Toll road draws federal support
The Mon/Fayette Expressway project got a small boost from federal lawmakers when Congress approved $2 million in funding for the Uniontown-to-Brownsville link of the roadway. “Any time we can get an influx in federal money, it can help us build highway,” Jim Marzullo, chairman of the Fayette Expressway Completion Organization, said Monday. “I am grateful for Rep. John Murtha for his support of the project.”
According to Murtha (D-Johnstown), the funding will be used for continued design work and construction costs for the 14-mile section of the expressway.
“(The Mon/Fayette Expressway) is clearly the biggest project for Fayette County in terms of its economic impact, and this funding will help keep this essential project moving forward,” Murtha said.
Marzullo said state elected officials are continuing to work to fund the major portion of the second half of the project, which costs a little more than $250 million, with the total bill for the roadway link now topping $500 million.
The local project will connect the Route 119 Uniontown bypass with the expressway section (Route 43) in California and Centerville via Route 88 on the Washington County side of the Monongahela River.
Marzullo specifically mentioned three areas – the new bridge carrying the expressway over the Monongahela River, the Route 51 at Route 119 interchange and the interchange at Walt’s Bar along Route 40 – as specific targets for incoming funds from state and federal sources.
He said he is confident that state legislators, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, will provide the funding necessary to complete the expressway.
“This road is not a pork project for us, and the lawmakers recognize that,” Marzullo said. “This is badly needed for our area.”
According to Marzullo, the county remains behind the rest of the state when it comes to interstate highways.
“We are one of few who don’t have one inch (of interstate highways),” Marzullo said. “I mean, Route 40, the old National Road, is our main thoroughfare east to west.”
The Uniontown-to-Brownsville link is divided into 10 design sections, including the new bridge over the Monongahela River and a “main line toll facility,” to be located along the highway near Brier Hill.
Marzullo said the turnpike commission is continuing negotiations regarding property acquisitions for the project, and has completed 61 of 63 “total takes.”
He said after completing the “total takes” of home and business owners, the commission will begin negotiations with 211 “partial takes” along the highway’s proposed route.
In Fayette County, Luzerne, Redstone, Menallen, North Union and South Union townships all have at least one property that will be affected or sold to the commission as a result of the road. All the properties in Washington County that will be acquired for the right of way are in Centerville Borough.
Marzullo, who helped spearhead the revitalization of the Uniontown-to-Brownsville link in the early 1990s after the state scrapped the section, has worked to see the project come to fruition, something he said is finally sooner than later.
Marzullo said that until the state moves forward with a budget for the project, it will be hard to put a timeline on the roadway’s completion, but he added that he thinks the expressway could be completed as early as late 2008 or early 2009.
“Without the citizens’ support, this road would be dead,” Marzullo said. “It has been a concerted effort, and we can get it done.”