Some Mon-Fayette Expressway Work Stopped

Inadequate funding has halted the development of some parts of the Mon-Fayette Expressway around Pittsburgh.

Since January, construction has been frozen on two roadways linking Jefferson Hills to the Parkway East and I-79. Another segment connecting I-79 to Route 22 west of the city is on hold as well.

Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission spokesman Tom Fox says the Turnpike needs about $5 billion to continue the work, after attempts to forge a public-private partnership with investors never materialized.

He says one aim of the toll road was to alleviate Parkway East congestion.

“We could take a great deal of traffic, especially commercial traffic, off of that Parkway if we had the Southern Beltway built, and the portion of the Mon-Fayette from Monroeville down to Jefferson Hills,” says Fox.

Fox says some Mon-Fayette construction will continue. He says West Virginia’s I-68 will connect to the Pennsylvania border by this fall, while a roadway from Uniontown to Brownsville will be finished by spring of 2012.

Fox says the Turnpike has all the clearances and permits it needs to continue once more money is found.