Route 43 - Mon-Fayette Expressway

Pennsylvania Turnpike Route 43

Better known as the Mon-Fayette Expressway, PA 43 follows a series of toll roads and pre-existing freeway segments from the West Virginia state line, east of Point Marion, to Jefferson Hills, south of Pittsburgh. The toll road first opened between U.S. 40 and Interstate 70 on October 19, 1990. The southernmost section followed and was completed by March 1, 2000 between Gans Road (Exit 2) and U.S. 119 (Morgantown Road). This toll stretch joined the Chadville Demonstration Project (Morgantown Road north to U.S. 40 southwest of Uniontown), a freeway built by PennDOT and transferred to the Turnpike Commission when it was finished in 1993.1

Further work on the Mon-Fayette Expressway focused on the toll road north from Interstate 70 to PA 51. This stretch opened initially between I-70 (Exit 36) and Coyle Curtain Road (Exit 39) near North Charleroi on May 11, 2001 and overall to PA 51 at Jefferson Hills on April 12, 2002.1 The south end included two miles of unopened freeway from Gans Road to the West Virginia State line. WVDOT connected that roadway with its portion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway finally on July 11, 2001. This portion continues the numbering as West Virginia 43 to Interstate 68 by Cheat Lake.

The most recent construction of PA Turnpike 43 concluded on July 16, 2012 involving the Uniontown-to-Brownsville link. Built at a cost of $882 million, the 17 mile segment first opened in 2008 between U.S. 119 and PA 51 at Uniontown and Redstone Way, southeast of Brownsville. The second phase included a 3,022 foot $95 million bridge over the Monongahela River and the bypass of Brownsville to the PA 88 freeway west of Denbo.2 A detailed history with many more photos and maps found at the PAHighways web site.

References:

  1. Pennsylvania Highways: PA Turnpike 43
  2. "Last section of expressway, bridge set to open in July." Herald-Standard, June 25, 2012.

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Page Updated Wednesday February 06, 2013.