COMMISSION NEWS RELEASE

Contact:

Tom Fox
Phone: 724.755.5260

July 12, 2012

Mon/Fayette Expressway's Uniontown to Brownsville Phase 2 Section Opens July 16

New Signature Bridge over the Monongahela River connects Washington, Fayette counties.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) announced today that Phase 2 of the Uniontown-to-Brownsville section of the Mon/Fayette Expressway (Pa. Turnpike 43) will open to traffic July 16 at 12 p.m.

Construction of the Uniontown-to-Brownsville Phase 2 project began in the spring of 2008 and extends the Uniontown-to-Brownsville Phase 1 project (opened in October 2008) in Redstone Township to a point near the Pa. Route 88 and Pa. Route 40/Turnpike 43 cloverleaf at the Centerville Borough/West Brownsville Borough line.

“With the completion this month of the Uniontown-to-Brownsville project, three of the four Mon/Fayette sections will be open to traffic, creating 60 continuous miles of new expressway from I-68 in West Virginia to Route 51 in Jefferson Hills Borough,” said Chairman William K. Lieberman. “We’re proud of the fact that we have completed three-fourths of the assigned Mon/Fayette projects, and will continue to seek new funding for the remaining segment.”

Highlights of the Uniontown-to-Brownsville Phase 2 project include:

a new maintenance facility adjacent to the existing Searights Interchange (Exit 18);
a $96 million Monongahela River Bridge, 3,022 feet in length and 200 feet high, that connects Washington and Fayette Counties;
new exits at Redstone Way (Exit 22), Bull Run Road (Exit 26) and Pa. Route 88 (Exit 28); and
a new interchange (Exit 15) that connects the southern end of the Phase-1 project with Pa. Route 51 and U.S. Route 119.

The Mon/Fayette Expressway Uniontown-to-Brownsville Project (Phases 1 and 2 together) includes 17 miles of new, limited-access highway between U.S. Route 119 and Pa. Route 51 in Uniontown and Pa. Route 88 in Washington County.

Total combined cost of Phase 1 and 2 was $882 million, including environmental-impact studies, preliminary engineering, final design, utility relocations, right-of- way acquisition, design, construction management and construction.

“Completion of this project represents a major milestone in the development of one of the largest ground-transportation projects in the United States,” said PTC CEO Roger Nutt. “With the support of PennDOT, the Turnpike Commission has invested in a roadway that will connect Fayette and Washington counties to 60 miles of high-speed, limited access highway and, with it, unprecedented economic development opportunities, especially in meeting the needs of the fast emerging natural-gas industry.”

The PTC plans a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 2. Details will follow as arrangements are finalized.

“As we celebrate this major milestone in the history of the state and the Turnpike Commission it is important to recognize those in the general assembly who voted to generate needed funds to finance these projects,” said Chairman Lieberman. “But our job is not done, and I look forward to working with the other members of the Turnpike Commission to complete the Mon/Fayette Expressway in its entirety.”

Pennsylvania Act 61 of 1985 elevated the priority of developing the Mon/Fayette Expressway system. It has been almost 20 years since the PTC began the Mon/Fayette Expressway, with a total investment in the four Mon/Fayette Expressway Projects reaching nearly $1.8 billion. An additional $3.8 billion in funding would be needed to complete the final section of the Mon/Fayette Expressway into the City of Pittsburgh.

Construction managers for Uniontown-to-Brownsville Phase 2 included SAI Consulting Engineers Inc., Pittsburgh and Trumbull Corp./Maguire Group, Inc., Pittsburgh. Contractors included New Enterprise Stone and Lime Co. Inc., New Enterprise, Pa.; Mashuda Corp., Cranberry Township, Pa.; Trumbull Corp., Pittsburgh; Mosites Construction Co., Pittsburgh; McKamish Inc., Pittsburgh; Power Contracting, Carnegie, Pa.; Golden Triangle Corporation, Imperial, Pa. and Walsh Construction, Chicago. Phase 2 engineering design consultants were AECOM (formerly DMJM Harris Inc.), Pittsburgh; FIGG Engineering Group, Tallahassee, Fla.; Mackin Engineering, Co., Pittsburgh; GAI Consultants Inc., Pittsburgh; and HDR Inc., Pittsburgh.

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