On Monday , Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission officials broke ground on the next phase of the Mon/Fayette Expressway, a $214 million contract for a three-mile section from Route 51 to Coal Valley Road in Jefferson Hills.
The current expressway runs 54 miles from I-68 near Morgantown to Jefferson Hills.
When completed, the $1.3 billion southern section will ultimately extend eight miles from Route 51 to Route 837 in Duquesne.
“As a native of the Mon Valley, I’m excited to see the final leg of this project moving forward,” said Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis in attendance at the groundbreaking. “This construction will support thousands of jobs right here in southwestern Pennsylvania.”
Below, see drone footage of the proposed southern section.
The first part of the southern section will require contractor Trumbull Construction to excavate more than 4 million cubic yards of earth and build six bridges. The section will also contain a cashless toll point.
The next contract for the southern section is expected to go out for bid later this year. To keep up with the construction progress see PaTurnpike.com/monfayette.
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .
