Court approves turnpike bonds

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously approved the issuance of $480 million in Oklahoma turnpike bonds, clearing the way for the first phase of multiple turnpike improvement and expansion projects that will be accompanied by systemwide toll increases.

The bond sale is likely to occur in mid-January and 12 percent toll increases will be implemented Feb. 1, said Jack Damrill, spokesman for the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.

The initial 12 percent toll hike will increase the cost of driving a passenger car from Oklahoma City to Tulsa on the Turner Turnpike by 50 cents — rising to $4.40 for Pikepass customers and $4.50 for cash customers.

Costs will rise proportionately for other types of vehicles and motorists on other Oklahoma turnpikes.

The initial toll increase will be followed by a 2.5 percent increase Jan. 1, 2018, and an additional 2.5 increase on July 1, 2019, officials said.

The increased toll revenues will be used to help pay for three bond issues that will finance construction of the Driving Forward initiative announced by the governor and turnpike officials in October 2015.

That initiative — projected to cost about $900 million — will involve work on the following six turnpike construction projects:

• A new, 21-mile eastern Oklahoma County toll road to link Interstate 40 with the Turner Turnpike.

• A seven-mile extension of the Kilpatrick Turnpike in southwest Oklahoma City that will go from where the Kilpatrick Turnpike currently ends at I-40 in western Oklahoma County to link up with State Highway 152/Airport Road.

• A Turner Turnpike reconstruction and widening project that will focus on widening and improving lighting on a 22-mile stretch of the existing Turner Turnpike between Bristow and the west end of the Creek Turnpike near Tulsa.

• An H.E. Bailey Turnpike reconstruction project that will involve widening and improving 7.5 miles of that turnpike between Bridge Creek and North Meridian Avenue.

• The Gilcrease Expressway project which will complete the western loop around Tulsa by constructing 2.5 miles of new turnpike to connect L.L. Tisdale with Interstate 44.

• The Muskogee Turnpike reconstruction project which will involve reconstructing 9.5 miles of the Muskogee Turnpike between the Creek Turnpike interchange and State Highway 51 near Coweta.

The $480 million bond issue validated by the state Supreme Court will provide funds to move the projects forward and will be followed by two other bond issues needed to complete the projects, Damrill said.

The second round of bonds likely will be issued in the fall and the third likely after Jan. 1, 2018, he said. The amounts of those bond issues have not yet been determined, he added.

Damrill said construction work already is taking place on the Muskogee and H.E. Bailey turnpikes and dirt should be turned on the Turner Turnpike sometime around April or May.

Land acquisitions for the Oklahoma County projects were largely suspended while the Supreme Court case was pending, but Damrill said he expects activity to pick up fairly rapidly now that the case has been decided.

The eastern Oklahoma County project has been particularly controversial, drawing protests from many area homeowners.

The protests and court challenge have delayed the projects some. Turnpike officials now hope to have all the projects completed by late 2020 or 2021, Damrill said.

Also Tuesday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of the initial bond issue by Oklahoma City attorney Jerry Fent, who contended that by including authorization for multiple turnpike projects in the enabling statute, the Legislature had violated a prohibition against logrolling.

Logrolling is the practice of including more than one subject in the same piece of legislation. It is banned on the premise that it promotes bad legislation by enabling lawmakers to pair unpopular or financially unfeasible measures with popular ones to get them approved.

The state Supreme Court rejected that argument in this case, stating “the projects to be funded are not unrelated and, in fact, all concern the construction and maintenance of turnpikes.”

Fent also argued that repeatedly re-funding older turnpike bond issues so that their revenues can be used to help fund construction of new turnpikes creates a situation where debt could go on forever and violates a state constitutional prohibition against “perpetuities.”

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority “will cause the people of Oklahoma ... to never be free of debt,” Fent argued in a legal brief.

The state Supreme Court ruled the bond issue satisfied that requirement because it had a stated, expected maturity date of Jan. 1, 2046.