Oklahoma Turnpike cleared to issue up to $2.9 billion of bonds

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The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority received approval Thursday from a state oversight board for up to $1.9 billion of revenue bonds for an ongoing toll road expansion and improvement program and $1 billion of refunding bonds.

The unanimous approval by the Oklahoma Council of Bond Oversight comes as litigation is pending in federal court seeking to halt further bond issuance by the OTA.

Pike Off OTA, a non-profit organization formed by property owners in the path of new toll roads, sued the turnpike and four federal agencies in U.S. District Court on June 23 over approvals and permits for an East-West Connector project — which includes a bridge over the Canadian River — contending federal environmental laws were violated. 

A motion filed on July 14 requests a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop construction and the authorization and sale of bonds until required federal reviews or studies are completed. Members of the group did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday's bond approval.

Timing for the debt issuance is being evaluated, according to OTA spokeswoman Lisa Shearer-Salim.

"If an injunction pertaining to bonds related to the East-West Connector is approved by the court, OTA will follow it," she said in an email, adding bond proceeds could be spent on other projects across the turnpike system. 

The East-West Connector is part of OTA's controversial 15-year, bond-financed Advancing and Connecting Communities and Economies Safely Statewide program, or ACCESS Oklahoma, which will widen existing toll roads and build new ones at a projected cost that has risen to $8.2 billion from $5 billion when it was announced in February 2022.   

OTA sold $500 million of second senior revenue bonds for the program in 2023, followed by a $1.11 billion deal in January 2025. 

The refunding portion of the debt authorized by OTA's board in June targets bonds sold in 2017 and 2018, along with a tender offer for 2020 Series B bonds.

The OTA has assembled an underwriting team led by Jefferies with co-managers RBC Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley, Stifel, Raymond James, Loop Capital Markets, BOK Financial Securities, Truist, and Siebert Williams & Shank. Hilltop Securities is the financial advisor and Hawkins, Delafield & Wood is bond counsel.