Widening the Pennsylvania Turnpike and adding a new interchange between Irwin and Monroeville are still several years away, but the agency has agreed to buy a key piece of property needed for both projects.
The state Turnpike Commission last week approved buying the property around a Rite Aid store on Route 130 in Penn Township near Pleasant Valley Road. The property, owned by NB Penn LLC of Delaware, sold for $3.3 million, one of the most expensive property acquisitions for the turnpike in Western Pennsylvania in recent years.
Turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo said the agency decided to inquire about the property when it went up for sale.
“Given its proximity to both projects, PTC decided to see if an amicable acquisition was possible,” DeFebo said in an email. “After a brief negotiation, we reached an agreement on the sales price.”
The turnpike intends to let Rite Aid stay on the property until construction is ready to begin.
The agency announced last month that it has started designing the long-awaited new interchange where the turnpike crosses Route 130 in Penn Township. After two years of design, the project will begin construction, and the interchange should open in 2026.
The interchange will be the first in this region that will have no payment plaza because the agency switched to full electronic payment during the pandemic. As a result, motorists will pass through overhead gantries on the highway that either will read the vehicle’s E-ZPass transponder or photograph the license plate and send the owner a bill.
That will allow motorists to enter and exit the toll road on free-flowing ramps and reduce the amount of land needed for future interchanges.
The agency is in the process of redesigning all of its interchanges from east to west to eliminate the toll plazas and replace them with gantries on the highway and free-flowing ramps.
Additionally, the turnpike is designing a project to widen about 5 miles of the roadway from two lanes in each direction to three lanes each way between Irwin and Monroeville. Construction on that project is expected to begin in fall 2028.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.