Okla. Stat. tit. 69, § 69-1722

Condemnation of railroad property or right-of-way - Exemption from

payment of costs and expenses.

A. The location and removal of all telephone, telegraph, fiber

optic, electric light and power transmission lines, poles, cables,

wires and conduits, sewers and all pipelines erected, constructed or

in place upon, across or under any turnpike shall be under the

control and supervision of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, insofar

as same affects the public travel or interferes with the

construction and maintenance of such turnpike. Whenever the

Authority plans a turnpike project or improvement or construction or

reconstruction thereof, and before such work is started, it shall

serve a written notice upon the person, firm, or corporation owning

or maintaining any such facility, which notice shall contain a plan

or chart indicating the places on the right-of-way where such

facilities may be maintained. The notice shall state the time when

the work of constructing or improving such turnpike is proposed to

commence, and a reasonable time shall be allowed to the owner of the

facility to remove and relocate its property; provided, however,

that the effect of any change ordered by the Authority shall not be

to exclude the facilities from the turnpike right-of-way. The

removal and relocation of all such facilities shall be made at the

cost and expense of the owners thereof, unless otherwise provided by

law or the Authority, and in no event shall such relocation result

in a taking of the owner's property rights without just compensation

as provided in Section 1708 of this title. The removal and

relocation of all such facilities shall be made at the cost and

expense of the owners thereof, unless otherwise provided by law or

the Authority, and in the event of the failure of such owners to

remove the same at the time set out in the notice, the facilities

may be removed by the Authority and the cost thereof collected from

such owners, and the Authority shall not be liable in any way to any

person for the locating or relocating of such facilities at the

places prescribed. Any corporation or association, or the officers

or agents of such corporation or association, or any other person

who shall erect or maintain any such lines, poles, cables, wires and

conduits, sewers, pipelines, equipment or other facilities within

the right-of-way of any turnpike in a manner not in complete

accordance with the requirements of the Authority shall be deemed

guilty of a misdemeanor.

B. With respect to any railroad property or right-of-way, any

powers of condemnation may be exercised to acquire only an easement

interest therein which shall be located either sufficiently far

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 69. Roads, Bridges, and Ferries Page 335

above or sufficiently far below the grade of any railroad track or

tracks upon such railroad property so that neither the proposed

project nor any part thereof, including any bridges, abutments,

columns, supporting structures and appurtenances, nor any traffic

upon it shall interfere in any manner with the use, operation or

maintenance of the trains, tracks, works or appurtenances or other

property of the railroad nor endanger the movement of the trains or

traffic upon the tracks of the railroad. Prior to the institution

of condemnation proceedings for such easement over or under such

railroad property or right-of-way, plans and specifications of the

proposed project showing compliance with the above-mentioned above

or below grade requirements and showing sufficient and safe plans

and specifications for such overhead or undergrade structure and

appurtenance shall be submitted to the railroad for examination and

approval. If the railroad fails or refuses within thirty (30) days

to approve the plans and specifications so submitted, the matter

shall be submitted to the Corporation Commission whose decision,

arrived at after due consideration in accordance with its usual
and specifications for such overhead or undergrade structure and

appurtenance shall be submitted to the railroad for examination and

approval. If the railroad fails or refuses within thirty (30) days

to approve the plans and specifications so submitted, the matter

shall be submitted to the Corporation Commission whose decision,

arrived at after due consideration in accordance with its usual

procedure, shall be final as to the sufficiency and safety of such

plans and specifications and as to such elevations or distances

above or below the grade. Such overhead or undergrade structure and

appurtenances shall be constructed only in accordance with such

plans and specifications and in accordance with such elevations or

distances above or below the tracks so approved by the railroad or

the Corporation Commission as the case may be. A copy of the plans

and specifications approved by the railroad or the Corporation

Commission shall be filed as an exhibit with the petition for

condemnation.

C. Rural water districts, nonprofit water corporations and

municipal public water systems in municipalities with a population

of ten thousand (10,000) or less, according to the latest Federal

Decennial Census, or their beneficial trusts shall be exempt from

the payment of the costs and expenses for the removal and relocation

of water and sewer pipelines and all such facilities constructed or

in place in the public right-of-way when the removal and relocation

of such facilities is necessary for the improvement, construction or

reconstruction of any turnpike. Such costs and expenses, including

any unpaid on the effective date of this act, shall be paid by the

public authority having jurisdiction over the particular turnpike.