Major changes coming to Stroud plaza on I-44 turnpike

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has decided to close part of the Stroud Service Plaza on the TurnerTurnpike and build a new one at Chandler just for eastbound traffic. Anyone making the drive either from Tulsa or Oklahoma City knows it’s the half-way point between the two cities.

Jack Damrill with the Authority said safety is a big reason.  There are more motorists on the road and speeds are much higher than when the Stroud plaza was built in 1987.

“That plaza has just become really unsafe,” said Damrill who is the Director of Communications at the Turnpike Authority.

He said the Stroud plaza has outgrown itself and there is a need for more parking. So the Authority plans to close the Stroud plaza for eastbound traffic and build a new plaza at Chandler for the eastbound motorists.

The turnpike has seen a major increase in truck and passenger traffic between Tulsa and Oklahoma City since the Stroud plaza was opened when the speed limit was 55 mph. But in recent weeks, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill increasing speeds to 80 mph.

“Our plans are to split that service plaza into two. So we will have a service plaza both eastbound and westbound. The eastbound travel plaza will be about 4 miles to the west of the current Stroud plaza,” said Damrill.

While parking at the existing Stroud plaza is a problem, the situation should be eased. Once the new plaza at Chandler is finished later this year, there will be 125 parking spaces at each plaza.

 The Stroud plaza will also be renovated to handle only westbound traffic.

The OTA also said the new system is also going to save people money.

“After the travel plaza is built they’ll only be paying $4 when they are currently paying $9 so it will save them money, yes it’s a bit of an inconvenience but in the long run they’ll save money,” said Damrill.

Damrill said changes to a part of the roadway will happen as well.

“We’re gonna straighten out the road at Stroud. So currently, if you are traveling from Tulsa to Oklahoma City and you go through that travel plaza you have to dogleg to the right around the plaza. In addition to that, not only dogleg to the right but traffic merges from left to right. We’re gonna take that roadway we’re gonna shift it straight so you will not have to dogleg to the right anymore and then we will change the merging pattern to go from right to left instead of left to right,” he said.

The OTA said they will start renovating the Stroud Service Plaza around mid-2020 to late 2020 and hope to have it opened sometime in 2021.

 Watch a report from News on 6 by clicking here.