TUTTLE — The Tuttle City Council approved a concurrence letter requested by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) to trigger the environmental review process for the Highway 37 widening project, which staff said will not begin construction until about 2030.

City staff explained that the concurrence letter is part of ODOT’s NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) environmental review and allows ODOT temporary occupancy in city easements while environmental analysis proceeds. City Manager Slattery said the city had previously been unsure which party would pay for utility relocations but that ODOT has since agreed that those utility expenses would be reimbursable through ODOT’s process (via the agency’s 305 form), including engineering and surveying costs. "This would be anything that had to be moved, they would pay for," staff said.

Council approved the concurrence letter by motion and unanimous vote after staff said they had received concurrence letters from ODOT and would provide engineering plans for the work to be reimbursed. Staff noted the environmental review can be lengthy and that the concurrence letter triggers ODOT to begin that process.

The approval does not allocate payment responsibilities beyond the reimbursement mechanism described by staff; council asked staff to continue coordinating with ODOT and to provide details about the schedule and reimbursement process as they become available.