Kathy Liebler
                        Director of Public Information

C   O   M   M   I   S   S   I   O   N                N   E   W   S             R   E   L   E   A   S   E   

  Contact:  Thomas A. Fox, (724) 755-5262, (724) 755-5142 fax
                   e-mail: tfox@paturnpike.com

DRAFT EIS AVAILABLE, PUBLIC HEARING SET FOR MON/FAYETTE EXPRESSWAY PROJECT FROM UNIONTOWN TO THE BROWNSVILLE AREA

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Mon/Fayette Expressway Project between Uniontown and the Brownsville area will be available for public review and comment beginning Friday, Nov. 5, 1999.

The document, which includes a Clean Water Act Section 404 Permit Application, will be available for public review November 5, 1999, through January 7, 2000, at local municipal offices and other public locations. A complete list of locations is included in this release. The comment period on the DEIS will close at 4 pm Friday, January 7, 2000.

Written comments on the DEIS should be sent to David P. Willis, Environmental Manager, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, P.O. Box 67676, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7676. Written comments on water resources should be sent to Richard Sobol, Project Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Branch, 1000 Liberty Avenue, 1834 Federal Building, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

Comments also can be presented in the form of oral or written testimony during a joint public hearing/open house on the DEIS to be held from 4 to 9 pm Thursday, Dec. 9, 1999, at Brownsville Area High School, 1300 Brashear Avenue, Brownsville, PA. A formal presentation will begin at 6 pm. Public oral testimony will follow.

Individuals who wish to give public oral testimony may pre-register for a maximum five-minute speaking allotment by calling Lisa Yackovich in the Public Involvement Unit at the Turnpike Commission's Western Regional Office at 724-755-5261. Private oral testimony and written testimony can be presented anytime between 4 and 9 pm.

The DEIS provides detailed evaluation of two expressway alternatives, known as the North and South Alternatives, as well as the No-Build Alternative.

The North Alternative runs north of U.S. Route 40 from an interchange with Pa. Route 51/U.S. Route 119 in North Union Township, Fayette County. The South Alternative has the same southeastern terminus and parallels U.S. Route 40 to the south after crossing to the south of the National Road just west of Uniontown. The North Alternative crosses to the south of U.S. Route 40 in Luzerne Township, Fayette County just east of Brownsville where it shares the same alignment as the South Alternative with a new Monongahela River bridge. After crossing the Mon River, both alternatives continue to a northwestern terminus at Pa. Route 88 in Centerville Borough, Washington County.

Other interchanges for the North Alternative are at a relocated Bull Run Road in Luzerne Township; the extended Brownsville "stub-end" of the four-lane U.S. Route 40; Upper Middletown Road in Menallen Township, Fayette County connecting to U.S. Route 40 at Searights Crossroads; and at an improved Fan Hollow Road/Old Pittsburgh Road in North Union Township.

Other interchanges for the South Alternative are at a relocated Bull Run Road in Luzerne Township; the extended Brownsville "stub-end" of the four-lane U.S. Route 40 with access to both U.S. Route 40 and Pa. Route 166 in Redstone Township, Fayette County; a new connector road to U.S. Route 40 at the Redstone/Menallen line near Searights Crossroads; an improved Duck Hollow Road in South Union Township, Fayette County; and at Old Pittsburgh Road in North Union Township.

The North Alternative is identified in the DEIS as the recommended preferred alternative because:

• it provides more direct access to and from the Brownsville area, an important factor in increasing prospects for the Brownsville area's economic revitalization.
• it is closer and would provide better access to support development along Pa. Route 51 and U.S. Route 119 in the Uniontown area, existing four-lane highways that traverse areas with water and sewage service.
• it has fewer residential displacements, impacts fewer acres of wetlands and has substantially less impact on streams and associated habitats.
• its proposed underpass of U.S. Route 40 is less intrusive to the National Road in terms of visual impacts and noise.
• it serves via an improved Fan Hollow Road a Fayette County development site that has been designated a Keystone Opportunity Zone, without requiring that any prime county land be acquired for the expressway's right-of-way.
• construction costs are estimated at about $40 million less than construction costs for the South Alternative.

While the North Alternative is recommended as the preferred alternative, the final decision on a preferred alternative will not be made until all comments on the DEIS are evaluated. Locations where the DEIS will be available for review are:

After reviewing comments on the DEIS the Turnpike Commission, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration, will prepare and circulate a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for public review and comment.

Federal approval of the Final EIS and receipt of a Record of Decision from the Federal Highway Administration would allow the Turnpike Commission to proceed with final design of the expressway and acquisition of required right-of-way. 

###

 P.O. Box 67676, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7676         Phone: (717) 939-9551         Fax: (717) 986-9649