By Janelle Stecklein | Editor
“This will make billing, tolling much easier for us. Less collections have to go out. Less PlatePay. So, it’s a major cost savings to our operations.” - Joe Echelle of six new agreements that allow turnpike passes to be automatically billed
Joe Echelle, executive director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, speaks at the board’s June 2, 2026 meeting in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
By Barbara Hoberock
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority is moving forward without two interchanges on a planned turnpike after the proposal failed to secure approval from the Norman City Council.
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority had proposed building the interchanges at Alameda Drive and Tecumseh Road as part of its South Extension Turnpike, which will carry traffic from Interstate 40 south and west to Interstate 35.
But OTA has removed the interchanges from the roadway design because the Norman City Council on Aug. 25 rejected a resolution for the both interchanges, as well as a third at Etowah Road, said Joe Echelle, OTA executive director. His remarks were made Tuesday at the regular monthly OTA meeting in Oklahoma City.
An entry sign for the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Everett, Bedford County on October 14, 2025. (Photo by Jessica Kourkounis for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
By Barbara Hoberock
Oklahoma drivers can now use their electronic toll deduction device in five more states, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority said Tuesday.
The U.S. Capitol on March 3, 2026. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
By Jennifer Shutt
The U.S. House approved a short-term government funding bill Tuesday that would avoid a shutdown this fall once President Donald Trump signs it.
A federal judge ruled Monday that New York cannot enforce its landmark “climate Superfund” law. (Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
By Alex Brown
A federal judge ruled Monday that New York cannot enforce its landmark “climate Superfund” law, a measure that sought to charge fossil fuel companies $75 billion over 25 years to help the state deal with the costs of climate change.
Gov. Jeff Landry speaks at a SpaceX event to announce the company’s project in Vermillion Parish on Aug. 25, 2026. (Photo by Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator)
By Wes Muller
Louisiana officials offered SpaceX what might be one of the largest single-project tax breaks in U.S. history to cinch a $100 billion deal to build its largest launch facility yet in coastal Vermilion Parish.
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