Progress Is...
Advocating for the Mon Valley/Fayette Expressway and Southern Beltway
We are proud of our role to ensure continued progress on the Mon Valley/Fayette Expressway and Southern Beltway projects. Progress Council efforts began in 1965 with a commitment to complete the Mon Valley Expressway. In the mid 1980's the Progress Council allied with Fayette County officials to include completion of the Fayette Expressway. Then in 1997, Progress Council led the effort to create the Mon-Fayette Expressway and Southern Beltway Alliance to include the Southern Beltway.
When complete, this one hundred-mile highway network will improve transportation access in all of southwestern Pennsylvania, address traffic congestion in key transportation corridors and serve a cornerstone project for economic revitalization. To date, approximately one-half of the Expressway project is open for traffic and progress continues on the remaining sections. Progress also continues on the Southern Beltway with completion of the first section in 2006 and continued planning on the remaining two sections of the 35-mile project. We will continue to work with our elected officials at the state and federal level on innovative financing strategies to ensure the completion of this crucial highway network.
The completion of the Findlay Connector on October 3 marked the opening of the first link of the Southern Beltway. This 6-mile, $225 million project provides a direct connection between the Greater Pittsburgh International Airport and U.S. Route 22. The toll road project will accept E-Z Pass and has four interchanges. The Findlay Connector has already sparked interest in economic development. Developers see significant potential for office park, housing, and retail development in the corridor.
An April 1 ground breaking for the first phase of the Brownsville to Uniontown section in Fayette County marked another major milestone for the Expressway project. The $198 million, nine-mile project will provide a connection from Uniontown to just east of Brownsville. The PA Turnpike has also committed to construct a highway to the short section of highway in Brownsville completed in the 1970's. Completion of what will be called Redstone Highway as a part of the first phase construction will provide a direct link to the Lane Bane Bridge and then to a previously completed section of the Expressway project. The first phase of the Brownsville to Uniontown section of the Mon Valley/Fayette Expressway is expected to be completed by spring 2009. The second $379 million dollar phase will include a section to the south of Brownsville and a new bridge across the Monongahela River and a connection to the southern end of the existing Expressway project.
Final engineering and community meetings continue on the Mon Valley/Fayette Expressway PA Route 51 to I-376 Expressway. The Progress Council also continues to gather economic data to substantiate the value of this 24-mile project. In 2004, the Progress Council completed an assessment of the potential economic impact of the northern section of the Expressway project that showed that improved access would be provided to more than 750 existing companies and 1,500 acres in nine, major brownfield development sites. Additional data will be developed in the future.
The Progress Council also continued its role in providing testimony in support of the Expressway and Southern Beltway including testimony provided at two hearings on the Transportation Reform and Investment Commission. In these hearings, the Progress Council noted a number of assets of the Expressway and Southern Beltway and that the projects represent the only true southwestern Pennsylvania, multi-county, transportation strategy to address transportation access issues that impact the economic competitiveness of our region.
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435 Donner Avenue | Suite 410 | Monessen, PA 15062 | 724-684-3381 | Fax: 724-684-5113