Kathy Liebler

Manager, Public Affairs & Media Relations


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

Contact:  

Joe Agnello, (724) 755-5262,  (724) 755-5142 fax
e-mail:  jagnello@paturnpike.com

 February 28, 2002 

 

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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