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Wednesday, July 24, 2002

By Joe Grata, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Last week's first formal, federally mandated public hearing on environmental impacts drew considerable support from Mon Valley witnesses to build the northern section of the Mon-Fayette Expressway.

But two Mon Valley residents asked at the session at West Mifflin High School that their properties be acquired as hardship cases.

They claimed that construction based on current plans for the 24-mile, $2 billion section from Route 51, Jefferson Hills, north to the Parkway East in Monroeville and Pittsburgh would bring noise, water, sewage, possible subsidence and other problems.

Amy Kint of Dravosburg said her house would be isolated, with retaining walls on two sides -- one only 15 feet from the edge of her deck -- according to existing plans, which are still preliminary. "We want the turnpike to take our house," she said, ending her brief testimony in tears.

Tracylynn Magiske of Jefferson Hills, representing three families on Coal Valley Road, said they would be left on a cul de sac, subject to flooding, and find themselves living below an expressway bridge.

"We didn't buy our house [24 years ago] with a bridge above it and we don't want to live in a house with a bridge above it," she said. "Please buy it."

Last week's hearing was the first of three to gather public comment about a detailed environmental impact study of the section of the Mon-Fayette Expressway.

The final hearing will be held from 1 to 9 p.m. tomorrow at the Monroeville Expo Mart, although written comments can be submitted to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission through Sept. 9.

Thirty-five miles, or about half, of the expressway are finished and open, mainly in Washington and Fayette counties. The southern end will join I-68 in West Virginia, east of Morgantown.

At the West Mifflin hearing, most of almost three dozen people wanted to see the turnpike build the northern section from Route 51 north to East Pittsburgh, where it would split into a Y, with one leg following the Turtle Creek Valley to Business Route 22 and the Parkway East in Monroeville, and the other leg going along the north shore of the Mon River into Pittsburgh and the Parkway East near Oakland.

Speaking in favor

Here are synopses of what some expressway advocates had to say:

Andy Quinn, director of community relations for Kennywood and Sandcastle, said the future growth of the two regional attractions hinges on the project. "The Mon Valley has a lousy road system," he said. "We need help now and it comes in the form of the Mon-Fayette Expressway."

Lisle Williams, chairman of the Construction Legislative Council, representing 14 construction-related groups, noted that Pittsburgh has three major tunnels through which vehicles have to pass to travel from east, west and south, which restricts mobility, adds to congestion and leaves the region with a "fragile" transportation system.

Heather Gibson of Carnegie testified as a "concerned citizen" familiar with the travails of travel to Pittsburgh, where she attended Duquesne University, and to jobs in the South Hills and Monroeville. "I made plans to move, but friends and family talked me out of it," Gibson said. She hopes that getting around and the region's future will improve soon.

Mike Federenko, manager of the U.S. Steel Corp.'s Irvin Works in West Mifflin, said the manufacturer needs better roads for 300 trucks a day that travel between his plant and the Edgar Thompson Works in Braddock. He brought 231 letters of support for the expressway, "each written and signed by employees of the two plants."

Richard Olasz of West Mifflin, former state House and Allegheny County Council member, called the East Street Expressway (I-279) an example of "what a first-class highway means to a region." While the Mon Valley was once the "biggest tax contributor in Allegheny County," he said, "now we have to get on our hands and knees to get a pothole patched."

To get to Kennywood, he said, many people have to cross the Rankin Bridge, "so rusty that it looks like it belongs in a junkyard. Go to Hershey Amusement Park, and you'll see the difference between their roads and ours."

George Matta, former Duquense mayor, now county clerk of courts, said the expressway would lay the foundation for future growth.

Bob Cornell of Mon Valley Petroleum, said the 70-year-old firm is looking to expand its Elizabeth Township business if it would reduce transportation costs to use the Mon-Fayette Expressway to distribute to its wholesale and retail customers.

Wyndell Williams of West Mifflin talked about "a lot of my friends, 42 and under, who take jobs in North Carolina" because the lack of an adequate road system has prevented economic development opportunities in the Mon Valley.

Correction/Clarification: (Published July 30, 2002) It was Gary Matta's brother, George, county clerk of courts and former Duquesne mayor, who testified in favor of the Mon-Fayette Expressway at a recent public hearing about the proposed toll road. South incorrectly identified the speaker as Gary in a July 24 story.