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TURNPIKE
SEEKS CONSTRUCTION MANAGER FOR
FIRST SOUTHERN BELTWAY PROJECT
HARRISBURG
– The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission took formal action today to seek
proposals for construction management and inspection services relative to
the six-mile Findlay Connector that will extend south from the Pa. Route
60 Expressway at Pittsburgh International Airport to U.S. Route 22 in
Robinson Township, Washington County.
Today’s
action follows Gov. Mark Schweiker’s September 18 recommendation that
the Turnpike Commission earmark the funding necessary to complete the
highway. This will be the first construction-related contract awarded for
the Findlay Connector.
“The
commission’s goal is to have this project open for traffic in 2005,”
said Turnpike Executive Director John T. Durbin. “The area surrounding
Pittsburgh’s world-class airport is ripe for development and this
highway should be a key economic generator because it will greatly enhance
access and mobility.”
Travel
time to the airport will be reduced substantially for traffic originating
near the stretch of Route 22 in Washington County and for traffic coming
from the west, including the Weirton, W.Va. and Steubenville, Ohio areas.
The
construction management contract, likely to be awarded in First Quarter
2003, is estimated at $12 to $15 million and is expected to run from March
2003 to January 2006. The primary responsibility of the construction
manager is to oversee the work of the general contractors who will build
the limited-access toll road.
The
Commission expects to bid the first of three roadway construction
contracts in First Quarter 2003 and the other two in Second Quarter 2003.
Right-of-way acquisition and the relocation of affected utilities must
precede construction.
North
to south, interchanges on the Findlay Connector will be built at the main
entrance to Pittsburgh International Airport on Route 60; U.S. Route 30
southeast of Clinton village; at the junction of Bald Knob, Ridge and
Burgettstown Roads; and at Route 22 between Route 22’s Pa. Route 980 and
Bavington interchanges.
All
of the interchanges north of Route 22 will be in Findlay Township,
Allegheny County.
Direct
access in and out of Pittsburgh International Airport will be provided at
the north end of the project. In addition, two “missing” ramps at
Route 60’s interchange with Clinton Road will be constructed and Route
30 will be widened at its interchange with the Findlay Connector to
include a turning lane.
The
Findlay Connector is one of three independent projects under development
by the Turnpike that would interconnect to form a 30-mile Southern Beltway
south and east from Pittsburgh International Airport to the Mon/Fayette
Expressway in the mid-Mon Valley.
Prospective
alignments for the two other beltway projects are still under review. Each
of the two other projects – Route 22-to-Interstate 79 and I-79 to the
Mon/Fayette Expressway – is approximately 12 miles long.
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