In a release today, Rep. Terry O’Donnell announced that Joe Echelle, Deputy Director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) has “confirmed” that the interchange of Pine Street and the Will Rogers Turnpike in east Catoosa will be improved.
Currently, the Pine Street interchange at the Will Rogers Turnpike only allows for exit from the turnpike southbound and entry onto the turnpike from northbound. To gain better access to Interstate 44, “access from Pine in all four directions will coincide with a longer-term plan to widen the Will Rogers Turnpike to six lanes from I-44 up to the State Highway 20 interchange,” O’Donnell said.
The first portion of the widening should include the expanded access from Pine Street. The Turnpike Authority will likely begin the process by widening the bridges over the Verdigris River.
O’Donnell said, “In my recent meeting with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Rogers County and the City of Catoosa, one of the transportation priorities we discussed is better access to the Will Rogers Turnpike in east Catoosa. This is again something on which I’ve been working since I was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012.”
Both County Commissioner Ron Burrows and Catoosa City Manager John Blish indicated certain improvements would need to be made to Pine Street to accommodate additional traffic between the turnpike and the City of Catoosa.
“I believe the access from east Catoosa to I-44 will open up a great deal of property in Catoosa for both commercial and residential development. The improvement of this interchange with the turnpike will make Catoosa a better place to work and live,” O’Donnell added.
,Pine interchange at turnpike to improve
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