hall meeting last night to either learn about or speak against it.

Engineers attempted to answer questions, but many in attendance just wanted it negated altogether.

The engineers pointed out this is day nine of a 15 year project and they expect this area of the metro to double in size over the next 30 years.

OTA says a long timeline allows for changes and public feedback.