After years of backlash from property owners and organized opposition to new toll roads, state transportation officials are moving forward with a key piece of the broader ACCESS Oklahoma expansion in the Interstate 35 corridor through Moore and Norman.
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation and Oklahoma Turnpike Authority will host a public open house May 27 in Moore to present updated plans for frontage-road conversions, ramp redesigns and interchange improvements tied to the proposed east-west toll road commonly referred to as the Toby Keith Expressway.
The meeting comes as opposition to the ACCESS Oklahoma program remains politically volatile in Cleveland County, where landowners and advocacy groups have pushed back on turnpike alignments, raised property-rights concerns and mounted legal challenges to the projects.
According to ODOT project materials, the proposal would convert portions of the I-35 frontage-road system in Moore from two-way traffic to one-way operation while redesigning ramps between Southwest 34th Street and Southwest 19th Street. The changes are intended to improve traffic flow, reduce weaving conflicts and prepare the corridor for future interchange connections.
The OTA component of the project would construct a new expressway corridor from near Franklin Road in Norman north toward Moore, linking into I-35 through a redesigned interchange system as part of the ACCESS Oklahoma plan.
Transportation officials describe the work as part of a long-running corridor study and traffic-safety effort in one of the fastest-growing areas of the Oklahoma City metro.
But for many residents, the project remains inseparable from the broader turnpike expansion fight that has galvanized opposition across the region. Homeowners and rural landowners in Norman and southeast Cleveland County have argued the proposed routes threaten homes, disrupt communities and prioritize toll infrastructure over local input — turning the issue into one of the most politically sensitive infrastructure debates in the state.
The come-and-go public meeting is scheduled from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. May 27 at The Station at Central Park, where residents can review project displays, speak with officials and submit feedback.
