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THE SOUTHERN BELTWAY

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    The Southern Beltway would form an arc about 30 miles long, with a radius reaching approximately 15 miles out from Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle.  It would improve access and east-west mobility between the Mon/Fayette Expressway near Finleyville and the PA Route 60 Expressway at the Pittsburgh International Airport.  The project is divided into three distinct sections.  Brief information on each of those sections are listed below.  To find more detailed information, please click on the link on the left column.

    Additional status information for the entire Southern Beltway project may be found below the table.

In August and October 1993, representatives of federal and state environmental, transportation and planning agencies concurred with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission needs data showing that transportation improvements are needed in an area south and east from Pittsburgh International Airport to the proposed Mon/Fayette Expressway near Finleyville. Alternatives to alleviate congestion and facilitate economic development are to be formulated. Resource agency representatives also concurred that there should be three independent Southern Beltway projects:

*PA Route 60 to US Route 22 (approximately six miles)

*US Route 22 to Interstate 79 (approximately 13 miles)

*Interstate 79 to The Mon/Fayette Expressway (approximately 11 miles)

In accordance with the 1991 U.S. Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, a Congestion Management System (CMS) Analysis and a Major Investment Study (MIS) were conducted for the entire Southern Beltway corridor. Under a Memorandum of Understanding, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Regional Planning Commission (SPRPC) were co-lead agencies for the CMS Analysis and Major Investment Study. The Integrated CMS/MIS report recommended construction of a tolled expressway as the major investment that should be pursued to address transportation deficiencies in the study are and that this design concept should be carried forward for more detailed planning in the Environmental Impact Study phase. SPRPC conducted public meetings on August 28, 1996 at West Allegheny High School in Imperial, August 29, 1996 at Canon-MacMillan High School in Canonsburg and September 5, 1996 at West Mifflin High School to allow for comment on the Integrated CMS/MIS report.

SPRPC, the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for Allegheny, Washington, Butler, Beaver, Westmoreland, and Armstrong counties, passed a resolution on September 301, 1996, endorsing the recommendation in the Integrated CMS/MIS report.

Input offered by the public is considered by transportation and environmental agencies as they work to identify transportation improvement alternatives that should be carried forward for further study. Before an alternative is targeted for more in-depth engineering and environmental analyses, it is evaluated in terms of public input, general feasibility and how effect it would be in addressing the identified need for each project. This first phase of screening reduces the number of alternatives that remain viable options and helps to reduce the cost of completing Environmental Impact Statements. Separate Environmental Impact Statements must be prepared for each of the three projects. Ultimately, a preferred alternative reflecting agency and public input will be identified in each FEIS.