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Mon-Fayette Expressway may take out homes and golf holes Residents plan to protest disruption of quiet neighborhoods at meeting Wednesday, April 04, 2001 By Jim Hosek, Tri-State Sports & News Service
Terry Duvall refers to her Riverview Drive neighborhood in Dravosburg as "Shangri-La, an idyllic place to live."
She is not sure if her house is among those on her street slated for demolition if the latest route of the proposed Mon-Fayette Expressway from Jefferson Hills to Pittsburgh is approved.
But because she doesn't want her neighborhood disturbed at all, she'll be among those protesting April 21 at a Turnpike Commission public meeting in West Mifflin Area High School.
She will not be alone. Protests will be registered from other Mon Valley communities where the 24-mile route has raised concerns.
Jessica Schaeffer, her parents and neighbors on Randall Street in West Mifflin will be arguing to save the Schaeffer's historic home which would be razed under the plan.
Also expected to attend the meeting -- but not protest -- is Ed Vietmeier, the golf pro at the Duquesne Golf Club where two holes of the 18-hole course would be taken by the expressway.
Duvall said that two years ago, a route proposed for the expressway would have meant the loss of the home she has owned for eight years.
"I feel like I'm in a horrible position," she said. "Last year, I was out working on my rock garden, but my heart wasn't in it. I didn't know if I was working on it for nothing."
She said that even if her house is not slated for demolition under the latest plan, she doesn't want any of her neighbors to lose their homes. And she said residents don't want the expressway so close to their neighborhood.
"It would be wrong to disrupt such a beautiful neighborhood. My neighbors are great, and we love it here," Duvall said.
"We have a great view of the Monongahela River, and that would be destroyed. The quiet of the neighborhood will be destroyed by the highway, too."
One of the routes proposed two years ago would have taken a number of homes on Randall Street in West Mifflin. The latest calls for the demolition of only one -- the Schaeffers' 100-year-old home that used to be a school house.
Jessica Schaeffer said most of her neighbors will protest because they don't want to see even one house go, and because they don't want the expressway so close to their homes.
"My parents are heartbroken over this," Schaeffer said. "There's no reason for one house to go. And we don't want to see our quiet, close-knit neighborhood destroyed. And we know the wildlife we now see here -- deer, turkeys and foxes -- won't be here if this highway goes through."
Duquesne Golf Club's Vietmeier said he'll be at the Turnpike Commission meeting mainly to get more detailed information.
He said he doesn't believe the club or any of its members will protest the loss of holes three and four "which are the worst two holes in the front nine."
"Actually, I've had no negative comments about this," he said, adding that the course, built in 1929, might even be better with two new holes. "We have enough property for two new holes, but we might have to give up the driving range or part of it."
The 146-acre club averages 24,000 rounds of golf a year.
Vietmeier said the club's long-range planning committee is concerned that it doesn't have more detailed information about when the holes might have to go.
"I'm sure there will be an inconvenience for us for a couple years, and we want to be ready. But right now, we're kind of in the dark," he said.
In addition to the April 21 meeting from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., three other meetings, all from 1 to 8 p.m., are scheduled. On Tuesday the meeting will be in the Braddock Volunteer Fire Department No. 2 Social Hall; April 12, in Steel Valley High School; and April 17 in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 5 offices on Pittsburgh's South Side.
At each meeting, detailed maps of proposed routes will be available, and there will be slide shows showing renderings of the highway. Turnpike officials will be available to meet with people individually.
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