Bridge tops list of county projects
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission recently adopted a four-year spending plan for bridges and roads that includes 23 projects throughout Fayette County totaling more than $180 million. While the Fayette County projects are located all throughout the county, the single costliest project is a new Masontown Bridge over the Monongahela River, which will replace the one constructed in 1925.
The 2011 to 2014 Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) for Fayette County includes construction of a new Masontown Bridge that connects Fayette and Greene counties using Route 21. The bridge construction cost of more than $60 million includes $55 million earmarked by the state secretary of transportation, which is included in the county’s TIP allocation amount.
According to the plan, the bridge project will include an 18-foot median, concrete barriers and the replacement of the existing structure with a new four-lane bridge to the south.
Jerry Bendo, project manager for the state Department of Transportation, previously said construction of the new modern, concrete bridge would begin in the later part of 2011, and the bridge would take three years to complete.
Fayette County Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites, a member of SPC who voted for the TIP, said he is pleased that Fayette County got its fair share of TIP money. However, he pointed out that the funding has been reduced.
Vicites said that an emphasis has been put on bridge repair and construction, and the projects reflect that mandate.
“There are projects all over the county, it was very balanced in its distribution,” Vicites said.
He mentioned that improvement projects are slated for Route 21, Route 40 and Route 119.
Vicites added that there won’t be a second round of federal economic stimulus money for road projects like there was last year.
Some of the other projects and their projected cost include intersection improvement at Route 21 and Easy Street in Uniontown ($1.3 million); improvements to Route 21 from Footedale Road to Duck Hollow Road in German Township ($1.1 million); improvements on Route 40 from Farmington to Dinnerbell Road in Wharton Township ($2.1 million); intersection safety improvements at the Torchlight intersection on Route 40 in Menallen Township ($2.8 million); and intersection improvements to the Route 40/Route 381 intersection in Wharton Township ($3.3 million).
Also included are the rehabilitation of the Coal Lick Run Bridge in Uniontown ($734,000): rehabilitation of the Memorial Bridge in Connellsville ($1.3 million); rehabilitation of the Route 201 bridge over Route 51 in Perry Township ($4.1 million); replacement of the bridge on Route 381 over Mill Run in Springfield Township ($3 million); signal improvements in Uniontown (973,000) and bridge rehabilitation on the Grindstone Bridge and the Rowes Run Bridge, both in Redstone Township ($5.2 million).
Commission Chairman Vincent Zapotosky, who also serves on the SPC board, said the projects are needed throughout the county.
Zapotosky also thanked the other SPC members from the county for their participation in the process, A.J. Boni, Bob Schiffbauer and Bill Piper.
Zapotosky said it is difficult to select projects with limited funds, but he added that the projects in the TIP would keep Fayette County moving forward.
Also at the meeting, the SPC approved a motion that stipulated that money no longer would be shifted to fund public mass transit agencies. In the past, some TIP money has been shifted to help mass transit agencies in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia at the request of Gov. Ed Rendell.
Vicites said the SPC wants the Legislature to know that asking planning organizations to shift funding won’t be an option in the future, as was done in 2007.
“We are asking the Legislature to take the subject up to get it resolved,” Vicites said.
The SPC is the regional planning organization whose members include the 10 counties in southwestern Pennsylvania as well as the city of Pittsburgh. The counties in the SPC include: Allegheny, Beaver, Fayette, Greene, Lawrence, Indiana, Armstrong, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland.