The Pennsylvania Turnpike will unveil the proposed location Tuesday for a new interchange somewhere along Route 130 in Penn Township, Westmoreland County, but the interchange likely won’t be built for more than 10 years.
The interchange, pushed by county and local officials for more than two decades, was approved by the turnpike commission in 2021, and design began in 2023 for a proposed opening in 2026. Now, because a turnpike consultant has projected flat traffic over the next 20 years that will limit the agency’s toll revenue, the turnpike has changed its capital plan and postponed construction of the interchange until 2034 with an opening in 2038.
The agency will hold an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Penn-Trafford High School cafeteria to show the public the proposed interchange design and location. There won’t be a formal program, but plans for the interchange will be on display and show any property the agency will need to buy for the project.
Turnpike personnel will be available to answer questions as people look at the display boards.
State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield and president pro tempore of the Senate, was surprised when she was told Friday the interchange project has been pushed back and vowed to fight the move. She has been among the local officials lobbying for the interchange, which the township believes will open the heavily residential area to more commercial and industrial development.
“That needs to be addressed,” she said. “We will work hard to get that changed back. We’re going to move this forward.”
Ward said it is unacceptable for the agency to push back needed projects when it has $180 million in uncollected tolls this year from scofflaws who don’t have E-ZPass transponders and refuse to pay bills they receive in the mail. She blames that problem on the agency’s decision to eliminate toll collectors during the pandemic.
The turnpike claims the unpaid tolls are a very small portion of revenue and well within the industry standard for what the industry calls “leakage.” Ward said she expects the Legislature to pass laws next year to help the agency collect from nonpayers, especially those from other states.
Ward said the Penn Township interchange is important because there is limited access to the township, which mostly sits between routes 22 and 30 but doesn’t have a major highway for businesses. The new interchange between Irwin and Monroeville will put three interchanges within 11 miles.
Right now, township residents use two-lane roads such as Pleasant Valley Road to get to the turnpike in Monroeville.
In addition to the interchange, the turnpike has pushed back two projects until 2031 to widen the turnpike to three lanes in each direction between Irwin and Monroeville.
George Dunbar, a former Penn Township commissioner who is retiring in January after 14 years as state representative, said he understands if financial concerns are holding back the interchange.
“As long as we continue to move forward, it will get done,” he said Friday. “I think ideally the best time to build it is at the same time as the expansion. The key thing is this project has local buy-in, so it will get done.”
The interchange is expected to be the first in Western Pennsylvania to be built without a toll plaza since the agency is switching to open road tolling. It is in the process of installing overhead gantries on the main line to read E-ZPass transponders or take license plate photos of those who don’t have a transponder and send them a toll bill in the mail.
That means the interchange would take far less land and drivers would have free-flowing entrance and exit ramps like interstate highways.
The turnpike expects to begin converting old toll plazas in the eastern part of the state next year after gantries open on the Northeastern Extension and between Reading and the New Jersey border in January. Eleven gantries will begin construction from Fulton County to the Ohio border next year and are scheduled to open in 2027.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.