MON
VALLEY PROGRESS COUNCIL HONORS TURNPIKE
WITH 2002 “JOIN IN PROGRESS” AWARD
The
Mon Valley Progress Council will honor the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
tonight with its 2002 “Join In Progress” Award. The award will be
presented during the council’s 37th Annual Dinner at the
Georgetown Centre in Pleasant Hills.
James
J. Dodaro of White Oak, the PTC’s vice chairman and its longest serving
current commissioner, will accept the award on behalf of the commission.
“We
salute the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission for its success in advancing the
Mon/Fayette Expressway, especially the Interstate 70-to-Pa. Route 51 Project
that will open in April,” said Frank Irey, Jr., president of the Mon
Valley Progress Council Board of Directors.
“Completion of the entire expressway system is crucial to our goals
for economic rebirth in southwestern Pennsylvania.”
The
Mon/Fayette Expressway consists of four projects to construct new,
limited-access toll roads that eventually would link Interstate 68 near
Morgantown, W.Va., Uniontown, Brownsville and communities along the
Monongahela River Valley with Interstate 376 in Pittsburgh and Monroeville.
“The
Turnpike Commission is proud to be involved with the revitalization of this
corridor, and we will continue to advance these projects to the fullest
extent with all available resources,” Dodaro said. “With roughly 35
miles of the 70-mile system finished, we would not be as far along as we are
without the strong support of the Mon Valley Progress Council.”
Approximately
four miles of the I-70-to-Route 51 Project opened last May 11 and the
remaining 13 miles will open in approximately six weeks.
The Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for the 24-mile project that would extend the Mon/Fayette system
from Route 51 in Jefferson Hills north to Pittsburgh and Monroeville will be
circulated for public review and comment this year.
The Pennsylvania side of the Interstate
68-to-Pa. Route 43 Project, known as the Mason Dixon Link, opened on March
1, 2000. The 15-mile Uniontown-to- Brownsville Area Project is in the final
design phase.
In
1997, the Mon Valley Progress Council established the “Join in Progress”
award to salute individuals and organizations who have successfully
collaborated to further economic and community development in the Mon
Valley. Previous recipients include Ebara Solar, Inc. in Belle Vernon,
Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corporation, Washington County
Redevelopment Authority and World Kitchen, Inc. in Charleroi.
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