- Toby Keith is being memorialized with a new turnpike in his home state.
- The Toby Keith Expressway will be completed by 2030.
- The announcement comes two years after his untimely death.
If you find yourself in central Oklahoma in the next few years, tip your hat to the late legend Toby Keith as you drive along a soon-to-be-erected memorial in his name.
The naming of a new roadway, the Toby Keith Expressway, was approved by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. It will run south of Oklahoma City, east to west along the border of Moore and Norman, the former of which was Toby's hometown.
"The honor celebrates his life, patriotism and impact on Oklahoma and the nation, and it was met with a standing ovation on the Senate floor at the hearing last week," a note on Toby's official socials reads. "Toby never forgot where he came from, and this expressway will help carry his legacy forward for generations to come."
Included with the note is a sweet photo of Toby's family — daughters Shelley and Krystal, wife Tricia and son Stelen — holding up one of the new road signs. The turnpike is expected to be completed in full by 2030.
Naming the road is after him is not without a little controversy. Diehard Toby fans are already raising eyebrows at the family's decision, as the singer was vocally anti-turnpike in the years before his death. He came around, however, before he passed.
"He was for the turnpike before his passing," Stelen assures fans (according to KFOR in Oklahoma City). So, the family looked at the "silver linings" of the roadway after the patriarch's death and came around on the issue, too.
"It's a bittersweet, you know, for our friends and families that were displaced," Toby's widow, Tricia, explains. "But at the end of the day, we knew the economic value that it was going to have and what it was going to bring to the Moore/Norman area, both."
Adds Stelen: "We think it's a lasting legacy piece for our father."
How Did Toby Keith Die?
Toby Keith died on February 4, 2024 after an arduous battle with stomach cancer. He was 62 years old and left a distinctive legacy in country music as one of its most unapologetically patriotic performers. He hit with a No. 1 single, "Should've Been a Cowboy," right out of the gate in 1993, and he never slowed down. Toby would ultimately chart 20 No. 1 hits and sell 40 million albums in his career.
Officially, Toby's final live performance was the last of his three-night residency in Las Vegas in December of 2023, but his final televised performance will be the one that's etched in fans' memories forever. At the 2023 People's Choice Awards in September 2023, he gave an emotional performance of "Don't Let the Old Man In" that would turn symbolic after his death just a few months later.
In the song, he imparts some important advice to live by: "Try to love on your wife / And stay close to your friends / Toast each sundown with wine / Don't let the old man in."
Amanda Hensel Jermstad is a skilled writer based in Austin, Texas. She spent 14 years as Editor-in-Chief of Taste of Country, where she led coverage of the artists, stories and trends shaping country music. With a career deeply rooted in the genre, Amanda has built a reputation for sharp editorial insight and authentic storytelling. Outside of work, she’s a proud mom of three.
