BERRYHILL, Okla. — Complaints regarding the section of the Gilcrease Turnpike extension that stretches from 41st Street South to 51st in Berryhill have continued to grow after a former state attorney general’s opinion resurfaced regarding the issue.

Originally, that stretch of highway was free for residents to access, but after the turnpike opened in 2022, residents started having to pay the toll.

Residents were told they had no option but to either pay the toll or use the back roads to go around the turnpike.

However, in an opinion from previous state Attorney General John O’Connor that has resurfaced, O’Connor listed options for how to make that stretch of turnpike free for residents all the way back in 2022.

Residents say they were never told any of these suggestions were even an option.

“It’s pertinent information we should’ve had two years ago,” said Berryhill resident Randy Martin.

Another Berryhill resident, Melissa Myers, explained, “Everyone was in an uproar. They were okay until we saw a toll booth at our 41st to 51st section.”

After reaching out to both their state and house representatives, Myers was “notified that we need to wait until Gentner Drummond gets involved.”

Gentner Drummond has gotten involved, but no action can be taken until an audit on the state turnpike authority concludes.

“If we had known about this 2022 opinion of the outgoing AG Mr. Connor, we wouldn’t have to be waiting. We could have presented that in front of Mr. Drummond when he took office,” said Martin. “It’s like we’re having to step back two years.”

The opinion by former Attorney General John O’Connor released in December 2022 outlined three options to either provide the possibility of free access to the turnpike or to, at the very least, pass legislation that would do so.

State lawmakers had 90 days to respond on behalf of their community. If they didn’t respond, nothing would happen.

No response was given.

Both Martin and Myers said they were not made aware of the former attorney general’s opinion until Wednesday.

Martin said, “By burying this for two years, our situation has just been put as a backburner...it just shows how they’ve treated us in the past and not being able to be transparent.”

State representative Lonnie Sims assured residents that every scenario was discussed by lawmakers, the former attorney general and the current attorney general to get the best outcome for Berryhill residents.

Sims originally requested the AG’s opinion. He said, “What I wanted to do was first reach out to the AG and ask if that’s legal...If so, what are the options for us?”

The opinion was made public when new Attorney General Gentner Drummond took office, but Sims said the options expressed in the opinion simply weren’t possible yet.

“The tolls were already set, this letter was submitted after we already knew what the projected tolls were going to be when this opened up,” stated Sims. “It’s an administrative expense to administer a different pike pass and the OTA looked legally if they were treating one taxpayer different than the next.”

Sims said that while it’s a win that the one-mile stretch from 41st to 51st is tolled at a lower rate than other booths along the turnpike, he would still like to see it be free for residents in the end.