HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Turnpike commissioners today awarded Smith & Johnson Construction Company of Columbus, Ohio a $45.9 million contract to build the southern end of the Findlay Connector, a nearly six-mile toll road that will extend south from the Pa. Route 60 Expressway at Pittsburgh International Airport to U.S. Route 22 in northwestern Washington County.
It is the third and final roadway construction contract to be awarded for the $224 million project, which is targeted for completion in Summer 2006. Prior roadway construction contracts were awarded to Dick Corporation ($64.9 million for Construction Section 54A) and Mashuda Corporation ($36 million for Construction Section 54B).
A wetlands replacement contract (for Construction Section 54W) is to be awarded later in the Spring.
The contract awarded today was for Construction Section 54C, which includes 2.4 miles of mainline and full-movement interchanges with Route 22 (between Champion and Bavington) and with Bald Knob Road (at Burgettstown Road) in Findlay Township, Allegheny County.
Smith & Johnson Construction was the lowest of eight bidders for Construction Section 54C. Bids were opened on February 25.
The Findlay Connector would serve as part of the proposed Southern Beltway, a 30 to 35-mile network of independent but interconnected highway projects that would swing south and east from the airport to link Route 22 and Interstate 79 with the new north-south Mon/Fayette Expressway near Finleyville.
Opening year traffic on the Findlay Connector is estimated at 12,000 vehicles per day. That figure is expected to rise to 36,000 trips per day by 2025, assuming the rest of the Southern Beltway system is open.
Alignments for the two other beltway projects have not been finalized.
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