Free Republic

Work on the west leg of the Gilcrease Expressway continues with officials saying Monday that completion is still expected in about 18 months. Joe Echelle, Oklahoma Turnpike Authority assistant executive director of maintenance, engineering and construction, told stakeholders during a virtual meeting that the contractor was slightly ahead of schedule with concrete pouring for the new roadway scheduled to begin in February. As the concrete is poured, first between 41st and 51st Streets, the highway “won’t just look like a dirt road at this point,” Echelle said. State officials in July 2019 awarded a $259.3 million construction contract for the...

The cost to construct the five-mile extension of the Gilcrease Expressway and the toll charged to motorists using it will be higher than initially reported, the executive director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority said Thursday.Tim Gatz told a group of local officials gathered in Tulsa for an update on the project that the roadway is now estimated to cost approximately $330 million to $340 million, or about 10 percent more than originally thought.Late last year, Gatz told the same working group that motorists driving private vehicles could expect to pay a toll of $1 to $1.50. The toll is now...

State officials have yet to find a private partner to help finance the construction of the final five miles of the Gilcrease Expressway, but they are closer to figuring out how much motorists will have to pay to use it. Tim Gatz, executive director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, said Monday that the toll is expected to be about $1 to $1.50 for private vehicles, with a higher rate for commercial vehicles. Motorists who use the plate-pay system, as can be used in Jenks, likely would pay more. “We are waiting on the traffic and revenue study to come back...