Penna pike gets fed-$s

USDOT is providing another $7m for the Mon/Fayette toll road, split between WVDOT and the Penna pike, the commission said May 27. The money is part of $124m in discretionary grants for 55 projects in 32 states in year 1 of the 5-year [wait for it], National Corridor Planning and Development and Coordinated Border Infrastructure Programs.

The $7m includes $4m for Mon/Fayette Exwy construction in Washington and Allegheny counties PA and $3m to help West Virginia build in Monongalia County, from I-68 north to the PA border, its 7km (4.1-mi) of the Mon/Fayette’s 19km (12-mi) Mason Dixon Link .

Nearly $56m in federal funds, says the Turnpike, have been committed to support the Mon/Fayette Exwy. Two previous grants included $23.8m under ISTEA and $25m authorized for High Priority Projects under TEA-21. This designated the Mon/Fayette Exwy as well as the commission’s Southern Beltway as “high priority corridors,” making them eligible to compete on an annual basis for the type of discretionary grant awards just announced.

ISTEA provides $700m for the National Corridor Planning and Development and Coordinated Border Infrastructure Programs. [Repeat five times so it trips off the tongue, tollsters! Spouting this stuff with fluency and ease is key to success in DC. The Penna pike obviously runs special classes in DCspeak, and they pay off.]