Turnpike Commission to unveil widening plans in Plum
A project to widen the Pennsylvania Turnpike from four to six lanes between the Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh interchanges will kick off with related projects in Plum and Monroeville.
That preliminary work could stretch from next year to 2021, the Turnpike Commission said.
The commission has scheduled an open house Thursday at Plum High School for visitors to look at plans for four “early action” projects:
• Lowering Hulton Road in Plum, to accommodate the turnpike work.
• Replacing overhead bridges at Unity-Trestle Road; at Saltsburg Road, or Route 380, both in Plum; and at Center Road in Monroeville.
Project plans, detour routes and maps showing how nearby property owners could be affected will be displayed at the open house.
Turnpike Commission representatives will discuss the right of way acquisition process, and answer questions.
“They have been in discussions with property owners,” said spokeswoman Renee Vid Colborn, and right of way acquisitions mostly involve “partial takes” of properties.
The four projects are to be done at various times over the four-year span, before actual work to reconstruct about 7.5 miles of the toll road between mileposts 49 and 56, the commission said. The projects are estimated to cost $217 million.
The actual turnpike widening work is in the preliminary design phase, officials said.
It will extend the road from two lanes in each direction to three lanes.
No date has been set for that work to begin, Colborn said.
