Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Turnpike commission to hold meeting about Southern Beltway

- By Ed Blazina Ed Blazina: eblazina@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1470 or on Twitter @EdBlazina.

The Pennsylvan­ia Turnpike Commission will hold a public meeting in Bridgevill­e on Wednesday to announce details for constructi­on of the next two-mile section of the Southern Beltway in Cecil Township.

This $87.1 million, 1.82mile project, from Cecil Reissing Road near McDonald to Route 50, will include constructi­on of four bridges and an interchang­e on Reissing Road about one mile from Route 50. Contractor Beaver Excavating Co. of Canton, Ohio, also will move about 4 million cubic yards of earth to eliminate hills and fill in valleys for the new toll road.

The work is part of the 13mile, $800 million extension of the beltway from Route 22 to Interstate 79 along the Allegheny-Washington County border. The project initially had been estimated at $700 million.

The meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sygan SNPJ Lodge #6 Hall at 540 3rd Ave. The commission will provide informatio­n on detours, blast zones and other constructi­on activities expected during the project.

As part of the project, crews will build two bridges to carry east- and westbound traffic over Route 50, the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway and Millers Run Road. Another bridge will connect Cecil Reissing with Route 50, and the fourth will act as an overpass for Cecil Sturgeon Road over the interchang­e.

This is the fourth of eight contracts the commission expects to issue for the beltway extension. None of the sections will open until all of the 13-mile extension is completed in 2020.

 ?? Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette ?? Crews from Independen­ce Excavating in Cleveland earlier this year perform site clearing for the Southern Beltway along Route 980 near Quicksilve­r Road in McDonald.
Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette Crews from Independen­ce Excavating in Cleveland earlier this year perform site clearing for the Southern Beltway along Route 980 near Quicksilve­r Road in McDonald.

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