Local officials pleased by meeting on West Virginia toll road link
Local officials said they were pleased with the results of a meeting held Tuesday to discuss the future funding possibilities for the West Virginia link of the Mon/Fayette Expressway. A group of Fayette County representatives interested in completion of that section of the highway met with Dave Yoder, an executive in the Monongalia County Development Authority, to stress the importance of finding money to complete the link.
Among the Fayette County representatives was county commission Chairman Vincent A. Vicites, who said he believes that nothing is more important for the future of Fayette County than completion of the expressway.
Yoder is a also a member of the executive committee of the Mon/Fayette Expressway committee. Meeting with him were Vicites, Fayette Expressway Completion Organization (FAECO) chairman Jim Marzullo, Uniontown businessman Donald Miller and Luzerne Township Supervisor Ron DeSalvo. They are all members of the Fayette County Transportation Alliance.
Vicites said all aspects of the expressway issue were discussed thoroughly. He said Yoder is in favor of completion of the highway as soon as possible. Although the right-of-way acquisition is nearly complete and final design is approved for the 4.1-mile section of road, approximately $70 million in funding needs to be secured to begin construction.
A bridge at the border of West Virginia and Pennsylvania is under construction, but can’t be opened because there isn’t a road on the other side of it. When completed, the entire Mon/Fayette Expressway will stretch from near Interstate 68 in West Virginia north past Fayette County, through the Monongahela Valley and north to Pittsburgh. Plans are to begin construction of the Uniontown to Brownsville link in 2005, once funding is secured. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is handling the toll road for Pennsylvania but the West Virginia link will not be a toll road.
Although former West Virginia Governor Cecil Underwood was a strong supporter of the road, current Gov. Bob Wise hasn’t shared his predecessor’s position.
Vicites said to get support from West Virginia officials, the regional importance of the highway has to be stressed.
“We tried to extol the virtues of what having the road would bring to the state of West Virginia,” Vicites said. Getting money put into next year’s federal highway bill is vital for completion of the West Virginia link, he said.
In order for money to be allocated in the federal bill for West Virginia, Wise has to “prioritize the highway and make it a priority for funding,” Vicites said. During the meeting, Vicites said Yoder pointed out that Wise recently made a decision that developing the Interstate 68 corridor should be a priority. Vicites said that is a very positive development toward getting funding for the Mon/Fayette Expressway.
Marzullo said he felt there was “highly productive and excellent dialog” during the meeting. He said Yoder feels he can pull key people from West Virginia to further discuss the project. Within a month, Vicites said he hopes to line up elected officials from Fayette County and officials from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to meet with elected officials from West Virginia. That meeting will likely be held at a site in West Virginia.
Vicites said hopefully Wise and other officials, including state Sen. Michael A. Oliverio, will attend the meeting. During the meeting, Vicites said plans are to talk about the project, its importance and to try to plan for a strategy for funding.
Both Vicites and Marzullo said they are hopeful that West Virginia will be able to secure funding. Vicites said opening the southern link will bring more development and opportunity to Fayette County in the immediate future than anything else that could be done to move the county forward.
“Once it opens, Fayette County will go into an economic boom. We need to do everything to get the road built,” Vicites said. He said the longer it takes, the higher the pricetag becomes.
“We need to get this done as quickly as possible. This is our lifeblood for the future of Fayette County,” Vicites said.