The proposed ACCESS Oklahoma Turnpike threatens homes, businesses and wildlife in its path. This 3-part series examines the personal, economic and environmental costs of the project. Reported by: Hannah France / OPMX
Part One:
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has estimated that construction of the ACCESS Oklahoma Turnpike will destroy 75 homes.
JaNelle Rutledge lives what she describes as a country lifestyle in her home near Slaughterville. She and her husband, Russ, moved to their rural property off Highway 77 from Colorado five years ago to be closer to family. Their daughter and son-in-law also live on the property.
“We have nine grandchildren, and they love it here. They play football in the meadow. We have family reunions in the meadow; we had Fourth of July in the meadow,” she said.
Shortly after they moved in, Rutledge says they learned about the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s plans to purchase the meadow — and all 12 acres of their property — for construction of the ACCESS Oklahoma Turnpike.
“My husband and I are in our eighties now, and we thought we had the place that we wanted to live in forever. So when we found out that this was a targeted place, we started fighting it,” she said.
The Rutledges got involved with local anti-turnpike advocacy group Pike Off OTA, which has sought to stop the agency from moving forward with the construction through various avenues, including filing a federal lawsuit earlier this summer.
Rutledge does not want to sell her property, but she said her family has started looking into how much money they would need to move.
“Their first offer without having appraised it at all was — maybe we could have moved the chicken house for that much money, cuz it was so little. We want to have something equivalent to this place if indeed we have to move,” she said.
Under Oklahoma statute, the OTA is allowed to take private property for the purpose of constructing a turnpike through a process called eminent domain.
Oklahoma City University School of Law Associate Dean and professor Paula Dalley said the right to property is one she teaches her students is not as straightforward as we might expect it to be.
“There's an underlying rationale that the only reason you have land in the first place is that the government chooses to protect property rights. If the government just suddenly said, we're not going to protect property rights, then you know, all the people with big guns would come in, and I would not have property,” Dalley said.
“So, people think of it as being something very tangible and real and attached to them. And legally, it's just not treated that way.”
In order to take private land through eminent domain, Oklahoma statute requires the OTA to pay the landowners the fair market value of the property being taken as it was before the project was announced.
Dalley said that’s where the agency’s legal obligation ends.
“People value their property on a personal level, whereas the law values the property on a market value. It's not a great system. Landowners are often not compensated the way you or I might want to see them be compensated, because the system is only giving them fair value. And there's more to land than that,” Dalley said.
The OTA has already sent appraisers to Rutledge’s property. While she said there is an amount of money her family expects to be offered, there is not truly a price they can put on their home.
“I don't know that we could ever find another place like this,” she said.
“How much money does it take to buy a dream? How much does it take to buy all of the family memories that we've created here?”
Rutledge said her neighbors have already sold their property and have started building a new house elsewhere.
Meanwhile, her family’s discussions with the OTA are still ongoing. With her daughter working in Tecumseh and her older grandchildren living in Edmond, Rutledge may have a difficult time finding a new place to be close to her family. But for now, she’s going to stay in her meadow for as long as she can.
Part Two:
The OTA's construction of the ACCESS Oklahoma Turnpike has already disrupted some local businesses. One cattle ranch in Norman may also be impacted.
Dan Meyer has lived on Meyer Ranch in Norman near Indian Hills Road for over 40 years — but his family has owned property in the area for even longer.
“I have 75 acres, but the 500-something acres over there is what granddad bought back during the Depression. He bought this land over here, I think in the 70s, and then he asked me if I'd like to move out here on it, and of course I did. I jumped at the chance,” Meyer said.
For many years, he was also working on the land.
“I've retired. I was doing all the farming and ranching, and I have that leased out to a friend of mine that is younger and has got more energy than me. I'm just trying to take care of the rentals and the property and manage my place here in the ranch,” he said.
Cindy Hicks has been leasing 500 acres of Meyer’s property for the last five years to operate her cattle ranching business, Little River Ranch.
“It is such a wonderful place. It has plentiful hay and plentiful grazing for the cows; it also has plentiful shelter for them. And there are some wooded areas. That is perfect for them when it gets cold, to have a place to shelter from the wind and rain,” Hicks said.
She and her husband, Kevin, have made multiple improvements to the ranch, including building a solar-powered water pump for the around 50 cows they are raising.
“Fresh water is extremely important for the cows, especially when we haven’t had rain. It provides that fresh source that they just love,” she said.
It’s not just her cows thriving on the property — she’s thriving, too. The land gave her the opportunity to do what she loves again.
