Turnpike buys gun club land near McDonald for $5 million

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has acquired a key piece of property to allow the construction of an interchange on the Southern Beltway — and protect the safety of motorists.

But it came at a hefty price: $5 million.

That’s the amount the commission agreed to pay last week to buy 70.9 acres of land from the McDonald Sportsmen’s Association, leaving the association 168.4 acres of property off of Cooks Road between McDonald and Midway, Washington County.

The commission needs the land to build interchange 11 on the $800 million, 13-mile toll road that will link Route 22 to Interstate 79 on the Allegheny-Washington County border. That interchange will be on the northeast corner of land formerly owned by the association and will include construction of access roads from Route 980 to the north and Noblestown Road to the south.

Jeanmarie McLaughlin, the commission’s assistant counsel, said the property was among the last and most expensive pieces of land the commission has had to acquire for the project. Several factors besides the amount of property were at play in the cost, she said, among them activities the association conducts on that part of the property and the need to protect motorists who will use the new highway from activities on the