Contact:

Carl DeFebo
Manager, Media & Public Relations
Pennsylvania turnpike Commission
Desk (717) 920-7176

January 19, 2009

HARRISBURG, PA — The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will hold an Open House Plans Display to show engineering design plans for the total reconstruction and six-lane widening of I-76 from Milepost 320 to Milepost 326 (future Route 29 Slip Ramps to Valley Forge Interchange) in Chester and Montgomery Counties. This meeting is open to the public.

The Plans Display will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009 at The Vanguard School Activities Center, 1777 North Valley Road, Paoli, Pa. Signs will be posted to direct guests to the meeting room.

A project overview was presented to elected officials at the May 2008 briefing. For the past seven months, Turnpike personnel and consultants have worked closely with DEP, the Chester County Conservation District, legislators and township officials to address noise and environmental concerns brought up at that time. At a subsequent legislative briefing last week, revised plans were presented. The Turnpike Commission will present this same information to the public on the 27th.

Informational displays and mapping will be available for review and representatives from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and their project team will be on hand to provide additional detail and answer questions.

Residents living adjacent to the PA Turnpike are encouraged to attend as potential property impacts will be shown. Residents unable to attend the Open House may view the engineering plans at the Tredyffrin Township building and other locations beginning Jan. 28. A complete list of locations is available on the project website. In addition, residents unable to attend the open house may contact Don Steele, PE, Senior Project Manager at 610-292-3795 for more information after Jan. 27.

The total reconstruction and six-lane widening project is located primarily in Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, with a small part in Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County. Unprecedented growth in the suburban Philadelphia region has contributed to growing congestion on the Turnpike and surrounding highways.

Additional project detail will be available at the meeting, and the public is encouraged to attend. The meeting facility is ADA accessible; however, requests for special needs or accommodations to facilitate public participation should be directed to Mimi Lindelow at the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Eastern Regional Office at 610-239-4117.

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