Mon-Fayette Expressway design work suspended
The state Turnpike Commission will suspend engineering and design work on the final section of the Mon-Fayette Expressway in Allegheny County because of a decision Monday by regional transportation planners to table the project.
The announcement followed the decision by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission to delay action on whether or not to add the toll road to the region’s transportation plan after the board was met with opposition to the project by Pittsburgh-area residents.
“The PA Turnpike has a legislative mandate to develop the Mon-Fayette Expressway, but our role is not to serve as an advocate for the project,” said state Turnpike Chief Executive Officer Mark Compton. “This is a regional project, and the decision as to whether it is of value to the region should be made by those who live there. If the region does not want to move forward with the expressway, we will certainly respect their decision.”
The commission moved the more than $2 billion project into the design phase in 2015 involving a 14-mile highway corridor that would connect to the existing 60-mile road between Route 51 in Large and Morgantown, W.Va. The final section would run between Route 51 and the Parkway East near Monroeville.
“The PA Turnpike Commission stands ready to deliver this project but only if the people of the region determine that it is a priority,” Compton said.
Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi, who is an SPC member, said the decision to table the Mon-Fayette until May involved an intention that the board will vote to add the toll road to the transportation plan.
“I think it’s important for the Mon Valley and important for the future,” Maggi said.
He said completion of the highway was designed to spur growth in the Mon Valley.
In the 1970s, Maggi said, someone could have rolled a bowling ball down Interstate 79 in Washington County and it wouldn’t have struck a vehicle because traffic was that thin in those days.
The growth of the Southpointe mixed-use park in Cecil Township helped to turn I-79 into a heavily traveled highway, he said.
He said the SPC decision does not slow the progress on the Southern Beltway under construction by the Turnpike Commission between Route 22 and I-79.