Phase II Of Southern Beltway Underway
WASHINGTON COUNTY (KDKA) -- The Findlay connector cuts a path from Pittsburgh International Airport to Route 22, where its concrete has come to a teasing end for years -- a symbol of what could be.
"We've been hearing about is for years and years and nothing ever came to fruition on," said Washington County Commissioners Chairman Larry Maggi.
But soon the southern beltway will start to become a reality.
"The first thing that we're going to do is we are going to start constriction on a bridge that is at the end of the Findlay connector, which has been open to traffic now for a while," said Pennsylvania Turnpike spokesman Tom Fox.
Dirt will fly this spring and spanning Route 22 with a new bridge will be stepping off onto a journey across northern Washington County's rolling farm country, providing highway access where there access has been limited up to now.
"It is going to open up over 4,000 acres of untapped properties for development," Maggi said.
"We have companies daily coming here looking for spots to locate," he added.
From west to east, the beltway will have an interchange at Beech Hallow Road, where developments like what is already appearing on the Findlay connector is a possibility.
Then it's on to an interchange just south of McDonald and another with Route 50, before landing on Interstate 79 -- across the northern edge of the Cemetery of the Allegheny and right on the Washington-Allegheny County line.
Fox says the turnpike already own most of the land.
"I'd say right now at least 80 percent of that property has been acquired," he said.
But there is still a lot of final design to do.
"Final design is going to take at least another two-to-three years," he said.
But he says if everything goes right, the road could be fully open in late 2019 or 2020.
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