Norman City Council Delays Another Proposed Agreement Supporting Turnpike Expansion

On Tuesday, the Norman City Council unanimously postponed another proposed contract with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation indefinitely. Eight weeks ago, the council unanimously voted against a similar agreement. 

Opponents of this resolution were confused about how this measure made it back on the city council agenda. They learned the city placed the item on the agenda last Friday. City leaders said the conversation was requested by people interested in new infrastructure along the Indian Hills corridor. 

According to the city council agenda, the resolution would create a public transit revolving fund agreement between the city and ODOT. The fund would establish, expand, improve, and maintain rural and urban public transportation services. Last August, OTA told News 9 it released its long-range plan in 2021 and said the “OTA continued to communicate with the City of Norman throughout the design process, well before reaching 60 percent design completion.”  

Turnpike expansion has been a heated debate since 2022. That year, Special Judge Timothy Olsen of Seminole County ruled that the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority “willfully violated” a government transparency law when it awarded contracts for its controversial $5 billion turnpike expansion plan without giving proper public notice. 

Olsen found contracts that the OTA awarded in January and February to be “invalid.” However, in August of 2023, The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Turnpike Authority's 15-year plan for several projects across the state was legal and could move forward. 

Members of Pike Off OTA, a grassroots organization fighting Oklahoma Turnpike expansion, thought the August vote against a city contract with ODOT placed an indefinite roadblock in front of these plans. The proposed Access Oklahoma Turnpike Plan would require the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority to demolish over 600 homes to build the Turnpike.

Many residents spoke about their mistrust in ODOT and OTA's process of planning routes along the east-west connecter. Pike Off OTA president Amy Cerato said she continues to fight to give her neighbors a voice. 

“I’m not here because it’s just my home," Cerato said. "I’m here because it’s the right thing to do and the citizens have to have a voice against tyrannical government.” 

Cerato has been the voice of Oklahomans for Responsible Transportation since the beginning and has consistently demanded transparency in the planning process. She is also a professor in the geotechnical engineering program at the University of Oklahoma. She teaches foundation engineering, soil mechanics, engineering geology, laboratory, and in situ testing. She said she's concerned about the environmental impacts of OTA's proposed projects.

“We don’t need them to come east of I-35 into our watershed because that would require us to do more mitigation -- more environmental studies that the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority won’t pay for. Now the city of Norman will [spend] millions of millions of dollars trying to keep our drinking water safe. That’s also not okay with me.”

Several council members mentioned their concerns with this resolution. The Norman Council plans to hold a town hall study session so council members can ask their questions. Similar meetings have been held in the past. Many residents voiced frustration with the format of those meetings. The council said they will release the date of the town hall session at a later date.