Pennsylvania Route 43

Infobox road
state=PA
type=PA
route=43
marker_

alternate_name=Mon/Fayette Expressway

---

maint=PennDOT and PTC
length_mi=65.8
length_round=1
length_ref=Fact|date=February 2007
established=1980s
direction_a=South
starting_terminus=
junction=
direction_b=Current
north
ending_terminus=
counties=Fayette, Washington, Allegheny
previous_type=PA
previous_route=42
next_type=PA
next_route=44

Pennsylvania Route 43, commonly known as the Mon/Fayette Expressway and officially the James J. Manderino Highway, is a 66 mile four-lane highway of the Pennsylvania Turnpike system, with a small section in West Virginia designated West Virginia Route 43. Approximately 35 miles of this road have been completed. An additional 30 miles are planned to connect Interstate 68 in Morgantown, West Virginia to Interstate 376 in Pittsburgh and Monroeville . The highway, of which two sections are complete, is signed as Turnpike 43. The short (4 mile) section in West Virginia will be signed as West Virginia Route 43 and also signed as "To Pennsylvania Turnpike 43" (northbound) or "To I-68" (southbound). There is currently no funding available to complete the section between Jefferson Hills and Pittsburgh/Monroeville. The Uniontown-Brownsville link is currently under construction, as is the West Virginia section. A 7-mile segment of the Uniontown-Brownsville link is complete and is scheduled to open on October 23, 2008.

The Mon/Fayette Expressway, which is named after the Monongahela River and Fayette County (the highway itself is named after Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives James J. Manderino, who sponsored the Turnpike western expansion bill for its construction), was originally begun in the mid 1980s by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and was transferred over to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in 1987 to be operated as a toll facility. Unlike the Pennsylvania Turnpike itself and the Northeast Extension connecting Norristown and Scranton, which use long-distance tickets, Turnpike 43, like all of the western expansions of the system, uses fixed tolls collected at regular intervals. The West Virginia section, which is planned to be open in 2011, will not be tolled.

Like the Southern Beltway, the Mon/Fayette Expressway will have no direct connection to the Pennsylvania Turnpike's mainline despite being built and maintained by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. (Both the tolled section of Pennsylvania Route 60 and the tolled section of Pennsylvania Route 66 as well as the Northeast Extension have direct connections to the Turnpike's mainline.) Both highways, however, will have indirect connections with the Turnpike's mainline via Interstate 376.

Exit list

History

The current PA Route 43 is the second Pennsylvania state highway to carry this number. Prior to the mid-1950s, the Schuylkill Expressway (present-day I-76 between Valley Forge and Philadelphia was also signed as PA Route 43, but after the Interstate Highway Act became law, it was redesignated as I-80S, later becoming I-76 in 1974.

Mon/Fayette Expressway

The Mon/Fayette Expressway was originally proposed in the 1950s as a highway linking coke- and steel-producing towns along the Monongahela River Valley. Since the collapse of the steel industry in the area in the early 1980s, however, the project has been re-cast as a potential tool for economic re-development. Following its assignation as a Turnpike Expansion Project in 1986, it is now planned to be a toll road, rather than a free limited-access highway.

In the 1990s, the project was expanded to include a link between Route 43 near Finleyville and the Pittsburgh International Airport. This connector is commonly referred to as the Southern Beltway.

The project has cost over $1.2 billion to date in design and construction costs; the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission estimates that the remaining sections of the Mon/Fayette Expressway and the Southern Beltway will cost an additional $4.2 billion. This cost estimate has been adjusted upwards in every quarter since the Turnpike took responsibility for the project.

Funding for Turnpike expansion projects is currently provided by Pennsylvania through portions of the Oil Company Franchise Tax and various vehicle registration fees. Income from these revenue streams has been fully bonded through 2030, and without a new tax it is unlikely that construction and planning will proceed on the sections that have not yet been built. Because of this, the commission is pursuing a public-private partnership to finish the remaining sections.

If it is completed, the four-lane toll road will serve as a north-south alternative to parallel Interstate 79, and will also provide a bypass for Interstate 376 around the congested Squirrel Hill Tunnel in Pittsburgh, with two northern legs in Pittsburgh and Monroeville. The toll road would also allow direct connections, via the planned I-576 (the Southern Beltway), to the Pittsburgh International Airport on the western extreme of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

The completed sections of the road are built to present-day Interstate Highway standards, similar to that of Delaware Route 1, but the majority of the completed project is not planned to become part of the Interstate Highway System like the parent Turnpike. It has been proposed though that the new I-576 use the Mon/Fayette route to reconnect with I-376 in Allegheny County, so that the northern section of the route could one day be named I-576 after its junction with the interstate near Clairton, Pennsylvania. The two highways would then run concurrent until the highway itself splits, with Pennsylvania Route 43 ending in Pittsburgh on the leg west of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel while I-576 would end on the east side of the tunnel on the Monroeville leg.

Miscellaneous

An expansion of historic Kennywood Amusement Park hinges on the completion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway. When the expressway is completed, Kennywood will expand the park from 92 acres to 140 acres. A hotel, waterpark, and a new signature thrillride will be added during the expansion. Steps are underway to purchase the land, but without the expressway, the project's future remains unknown.

E-ZPass has recently been implemented on all open sections of the Mon/Fayette Expressway, including the Mason Dixon Link south of Uniontown. It will also be available (in the form of E-ZPass express lanes) on the Brownsville-Uniontown link when it opens to traffic. Express E-ZPass will also be available at the Jefferson Hills toll plaza soon.

On October 23, 2008, a link connecting a new section of U.S. Route 40 in Brownsville with the Northgate Connector in Uniontown is expected to open. This will provide travelers with a 65 m.p.h. alternative to the dangerous, busy two-lane stretch of U.S. Route 40 that currently serves as the main throughfare between Brownsville and Uniontown. On October 11, 2008, a "Community Day on the Expressway" will be held for this section.

When the remaining sections of the Brownsville-Uniontown link open in late 2011, there will be a continuous stretch of limited access highway between I-68 in WV and PA Route 51 near the Century III Mall.

External links

* [http://www.pahighways.com/toll/PATurnpike43.html Pennsylvania Highways - PA Turnpike 43]
* [http://flyvbjerg.plan.aau.dk/whatisamegaproject.php What is a megaproject?]
* [http://www.paturnpike.com/monfaysb/79tomfexpress/79tomonfayexpress.htm]
* [http://www.pennfuture.org/userfiles/media/17_CONSADFinalReportToULI.pdf]