TURNPIKE SEEKS CONSTRUCTION MANAGER FOR FIRST SOUTHERN BELTWAY PROJECT

HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission took formal action today to seek proposals for construction management and inspection services relative to the six-mile Findlay Connector that will extend south from the Pa. Route 60 Expressway at Pittsburgh International Airport to U.S. Route 22 in Robinson Township, Washington County.

Today’s action follows Gov. Mark Schweiker’s September 18 recommendation that the Turnpike Commission earmark the funding necessary to complete the highway. This will be the first construction-related contract awarded for the Findlay Connector.

“The commission’s goal is to have this project open for traffic in 2005,” said Turnpike Executive Director John T. Durbin. “The area surrounding Pittsburgh’s world-class airport is ripe for development and this highway should be a key economic generator because it will greatly enhance access and mobility.”

Travel time to the airport will be reduced substantially for traffic originating near the stretch of Route 22 in Washington County and for traffic coming from the west, including the Weirton, W.Va. and Steubenville, Ohio areas.

The construction management contract, likely to be awarded in First Quarter 2003, is estimated at $12 to $15 million and is expected to run from March 2003 to January 2006. The primary responsibility of the construction manager is to oversee the work of the general contractors who will build the limited-access toll road.

The Commission expects to bid the first of three roadway construction contracts in First Quarter 2003 and the other two in Second Quarter 2003.

Right-of-way acquisition and the relocation of affected utilities must precede construction.

North to south, interchanges on the Findlay Connector will be built at the main entrance to Pittsburgh International Airport on Route 60; U.S. Route 30 southeast of Clinton village; at the junction of Bald Knob, Ridge and Burgettstown Roads; and at Route 22 between Route 22’s Pa. Route 980 and Bavington interchanges.

All of the interchanges north of Route 22 will be in Findlay Township, Allegheny County.

Direct access in and out of Pittsburgh International Airport will be provided at the north end of the project. In addition, two “missing” ramps at Route 60’s interchange with Clinton Road will be constructed and Route 30 will be widened at its interchange with the Findlay Connector to include a turning lane.

The Findlay Connector is one of three independent projects under development by the Turnpike that would interconnect to form a 30-mile Southern Beltway south and east from Pittsburgh International Airport to the Mon/Fayette Expressway in the mid-Mon Valley.

Prospective alignments for the two other beltway projects are still under review. Each of the two other projects – Route 22-to-Interstate 79 and I-79 to the Mon/Fayette Expressway – is approximately 12 miles long