Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge was joined by West Virginia Governor Cecil Underwood and federal, state and local officials to mark the March 1 grand opening of the Pennsylvania side of the Mon/Fayette Expressway’s Mason Dixon Link during a public ceremony held in Georges Township, Fayette County.

This newest part of an expressway system that eventually will link Pittsburgh (at Interstate 376) and Morgantown, W.Va. (at Interstate 68) is the first Mon/Fayette project to be constructed by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and extends nearly eight miles to the West Virginia border. The 6.5-mile section between Gans Road and Big Six Road opened for regular traffic at 3 p.m. on March 1.

"This road is an excellent first step toward the resurgence of Fayette County," Gov. Ridge told an audience of 200 jammed inside a large tent on the northbound lanes of the new highway. "Your advocacy has been tireless. After today’s opening and the completion of the four-mile segment to Interstate 68 in West Virginia, Fayette County will go onto the A-list for many businesses wishing to relocate."

Uniontown philanthropist Robert E. Eberly presented Gov. Ridge and Gov. Underwood with replicas of the prestigious Eberly Economic Development Award for their efforts to bring jobs and investment to the area.

"This is a grand day for Fayette County," said Turnpike Commission Executive Director John T. Durbin, who served as emcee for the event. "The Turnpike Commission is committed to this area."

"Today, we are very excited at seeing this project come to fruition," Gov. Underwood said. "This highway will transform our coal heritage and industry and provide new opportunities for development. We will have access to Pittsburgh like we have never had before."

The opening ceremony was held just south of the Big Six Road interchange near the new $140 million toll road’s connection to a four-mile Mon/Fayette/Route 43 component that was built by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PENNDOT) and opened in 1992 as the Chadville Demonstration Project.

Motorists can enter and exit the new expressway at Big Six Road, Rubles Mill Road and Gans Road. There are four toll collection lanes on the ramps at the Rubles Mill Road interchange. Two lanes are for customers entering the southbound lanes. Two others are for customers exiting the northbound lanes.

All other traffic is tolled at a six-lane "mainline" plaza approximately one mile north of Rubles Mill Road. Tolls range from 50 cents (at Rubles Mill Road) and 75 cents (at the mainline plaza) for two-axle vehicles to $2.50 and $3.75 respectively for six-axle vehicles.

Automated multi-mode machines in each of the 10 fare collection lanes accept $1 and $5 bills, coins (including dollar coins) and Turnpike Commission commercial cards. Each unit issues change and, if the customer chooses, a receipt. Coin baskets accept exact fare in coins only or coins paid in combination with a bill.

All functions are on two levels to provide equal convenience for drivers sitting high or low. As a vehicle enters a toll collection lane, sensors classify the vehicle and the correct fare appears on the machine’s message viewer. Fare collection is totally automated. Turnpike employees are present to load machines and provide assistance.

The Turnpike Commission also introduced a new solar-powered cellular call box on the new expressway that allows live voice communication with a radio operator. Each box provides simple instructions. And, provided the caller pushes the "call activation" button, the radio operator can verify the location even if the caller does not speak.

Call boxes where motorists can report accidents, breakdowns and other problems to the 24-hour Turnpike Operations Center are a fixture on the 500-plus-mile Pennsylvania Turnpike system. Typically, they are pole-mounted on the edge of the berm and spaced one mile apart.

Call boxes deployed elsewhere on the Turnpike system allow the caller to signal the type of assistance desired by pushing one of four buttons ("service," "police," "medical," "accident"). The signal is relayed to the Operations Center via a repeater system. Radio operators immediately dispatch the appropriate responder(s) to the location.

Contracted responders for the Turnpike Commission’s section of the Mason Dixon Link are Laurel Ambulance Service of Uniontown (emergency medical services), Point Marion Volunteer Fire Department, Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department. Joby’s Gulf of Uniontown is the authorized vehicle service provider.

Another 17 miles of the 65-mile Mon/Fayette Expressway system is expected to open in late 2001 when the Turnpike Commission completes construction of the Mon/Fayette Expressway Project extending north from Interstate 70 in Fallowfield Township, Washington County, to Pa. Route 51 in Jefferson Hills, Allegheny County. It also will tie in with the Turnpike Commission’s six-mile California Toll Road, the first Mon/Fayette/Route 43 component to open (in October 1990, after being turned over to the Turnpike Commission by PENNDOT).

Construction starts for the two remaining Mon/Fayette Expressway projects – from Uniontown to Brownsville and the Pittsburgh leg north from Route 51 – are several years away.

Following the ceremony in Pennsylvania, Gov. Ridge joined Gov. Underwood for a groundbreaking event at the Cheat Lake Volunteer Fire Department to commemorate the start of construction for the West Virginia side. West Virginia awarded its first construction contract in October 1999.

While it may be five years before West Virginia’s segment is ready, according to Assistant Transportation Secretary Tom Badgett, the rainy weather did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd that came to revel in the good news regarding the Pennsylvania side.