Southern Beltway pre-construction meeting tonight

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will hold a pre-construction meeting Thursday evening for the next section of the Southern Beltway on the Washington-Allegheny County border.

Contractor Joseph B. Fay Co. expects to begin work on the 3.2-mile section of the highway between the Panhandle Trail and Cecil Reissing Road in Cecil. A small part of the path for the $90.6 million project crosses into North Fayette.

The turnpike commission will hold a meeting at 6 p.m. at the Midway Volunteer Fire Department, 99 Saint John St., Midway, to discuss future detours, blasting zones and additional construction-related information about the project.

Fay expects to begin work March 20.

The project will include building a five-span, 1,370foot bridge over Route 980; relocating the northern leg of Reissing Road to become the new Laurel Hill Road; and building a new connection on the southern leg of Reissing Road with Route 980. In addition, the intersection of Reissing and Profio roads will be realigned.

The contractor also will excavate 6 million cubic yards of dirt — each yard about the size of a refrigerator — to level out the new road.

This project is part of a series of contracts that will be issued for construction of the second leg of the Southern Beltway, this part running 13 miles from Route 22 to Interstate 79. Independence Excavating of Cleveland began work in January on the 4-mile, $90.85 million section between Quicksilver Road and Route 22.

The highway eventually will connect Interstate 376 near Pittsburgh International Airport with the Mon-Fayette Expressway near Finleyville.

The first section, known as the Findlay Connector, goes 6 miles from the airport to Route 22 and opened in 2006.

The last segment, 6 miles from I-79 to Finleyville, is still being designed.