OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority voted to raise the speed limit on a 59-mile section of the H.E. Bailey turnpike from 75 miles per hour to 80, but when it goes into effect is unclear.
The higher speed will be allowed between Mile Marker 106 (the Newcastle gate) and Mile Marker 47 (near the junction of U.S. Highway 62 to Richards Spur and Apache, and the state Highway 49 exit to Medicine Park).
“We don’t have a good time frame on when the speed will be increased, because some things need to happen beforehand, such as cable barriers and resurfacing some sections,” said Brenda Perry of the Strategic Communications
Division of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. “We do know the speed increase will be done in phases rather than all at once.”
The H.E. Bailey/Interstate 44 fully transitioned last July to entirely cashless tolling via PlatePay and PikePass. Drivers can now travel along I-44/H.E. Bailey from the Texas state line to Oklahoma City without having to stop to pay a toll.
The transition to PlatePay on the Bailey mainline between Lawton and Oklahoma City was completed earlier than anticipated after an inattentive driver crashed into the Newcastle toll plaza last June. No one was killed, but it emphasized the need to convert to PlatePay as soon as possible for the safety of the traveling public and for Oklahoma Turnpike Authority tolling employees.
Turnpike toll plazas are “some of the highest accident locations on our network,” state Transportation Secretary and OTA Executive Director Tim Gatz told members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives’ Transportation Committee.
That’s because the plazas present three opportunities for traffic collisions, he said: when a driver exits the turnpike to enter the toll plaza, when a motorist stops at the toll booth, and “when you re-enter the main line.”
With PlatePay, toll booths and coin machines become a thing of the past. PlatePay and its sister program, PikePass, create a free flow of traffic and a safer, more efficient means of travel without sudden speed changes to maneuver lanes and stop at a toll booth.
PlatePay cameras automatically photograph a vehicle’s license plate, enabling the Turnpike Authority to send the vehicle’s registered owner an invoice. PlatePay customers receive a bill in the mail; PikePass customers do not experience changes to their transaction process.
The Turnpike Authority installed 40 camera systems on the H.E. Bailey at a cost of approximately $2.9 million, an agency spokesman said.
The OTA awarded a $7.4 million contract to Haskell Lemon Construction Co. of Oklahoma City to convert the H.E. Bailey to totally cashless tolling.
The project featured conversion of the turnpike mainline, entrance/exit ramps and spur interchanges at SH-4, SH-5, US-277, US-62 and SH-76. The work included installation of overhead gantries (trusses), guardrails, generators, cabinets, conduit, and some paving construction.
Average daily traffic volumes on the H.E. Bailey in 2021 (the latest year for which statistics are available) ranged from 20,070 at Mile Marker 104 just south of the Newcastle gate, to 21,837 at MM 86 north of Chickasha, to 12,286 at MM 49 north of the Elgin gate, to 19,266 at MM 46 north of Lawton.