ODOT and Turnpike Authority $64 million project to add new access to Will Rogers Turnpike

CLAREMORE, Okla. — The Oklahoma Transportation Committee gave the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) the green light to proceed with a $64 million dollar joint project with the Turnpike Authority to build another access point on the Will Rogers Turnpike at Flint Road.

The new interchange will be built about 3 miles south of the current interchange off Highway 20 on the east side of Claremore, providing commuters with more access to the Will Rogers Turnpike.

Work is expected to get underway in the spring of 2023 and the project could take up to three years to complete.

“They’re going to replace the bridge that goes over the turnpike, and they’re also going to add a new interchange here on Flint Road,” said TJ Gerlach, a spokesperson for ODOT and the Turnpike Authority.

ODOT’s portion of the project involves re-aligning State Highway 20, which will allow large commercial trucks to avoid having to drive through the downtown.

Gerlach said the re-alignment means Highway 20 will no longer go through the downtown and the bridge at the intersection of Highway 66 means drivers will no longer have to wait on trains.

That’s music to the ears of Claremore resident Kim Armstrong:

“That would be great, especially the railroad area, the bridge over the railroad,” she explained.

“We need more options to get on the Turnpike, because right now when you live in Claremore, this one on Highway 20 is the only one,” Armstrong said.

ODOT $64 million project to add new access point on Will Rogers Turnpike

Rogers County Commissioner Ron Burrows said the new access point will help commuters who work in Tulsa:

“If they want to do the turnpike, they get down to the turnpike, they miss all that 66 traffic going all the way through Verdigris and Catoosa.”

Burrows said it will also open up housing opportunities:

“The housing will accelerate, it opens up now where this new highway is all these new pastures that will now have access to a highway,” Burrows said adding the developers have already purchased land.

Fox23 News spoke with one downtown business owner who did not want to go on camera, but said she was not thrilled about the idea of the traffic being re-routed away from the downtown.

The new access point to the turnpike will be located in between the current toll booth off Highway 20 and the other interchange in Rogers County at State Highway 266.

The new interchange will be cashless tolling and the Pike Pass is going away as the Turnpike Authority moves towards a plate pay system.