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Wednesday, July 17, 2002

By Joe Grata, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Highway opponents have become fixtures at public meetings about the 24-mile northern section of the Mon-Fayette Expressway into Pittsburgh.

But the people sitting in a part of a corridor marked as reserved for "special interest groups" at West Mifflin Senior High School yesterday were for the $2 billion project, not against.

Fresh off the job and dressed in jeans, T-shirts and work shoes, several dozen "heavy" carpenters -- those who work on roads, bridges and other big public projects -- represented the Western Pennsylvania Regional District Council of Carpenters as a show of support for the toll road.

It was the first of three meetings to gather public comment about a voluminous environmental impact study of the section of the Mon-Fayette Expressway north of Route 51, Jefferson Hills, the last major hurdle toward gaining federal approval to eventually build one of the most expensive highway projects under way in the United States.

The other meetings will be held next week -- from 1 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Burgwin Elementary School, Hazelwood, and Thursday at the Pittsburgh Expo Mart, Monroeville.

Mike Welsh, heavy construction representative for the Green Tree-based carpenters' union, said the expressway represents more than 30,000 "good paying jobs" for members, other trades and crafts, contractors and suppliers over five years, once construction starts. He said the project also will create badly needed transportation infrastructure and job opportunities.

"The purpose is to breathe some life back into the region so we don't move from the No. 2 spot for senior citizen population to No. 1," Welsh said. "No major highway has been built on this side of [Pittsburgh] for at least 30 years."

Thirty-five miles, or about half, of the expressway are finished and open, mainly in Washington and Fayette counties.

Less than three dozen people testified at yesterday's meeting , but public support weighed heavily in favor of building the northern section, which is to go from Route 51 north to East Pittsburgh and 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 following the north shore of the Monongahela River into the city and Parkway East near Oakland.

Alexander Demarsh of Baldwin, identifying himself as a community activist and visionary, said the $2 billion to be spent on the expressway would be better invested in the communities "in homes, business loans and entreprenurial grants."

Here are synopses of what other expressway supporters besides the carpenters union had to say:

State Sen. Sean Logan noted how A.J. Silberman & Co., a "hometown" confectionary supplier, chose to expand in Braddock, where an expressway interchange is to be located. "The expressway will help convince other companies to follow their lead."

Connie Yarris, executive director of the Regional Business Alliance, representing six chambers of commerce, said: "Mon Valley residents seldom venture into town to attend some of the best arts and cultural activities in the country because, to coin an old phrase, you just can't get there from here."

Andy Quinn, director of community relations for Kennywood and Sandcastle, called the project essential to future growth of the two attractions.

State Sen. Jack Wagner, D-Beechview, said the idea for the expressway was born 57 years ago, suggested by the mayor of Monongahela. "It's time to stop equivocating about the necessity of the project," he said. "The costs of the expressway will double if we wait another 15 years, but who could estimate the cost of lost jobs and lost opportunity?"