ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Oklahoma Toll Roads

Finally, I was heading back west – toward home. I asked Sirio for directions and just drove along. Just after I got to Oklahoma, I came to a toll booth – no warning signs that this was a toll road. OK, I dug to the bottom of my purse and found enough change – a bit miffed, but whatever. Then 10 miles later – another toll booth!  WHAT?!?!?

   My directions took me down another road – and frustrated by the tolls, I decided to pull off and grab some lunch before another one of those toll booths popped up. At the first exit, I could see a few places to eat – and as I got to the bottom of the Exit Ramp, there was an unmanned toll dropbox. WTF?!?!?  Again, so warning signs, no indication that you had to pay to drive on this road either – and certainly no indication that you had to pay to get OFF the highway.

   All I did was go to Tulsa and then Oklahoma City – and in the course of one afternoon I had to pay 5 tolls, for a total of almost $10. I find that ridiculous! Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with tolls when they make sense – I grew up in California and there are bridges with tolls all over the place. But there are signs letting you know in advance – and they’re typically for bridges, not just normal roads. And that Oklahoma has the unmanned toll dropboxes – that require EXACT change – and especially with no warning signs – well, I really found that offensive, and certainly not very friendly for those of us just travelling through (mostly because I often travel with little or no cash at all). I travelled through 10 states on this trip, and didn’t pay a toll anywhere else – not even at the fabulous bridge in Memphis that crosses the Mississippi.

   Not a great first impression of Oklahoma, and it really made me quite glad that I was just travelling through.