Company Description:
Turnpikes provide a way to finance, build and use roads now and pay for them as we use them. The construction of turnpikes provides infrastructure and economic development that might not be possible otherwise. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) at the time did not have the available funds to construct and maintain such roads. In the past fifty years, ODOT has constructed only 162 miles of partial control, limited access interstate-type roads, excluding the federally funded interstate system. In that same time, the OTA has been able to construct 630.1 miles of rural and urban high-performance, limited access highways with greater safety and convenience for the Oklahoma road user. If tolls were removed from current roads, an additional $150 million annually would be needed for ODOT to complete the routine maintenance and capital rehabilitation currently performed on the Turnpike System. In addition, the state would have to fund nearly $20 million annually for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol currently patrolling the turnpikes.
