EXPRESSWAY MOVING ALONG
Link to Duquesne could start in 2021
There’s finally tangible evidence that the next leg of the MonFayette Expressway from Jefferson Hills to Duquesne — which has been talked about for more than five decades — is moving forward.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has purchased more than half of the 256 pieces of property it needs for the 8-mile, $900 million project, said Jeanmarie McLaughlin, turnpike assistant counsel who oversees acquisitions.
Construction on two ancillary projects to relocate Commonwealth Avenue in West Mifflin and replace a bridge on Route 837 over Union Railroad tracks in
Duquesne could begin in late 2021, said Gary Graham, the turnpike’s assistant chief engineer for design.
And Duquesne Light Co. has begun work to relocate utilities in at least three locations along the path of the new highway.
This section of the new toll road runs from the end of the existing Mon-Fayette Expressway at Route 51 in Jefferson Hills to Route 837 in Duquesne. Eventually, the highway is expected to extend from Duquesne to the Parkway East in Monroeville to give motorists from the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh an alternative route to get to Pittsburgh International Airport via the Mon-Fayette Expressway and Southern Beltway, bypassing the crowded Parkways East and West.
Ms. McLaughlin said the agency has completed the purchases of 145 properties and is in negotiations on 26 others, all involving the purchase of entire properties. All of the acquisitions were made through negotiations and the agency hasn’t taken any properties by eminent domain, she said.
The agency also plans to make partial purchases of 85 parcels. The owners have been notified, but the turnpike hasn’t started negotiating with them yet, Ms. McLaughlin said.
“Over the next 12 months, we expect we’ll receive more of the partial take plans,” Ms. McLaughlin said. “We have some time, so we’re going to use that.”
Mr. Graham said about 30% of the project is in final design. Because of the volume of work, the project will be divided into six contracts: two for the ancillary projects and four for work on the mainline.
The expectation at this point is that the mainline work will be done in order from west to east, beginning with the interchange at Route 51. The project also calls for full interchanges at Camp Hollow Road and Pittsburgh-McKeesport Boulevard in Dravosburg and Route 837 in Duquesne.
Although the money for construction isn’t fully in place pend- ing completion of the Southern Beltway near Pittsburgh International Airport, Mr. Graham said plans call for beginning construction on the main roadway in 2023. The new road is expected to open in 2027.
Meanwhile, Duquesne Light Co. has started to relocate its facilities in at least three locations along the future path of the highway. The turnpike commission approved reimbursement to the utility company of $15.9 million for that work at its Dec. 18 meeting.
“Duquesne Light has been very, very conscientious about moving ahead with its work,” Mr. Graham said.
The highway project has had a series of starts, stops and design changes since the 1960s.
Originally, the project called for the highway to split in two sections in the Duquesne area with one wing going to the Parkway East in Monroeville and the other going to Downtown Pittsburgh following the banks of the Monongahela River. But first officials couldn’t settle on which side of the river to use, then Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and Oakland institutions objected to the impact it would have on the neighborhood.
That objection, plus costs estimated at more than $4 billion, caused the turnpike to table the project in 2009. It was revived in 2013 with a substantial redesign that eliminated the Pittsburgh wing and narrowed the median throughout the corridor from about 60 feet wide to about 26 feet wide to reduce costs and disruption to local communities.
With the passage of a transportation funding bill in 2013, the state Legislature directed the turnpike to build the highway.