OKLAHOMA CITY – The cost of a massive turnpike extension and improvement project has gone up considerably, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority was told Thursday.
The increase will result in higher-than-anticipated tolls.
The 15-year Advancing and Connecting Communities and Economies Safely Statewide program, dubbed ACCESS, was initially expected to cost $5 billion, but inflation has driven that figure up to $8.2 billion, Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Executive Director Joe Echelle said.
“That is going to be what the stack of receipts will be when we end this program,” he said.
Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman, said the hike will have a significant impact on those driving the turnpikes in the form of higher tolls.
Echelle said officials initially used 2021 costs to estimate the price tag.
“We’ve seen somewhere around 60% inflation just for highway construction projects,” he said. “The highway transportation industry is not tracking inflation- wise with the cost of a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk. We are experiencing a higher inflation rate.”
The 60% inflation increase is since the middle of 2021, he said.
Available materials, labor costs and the workforce shortage impact it, he said.
In addition, the OTA added three projects to the program, he said.
“This bond program and these new numbers include all of the engineering design, the property acquisition for necessary right of way, our utility relocation work, and then all of the construction projects that will come,” Echelle said. “And everything that we have in this program is more expensive, and I do mean every line.”
The package includes widening the remainder of the Turner Turnpike between Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
Widening a stretch of the Will Rogers Turnpike is also included, as well as connecting the Gilcrease Expressway with the L.L. Tisdale Parkway in Tulsa.
Projects include new construction and improvements to interchanges across the turnpike system.
Improvements are planned for the Creek and Kilpatrick Turnpikes.
A new turnpike in the Norman area is also in the package, something which has gotten considerable pushback from residents in the area.
The OTA sells bonds to pay for the projects. Echelle said that based on the $5 billion cost, tolls were expected to rise about 10%, a figure which will grow due to the new figures.
“We are refiguring that now,” he said.
A lot of factors, such as toll road users and interest rates, impact the figure, he said.
The last time tolls were increased was in January 2018 when they went up 2.5%, Echelle said.
“Oklahomans are promised that we can trust the government to run like a business, but the OTA consistently fails to meet business standards,” Boren said. “I can’t think of any business that approved billions on projects with significant cost overruns within two years of launching a project.”
She blamed the increases on cronyism, where insiders get to plan, price and profit from the project.
Echelle declined to respond to her remarks.
Echelle said the OTA has no plans to reduce the number of projects in ACCESS.
“These are all things that need to happen,” he said. “They are warranted. They are necessary.”
Barbara Hoberock is a senior reporter with Oklahoma Voice. She began her career in journalism in 1989 after graduating from Oklahoma State University. She began with the Claremore Daily Progress and then started working in 1990 for the Tulsa World. She has covered the statehouse since 1994 and served as Tulsa World Capitol Bureau chief. She covers statewide elected officials, the legislature, agencies, state issues, appellate courts and elections.
Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.