Hochatown, the far southeast Oklahoma town that some contend was really built anew by north Texas tourism, has the strong attention of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. And it means not only needed highway improvements but construction for the next few years.
Because of the rapid growth of the rental of modern-day cabins mostly owned by Texans and the recent addition of a $238 million Choctaw casino, Hochatown, a new city of about 7,100 acres, has critical traffic needs.
Just ask Tim Gatz, Executive Director of ODOT, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
At the most recent meeting of the Oklahoma Transportation Commission where the body approved a $29.7 million project for improvements to 2.3 miles of Highway US 259 in Hochatown, Gatz stressed the rapid tourism development of the region is critical. The project will include construction of a center lane and pedestrian improvements. Work is expected to begin in early Spring 2025 and is to be completed by Oct. 1 of 2026.
“It’s the first phase of the Hochatown projects that are gonna help traffic in a very busy and tourist and commercial area,” he told commissioners. “The thing I want to recogonize about what’s happening in McCurtain County and Hochatown in particular is it’s special. It is the beginning, really it’s been ongoing, but what we’re seeing down there now is the materialization of a recreational area and a tourist area that I don’t think we’ve ever seen before.”
Gatz said the ability to manage traffic in the environment around Hochatown is a challenge because the current traffic system has a lot of deficiences.
“It’s challenging to us but this is the beginning of making it better,” he explained, referring to the US 59 highway project.
“Not only are we gonna try to facilitate traffic flow better, we’re going to accommodate the utility expansions that are needed in that area. We’re going to accommodate pedestrian circulation which is hugely deficient right now down there.”
In fact, he said there is no pedestrian traffic capability in Hochatown.
“It’s not really walkable but in the future, it’s gonna have to be as we continue to see this kind of development. We’ve got a chance to be a difference maker down there and we’re going to improve the conditions, but we are also going to be exceptionally mindful of the area that we’re working in.”
Gatz said ODOT is quite aware that Hochatown is a tourist and recreational area and the department will have to be “careful to interact at a high level of detail with the businesses that are adjacent to highway 259.”
The nearly $30 million contract approved last week is phase one of the highway improvements for Hochatown, a community that was only incorporated in 2023 after a history of growth and loss of industries and people. Phase Two, according to Gatz will focus on north through Hochatown proper in about 2026. It will be followed by a final phase that connects down south to Broken Bow.