“I was raised in a rural town in Southwestern Arkansas, and we did raise cattle, and I always loved it. And then I moved away and came back here and was able to start again with livestock. I absolutely love it and can't imagine a day not doing this,” she said.
Earlier this year, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority notified Meyer, who in turn notified Hicks, that Meyer’s property may be taken through eminent domain for the construction of the ACCESS Oklahoma Turnpike.
Meyer said the entire time since the project was first announced in 2022 has been confusing and stressful.
“It's been up in the air for like five years now, so we really don't know what to do, when to do it. I’ve lost a lot of sleep over it and everything else trying to figure out what I can do,” Meyer said.
Hicks said she wouldn’t be able to find anything like Little River Ranch anywhere nearby, and she doesn’t think she could continue ranching elsewhere.
“Where do you go? Where do you find what you already have? And as you get older, that process becomes even harder,” she said. “How do you move? How do you reinvent yourself? Do you have enough energy to do it over again?”
Meyer doesn’t want to move away either. He said he would have difficulty managing the rental properties he owns in Norman if he had to leave the area. He’s also concerned about not living close enough to a hospital for medical care. But above all, he doesn’t want to lose the future he had planned.
“I was planning on passing it down through the generations to the family and just keep going doing what we've been doing, and that's all getting disrupted,” he said.
Meyer and Hicks don’t yet know how much — if any — of the land will be taken by the OTA through eminent domain. Surveyors from the agency have come to the property, but Meyers and Hicks still have questions about what comes next.
Part Three:
Hundreds of homes and businesses are expected to be either disturbed or completely lost for the construction of the ACCESS Oklahoma Turnpike. Some property owners have other concerns.
Over the years, Dan Meyer has come to expect certain annual visitors on his property near Indian Hills Road in Norman.
“We've got eagles that nest every year over on the ranch, and they raise two babies every year,” he said.
About 15 miles away near Slaughterville, JaNelle Rutledge enjoys tending to the deer that visit her home along Highway 77.
“There are mama deer with their babies, and they come running up here in the morning, and we have a little water supply out there for them that they go out and get a drink,” she said.
While Meyer and Rutledge both stand to lose their homes to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s construction of the ACCESS Oklahoma Turnpike, they’re not just worried about themselves.
“It's not just displacing us; it's displacing wildlife,” Rutledge said. “And where do they go? Where do they go when we start paving?”
Noble-based wildlife rehabilitation center Wildcare’s Executive Director Inger Guiffrida said it's not just the eagles and deer that will be displaced.
“Every species of animal that lives in Cleveland County is going to be impacted. Deer are the obvious ones because they're big, but every single animal that's trying to move within its territory that is now being bifurcated is going to be impacted,” she said.
Out on Little River Ranch, which may also be impacted by turnpike construction, rancher Cindy Hicks said a variety of wildlife live in harmony with her cattle.
“If you don't protect something that's this beautiful, you cannot recreate this. I can't tell you the amount of deer that live here and wild turkey — there are bobcats, foxes, of course we have coyotes. People aren't a fan of them, but they all do play their part,” she said.
Guiffrida said beyond the initial construction, the presence of a turnpike will cause ongoing, long-term disruption to wildlife.
“In addition to being extremely destructive during the construction phase, it’s permanent infrastructure that will basically provide a barrier to wildlife or anything else that wants to get to the other side of the road,” she said.
Guiffrida said that displacement will lead to conflicts between animals.
“They are territorial for the most part. And so now suddenly there are too many three-toed box turtles for this acreage because they've been pushed from where they used to live,” she said.
Additionally, Guiffrida said the displacement will lead to conflict between animals and humans as wildlife are pushed out of their habitats and into residential areas.
She said Wildcare’s wildlife emergency phone line has seen calls double year after year since 2023, and she attributes much of that growth to increased contact between people and wildlife.
“Most of these have to do with questions where wildlife is doing something that someone doesn't understand, and therefore they don't like, and they want it solved for them. So, when we build things and animals have to move and move closer to us, it's going to create conflicts with people.
Earlier this month, Wildcare participated in an interim study at the state capitol about the challenges facing both Oklahoma wildlife and conservation and rehabilitation organizations.
“The demands on our organization have just been increasing exponentially on every measure. And while we've been able to make some strides, our resources just cannot keep up with the demand,” Guiffrida said.
Guiffrida said Wildcare is currently trying to raise money for new and improved facilities, as she notes that turnpike construction, as with all human construction, will lead to more work for organizations like hers.