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Wednesday, January 30, 2002

By Joe Grata, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The latest in hundreds of meetings over the years about the Mon-Fayette Expressway and related Southern Beltway took place last night -- this time over a Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission plan to raise another $2.5 billion.

If you kept score of the speakers, the results were pretty much the way they have been: For: 7. Against: 11. Mixed opinion: 2.

Turnpike commission officials have proposed a financial plan relying on a combination of private-public partnerships, federal discretionary funds, state tax increases and refinancing existing debt over the next 18 years -- repaying the loans through 2061 -- to finish the 100-mile network of toll roads.

The Allegheny County Public Participation Panel, a citizens advisory arm of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission which is a planning agency for the eight-county area, sponsored the session at the Regional Enterprise Tower, Downtown. The turnpike commission has asked the planning agency to adopt the $2.5 billion plan to satisfy federal requirements.

Patrick Hassett, assistant Pittsburgh planning director, described the plan as speculative but predicted its passage by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission at a Feb. 25 meeting.

He said the plan would require spending "significant political capital" at the expense of other projects, while the long period of time needed to raise the money would bring disinvestment in the corridors as inflation raised costs. If the plan doesn't work, he asked, "what gets cut? Do we get half the project we thought we'd get?"

He said the city continued to support the 24-mile section of the expressway from Route 51 in Jefferson Hills north to Pittsburgh and Monroeville, but only if the turnpike commission met conditions set by Mayor Tom Murphy, such as preserving riverfronts, minimizing impacts on property owners and adding architectural amenities. He said Murphy was equally concerned about the funding plan.

About 47 percent of the updated $4 billion cost for all seven sections of the Mon-Fayette Expressway and Southern Beltway would be used to build the northern section to Pittsburgh and Monroeville. A 17-mile section, connecting Interstate 70 in Fallowfield with Route 51, will be opened in April.

Joe Dornbrook, representing the Airport Area Development Council, argued that funding for the toll roads would be determined in the ebb and flow of politics.

"As [Pittsburgh's] sports stadium issue proved conclusively, there is never a lack of money, only a lack of political will," he said.

Joan Miles, representing PennFuture, a citizens group promoting more livable communities, said because the turnpike commission had already raised $1.5 billion for the toll roads, taxpayers shouldn't be lulled into believing they're obliged to raise another $2.5 billion.

Marilyn Skolnick of the Sierra Club, which is opposed to the toll roads, said the turnpike's latest financial plan was "based on hopes and expectations only. We want to see this project ended now and other transportation alternatives put in its place."