Expressway extension backed
A column in the Sunday, June 18, issue of the Herald-Standard by state Rep. Matt Dowling, R-Uniontown, regarding two toll road expansion projects was headlined, “Dowling sets record straight on roads.”
Hardly.
His piece generalized and “veered all over the map,” so to speak, revealing a dearth of history, facts, perspective and vision about the Mon-Fayette Expressway or the related Southern Beltway, the project which he and 10 colleagues believe the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission should prioritize over the MFX for funding and construction.
He characterizes the Southern Beltway as “both a road to Pittsburgh and a road to jobs,” but for whom? Dowling’s “road to Pittsburgh” would involve a 60-mile detour via I-70, I-79, the Southern Beltway and I-376 into the city.
Jobs exist and would be preserved in the corridor of the proposed 14-mile northern extension of the MFX – nearly 10,000 total at U.S. Steel Corp. works in West Mifflin, Clairton and Braddock, Bettis Atomic Power Lab, Kennywood and others while “ready-to-build” industrial sites would become more viable. The expressway would provide safer, time-savings access from southern Allegheny County to the Monroeville Interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It would eliminate a missing link in the long-discussed “outer beltway” for Pittsburgh.
Mr. Dowling should also recognize that highways are “two-way streets.” He should be promoting completion of the MFX as a convenient route to get people FROM Pittsburgh and its eastern suburbs TO Fayette County, where the 51st Legislative District he represents embraces the popular Laurel Highlands.
The Route 40 corridor is the backbone of the 51st from Masontown to Meyersdale. Tourist attractions such as Fallingwater (181,000 visitors last year), Nemacolin Woodlands, Lady Luck Casino, Ohiopyle, historic sites, bike trails, restaurants, shops, fishing, boating, hunting and adventure are important to the local economy. Completing the MFX by extending convenient, modern access where it is sorely lacking will lure significantly more people, jobs and growth.
Example: I have relatives in Bethel Park who drive a few miles to Finleyville, jump on the MFX and arrive at the Summit Inn for dinner more quickly than I can get there from the Belle Vernon area where I live.
Last Sunday afternoon, I stopped to observed traffic entering the MFX (Toll 43) northbound at Route 51 near Uniontown. In one hour, I counted 62 vehicles carrying bicycles or kayaks, apparently after enjoying the outdoors (and spending money in Fayette County) as I did at Ohiopyle.
Likewise, my state legislator, Rep. Bud Cook, R-Coal Center, who represents much of the Mid-Mon Valley, signed on to the letter that seeks to prioritize the Southern Beltway. He, too, should know better and realize the MFX, while no panacea for what ails us, has nevertheless provided a lifeline that has kept this area afloat.
I am prone to forgive Mr. Dowling’s and Mr. Cook’s rush to judgment as “newbies” in Harrisburg who have sided with colleagues looking out for themselves inasmuch as the Southern Beltway clearly benefits their legislative districts.
Hopefully, this narrative is the one that helps “set the record straight on roads” whose development will serve the greater good of the region and not self-interests.
A resident of Washington Township, Grata is president of the Belle Vernon Area School Board and a Fayette County representative to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.