About 1 mile of Miller Road in Jefferson Hills was closed permanently Monday morning in one of the initial phases of construction for the extension of the Mon-Fayette Expressway from Route 51 in Jefferson to Route 837 in Duquesne.
Miller is closed between the intersection with Route 885 and the intersection with Route 837. Contractor Trumbull Corp. of Pittsburgh eventually will turn Miller into cul-de-sacs at each end.
Motorists are encouraged to use Route 885 and Route 837 as alternatives.
Trumbull began clearing brush last month under a $214 million contract with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, which is building the toll road. Trumbull will build a 3.1-mile chunk from Route 51 in Jefferson Hills to Coal Valley Road in West Mifflin. That’s the first of more than a half dozen contracts expected to cost an estimated $1.3 billion over the next five years.
Overall, the southern portion of the highway will extend just over 8 miles. It will be built from south to north, and each section will open as it is completed. The northern leg of the project, from Duquesne to the Parkway East in Monroeville, is on hold until the turnpike is sure it has the money to move forward with that section.
The turnpike is obligated to build the highway by the state Legislature using money from the oil franchise tax, not toll revenue.
The highway has been talked about for the Monongahela Valley since the late 1960s, initially as a way to save the steel industry and then to rebuild brownfields after much of that industry closed. It initially was scheduled to have a wing into Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River, but opposition from then-Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and Oakland hospitals and universities killed that plan.
The highway begins at Interstate 68 in Cheat Lake, W. Va., and extends 54 miles to Jefferson Hills. The last new section opened in 2012 in Jefferson Hills.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.