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) 755-5260, (724) 755-5142 fax
e-mail: tfox@paturnpike.com

January 28th , 2004

The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)/Final Section 4(f) Evaluation/ Section 404 Permit Application for the proposed Mon/Fayette Expressway Project between PA Route 51 in Jefferson Hills and Interstate 376 (the Parkway East) in Pittsburgh and Monroeville will be available for public review and comment beginning Friday, January 30, 2004 through Tuesday, April 6, 2004.

Copies of the document are available for public review at local municipal offices, area libraries and other locations.

Written comments on the FEIS should be sent to David P. Willis, Environmental Manager, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, P.O. Box 67676, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7676. Written comments on the Section 404 Permit Application should be sent to Rich Sobol, Project Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Branch, 1834 Federal Building, 1000 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the project was circulated for public review and comment between May 31st and September 9, 2002. During this official comment period, three public hearings were held in the project area. The Turnpike Commission received over 3,000 comments from the hearings and in written form during the 101-day review period.

One of those comments was submitted by Citizens’ for Pennsylvania’s Future and included a report entitled The Citizens’ Plan: An Alternative to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s Plan to Complete the Mon-Fayette Toll Road. A summary of the evaluation of the Citizens’ Plan is included in the FEIS.

All comments received on the DEIS were taken into consideration in the preparation of the FEIS and are addressed in the document. A table at the beginning of the FEIS identifies locations where additional information or clarifications were made from the DEIS to the FEIS. All agencies, organizations and individuals that provided substantive comments on the DEIS are being provided with a copy of the FEIS.

The FEIS identifies the North Shore Alternative as the Preferred Alternative for the project based on its ability to meet the identified project needs, engineering parameters, environmental effects, public input, environmental resource agency input, and DEIS testimony and comments.

The North Shore Alternative would extend from PA Route 51 in Jefferson Hills to the City of Duquesne before crossing the Monongahela River into North Versailles. The Expressway then splits, with a northern leg linking with the Parkway East at Monroeville and a western leg connecting to the Parkway East in Oakland, thus creating a bypass of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel.

The Mon/Fayette Expressway Project from PA Route 51 to Interstate 376 is being developed to improve transportation access to economically depressed Mon Valley communities, improve mobility to job centers, support redevelopment of abandoned industrial sites and neighborhoods, and relieve traffic congestion on overburdened roadways in the study area.

Approval of the FEIS and the issuance of a Record of Decision by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) would allow the Turnpike Commission to proceed with final design of the Selected Alternative and acquisition of required right-of-way.

The FEIS can be obtained in CD-ROM form by contacting Lou Washowich, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Western Regional Office, at (724)755-5263.

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