The Henryetta-Ada-Davis turnpike proposal is being reviewed by the Oklahoma turnpike Authority, with action due to be taken March 22.

Estimated cost of the 77.4-mile turnpike is $68.9 million.

The route has been under discussion for more than a decade.

It would provide a diagonal shortcut in southeastern Oklahoma between Interstate 35 and Interstate 40 that would offer a vital new connecting link between south-central Oklahoma and Eastern Oklahoma’s Green Country.

It would start at a connection with U.S. 77 just off Interstate 35 two miles south of Davis. It would extend northeasterly, crossing U.S. 177 about four miles north of Sulphur, connect to the Ada bypass on the southwest and leave it on the northeast side of Ada.

The proposed turnpike would cross U.S. 270 between Holdenville and Wewoka, crossing S.H. 99 about 13 miles east of Seminole.

From there it would proceed to a terminus with Interstate 40 about four miles northeast of Cromwell, giving motorists a clear shot on Interstate 40 from there eastward into Okemah, Henryetta, Muskogee and Fort Smith, Arkansas.

It would cost a passenger car $1.70, or about 2.3 cents a mile to travel the full turnpike length of 77.4 miles.

Under the proposal, the new turnpike, if financed, would be opened to traffic January 1, 1975.

According to an updated report by Wilbur Smith and Associates, tolls and concessions over the life of the bond issue of the turnpike would average $3 million a year.

Estimated cost of the Henryetta-Ada-Davis turnpike has risen by $23 million since it was first proposed in 1965.

Two other turnpikes are also under review by the authority. They are the “Northwest Passage” that would link the Tulsa Port of Catoosa to the Kansas state line north of Ponca City, and an Oklahoma City toll expressway which would connect the city turnpike with Will Rogers Airport.

The 79.5 mile “Northwest Passage” would const 38.5 million.

Opposition to the Northwest Passage turnpike has been mounting as a result of the report, which states that it “will divert traffic from the proposed Cimarron Turnpike and reduce anticipated toll revenues at that facility. -oOo The old Seminole Redco Gas plant on Highway 9 is dead.

Crews are now working daily on the plant tearing it down piece by piece and the pipe and metal are being sold as salvage.

With the death of the plant, another chapter in the Seminole Boom Day history book can be written. For in the days of the great oil boon here, the plant, then owned by the Carter Oil Co., prospered under the name of The Grisso Plant.

“It was a sad thing when we shut down the plant,” Redco’s General Supt., Roy White of Texas, said. “The plant had been in operation here since 1926. A lot of memories were here for a lot of people.”

The Redco Plant, whose gas compressors used to pump 24-hours a day and could be heard over a large section of Seminole, were closed Sept. 7, 1972. That was the day the compressors gasped their last breath and the old faithful whistle, which used to indicate a shift change, blew its last time at 5 p.m.

“There just isn’t enough gas here anymore for us to economically operate a gas plant,” Smith said. “We’ve given our business to the Atlantic-Richfield Co. of Seminole.”

Smith also said that two other Redco plants – one at Cromwell and one at Okemah – have been closed. “The only thing working at the Cromwell plant are the gas compressors and Atlantic- Richfield is operating them,” he added.

Thirty employees were out of work when the plant closed here.

“These men either retired or went to work for other companies,” Smith said. “We’ve got five employees left here at the plant. Howard Upchurch is superintendent, Carl McMillion is our gas tester and then we have three employees who are working to tear the plant down.

“Before we are finished this entire plant will be leveled to the ground. Redco will probably sell the land, some 40 acres.”

Smith said that thus far the property has not been sold. He did admit, however, that he had heard some talk about a housing addition which may possibly be built on the land.

“There’s a serious gas shortage problem being experienced all over the nation,” Smith, general superintendent over several Redco gas plants in Texas and Oklahoma, said. “The nation’s gas supply is dwindling away.”

Smith said that he did not think the plant’s shutdown would cause any rise in cost of gas here. There will be some rise, but none other than the regular rise because of the nation’s shortage,” he said.

The Redco Plant was a manufacturer of butane and propane gases. Redco bought the Plant from the Carter Oil Co. in April of 1956.

“I imagine people who live around this plant had a pard time getting to sleep after our compressors shut down.” Smith said. “They used to pump 24 hours a day. The compressors were a familiar sound to them.”

Smith said that he is just here at the plant temporarily making sure that the salvage is being taken care of and paperwork is being cleared away.

“These three plants – Seminole, Okemah and Cromwell – are the only three that Redco closed this past year,” Smith said. “I hope that the nation’s gas supply doesn’t die completely. I hope there will be enough gas to keep us in business elsewhere.