Officials open yet another part of Mon-Fayette Expressway
Carl "Speedy" Sterbutzel's 1930 Ford Model A coupe became one of the first private vehicles to use the newest stretch of the Mon-Fayette Expressway that opened on Monday in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
"My old car loved the new road," said Sterbutzel, 70, of McClellandtown, Fayette County. He drove between ribbon-cutting ceremonies held in the two states a couple of miles apart.
The colossal project to develop a four-lane, limited-access highway between Pittsburgh and the Morgantown, W.Va., area has seemingly been in the works for as long as Sterbutzel's antique car has been around. Pennsylvania state Sen. Richard Kasunic, D-Dunbar, recalled campaigning three decades ago to develop it.
It's still not known when the entire highway might be completed.
About $2 billion has been spent completing sections of the corridor over the past two decades. An $882 million, a 17-mile stretch between Route 119 in Uniontown and Route 88 in Centerville, Washington County, is expected to be done next year, officials said.
About $4 billion is needed for the last 24-mile section that would start at Route 51 in Jefferson Hills, cross the Monongahela River near Duquesne and then split into a Y, with one leg connecting to the Parkway East near Bates Street and the other hooking up with the Parkway East near Monroeville, said Frank Kempf, the turnpike commission's chief engineer.
In a related project, about $1.5 billion is needed to finish the remaining 24 miles of the planned Southern Beltway between Route 22 in Robinson, Washington County, and the Mon-Fayette Expressway near Finleyville, Washington County, Kempf said. A six-mile stretch of the beltway known as the Findlay Connector, running from Route 22 to Interstate 376 near Pittsburgh International Airport, was completed in 2006.
Despite having to cover the same number of miles, the missing Mon-Fayette link would be costlier because it would go through a densely populated area and require many more interchanges and bridges, Kempf said.
Recently appointed Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Chairman William K. Lieberman of Squirrel Hill called finishing the highway his top priority, saying it is vital to the region's economy.
"While it may be pie in the sky, I want to see (the highway) go all the way to Monroeville. We'll go mile marker by mile marker if we have to," Lieberman said.
Turnpike officials said they are searching for funding, including potential public-private partnerships.
The section that opened yesterday included a four-mile stretch in West Virginia between Interstate 68 and the Pennsylvania line, as well as almost two miles of Route 43 south of Gans Road in Pennsylvania that have not been used since they were completed in 2000 because no connecting roadway existed in West Virginia.
The West Virginia portion was built for $149 million, including $13 million in federal stimulus money.
"When I see a road like this, I see new jobs, new businesses and prosperity being created," said West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. "This will help the economy in both states."
