Mon Fayette Expressway Project Map UGH!!! (Pittsburgh, West Mifflin: 2013, house, neighborhoods)

[Catia]

Ok, so I don't know if this is the most up to date or if there have been revisions since this was done:
http://www.paturnpike.com/monfaysb/5...bbreviated.pdf

Here is the map:
http://www.paturnpike.com/monfaysb/5...andout8x11.pdf

What are they doing with this project???

Anyone know where to get the most up to date plans with a bit more detail?

Are people being notified who are 'in the way' --I know there was some controversy over this project.
There are so many neighborhoods affected, & will be split, & blocked river access.

They need to either ditch it, or get off the pot & start already.


Now some guy upstairs is playing a little trick on me--because on that map--From Jefferson Hills, through West Mifflin, Dravosburg, Duquesne, Mckeesport , Braddock, North Braddock & Duck Hollow --underneath the exact line drawn for that route--IS EVERY SINGLE house I have pegged to look at to buy, & 3 I have already seen.

Now this last link is from 2004--so surely SOMETHING had to be modified since then--
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation » Mon-Fayette Expressway extension will leave a heavy impression – Road cuts into history

What a wretched plan.

Where are all of these jobs that people need to get to to pay $12 to/from work in tolls every day?
I drove it once from Uniontown-& I will never do it again-the tolls are ridiculous.

[PreservationPioneer]

This project is dead.

[LIRefugee]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

This project is dead.

It better be. It always pains me to see highways ploughed through cities.

[I_Like_Spam]

Was the Birmingham Bridge originally going to be part of this project?

Is that the purpose of the start of the ramp on the eastern side of the bridge on the Southside, as well as the bridge's superhighway dimensions?

As we remember, the Brady St. Bridge which it replaced was a lot more modest of a structure.

[Catia]

I hate to cite Wikipedia as a true source, but it appears it is not dead, as of 11/25/2013:
Mon

"In May 2013, a raise in the oil tax cap in Pennsylvania was proposed in the Pennsylvania General Assembly to fund additional transportation projects, including completing the Mon–Fayette Expressway and the Southern Beltway, as part of a larger transportation bill to help fund projects in the state.[SIZE=2][10][/SIZE] Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett signed a modified version of the bill into law on November 25, 2013 after much debate in the General Assembly that nearly killed the bill before being passed.[SIZE=2][11][/SIZE] The new bill, which local politicians acknowledged that without passage would've killed the remaining segments of the Mon–Fayette Expressway, is expected to provide funding to complete the Southern Beltway all the way to the Mon–Fayette Expressway and provide a little less than half of the $2.2 billion (as of December 2013) needed to complete the Mon–Fayette Expressway. It was also acknowledged that like the Uniontown-to-Brownsville Project, the final leg may be built in multiple phases in order to preserve funding for other projects in the state. It is expected that even with the new funding that one of the two legs of the Mon–Fayette Expressway will not be built and the highway will now be built either to Pittsburgh or Monroeville instead of both.[SIZE=2][12][/SIZE] The second leg of the Southern Beltway, which had already been announced will proceed in construction, is expected to be the first portion of the two highways that will be built with the new funding available.[SIZE=2][10][/SIZE]"

[PreservationPioneer]

Developers move forward despite uncertainty surrounding Mon-Fayette Expressway plans - Pittsburgh Business Times

[Catia]

Good article, but it is also from June 2013, & Corbett signed a modified version of the transportation bill into law just a few weeks ago, 11/25/2013, which includes completing Mon Fayette exprswy.

This disturbs the bejeebus outta me--Corbett slides things in quietly that have detrimental effects & no one realizes it until there is nothing they can do--like his amendments to Act 60-- & also he created an Act 60--2 different things, but sound the same.

I'd like to find a way to get my hands on that modified version.

Not kidding -- just about every little nook I found was covered by that darn road--I can only imagine how ugly it would be, ugly & empty. Few people drive 43, I was the only one on that road from Uniontown to Jefferson Hills. As I paid the tolls--I knew exactly why. The 3 minute difference was not worth the digging like mad for change & being shocked at how many tolls--
Locals cannot afford those tolls for a daily commute.
Unless they are relocating 1/2 of DC govt to the Mon Valley, & spreading it all out- I don't see locals wanting or needing the road, we just don't have the population traveling that route, & no one wants to pay it.

[Craziaskowboi]

Build the Monroeville leg, not the Pittsburgh leg.

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

I never understood why they didn't actually start with the Beltway portion first, connecting Monroeville south to 79 and the airport. The beltway section would see a much higher traffic volume and also help alleviate traffic in the city. I don't know what purpose 43 serves given that it stubs at 51. I still have to traverse the worst part of 51 before I start "saving time" if headed to Uniontown.

Same would go for the Findlay Connector. What a dumb segment to start with as it sees no traffic. I know they start with the path of least resistance when selecting segments to start with. But what benefit is an empty highway, requiring maintenance, generating negative public opinion, that provides no revenue for continued project development?

[ditchdigger]

I never understood why they didn't actually start with the Beltway portion
first, connecting Monroeville south to 79 and the airport. The beltway section
would see a much higher traffic volume and also help alleviate traffic in the
city. I don't know what purpose 43 serves given that it stubs at 51.

Probably A) Because it was easier and cheaper to put it through the sparsely populated rural areas, and B) because now that the rural part is done, it would seem easier to make the case that it needs to be completed through the more populated and expensive areas to keep the first part from being such a white elephant.

I do think if it were completed the existing portion would be more of an asset, and see more use.