Pa. Turnpike Commission Discusses Next Phase Of Southern Beltway

Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter

BRIDGEVILLE (KDKA) -- People who will be affected by the next phase of the Turnpike's Southern Beltway discovered how it will impact them at a meeting in Bridgeville Wednesday night.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission held the meeting so people could ask questions.

The Southern Beltway already exists from the airport at Interstate 376 to Route 22. Those six miles are known as the Findlay Connector.

The next 13 miles are being built in sections, and it'll eventually go all the way to Interstate 79.

The section that gets underway next week is a two-mile stretch from Cecil Reissing Road to Route 50.

Jim and Kathie Cornwall live in Cecil near a section already under construction. They try to think of the greater good, but admit it's also been troubling.

Kathie Cornwall says they were told the project would never happen when they bought their home, but now, of course, it is happening.

"It's been very disappointing, disheartening," said Kathie Cornwall.

"It's 24-7. You hear the equipment running all the time," said Jim Cornwall.

Over the summer, some people in McDonald near a section of the beltway under construction were flooded.

"The Turnpike addressed those issues and insurance claims are being made, so all that's being handled," said Renee Vid Colborn, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

She says they're confident things will go more smoothly moving forward.

However, people who live near the next section of construction will face some inconvenience.

"This is only a two-mile section of the whole entire project," said Vid Colborn. "So it's not the biggest section that we have, but it will contain blasting at times, detours and night work.

The entire project is expected to be done in 2020.