Penn Township residents will have an opportunity to learn more about where the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission stands in its design of an interchange for Route 130.
Residents will be able to look over a display on the project and speak with turnpike representatives Nov. 19 at Penn-Trafford High School, said spokesperson Crispin Havener.
Preliminary engineering plans for the interchange design will be shared, Havener said.
The turnpike announced the interchange in October 2021, specifying its approximate location last fall. It will be installed near the intersection of Route 130 with Nike Site, Sandy Hill and Pleasant Valley roads.
The interchange will be built sometime between fall 2035 and summer 2038, according to the turnpike’s website. This is a significant shift in a timeline the turnpike posted on its website this summer — which suggested the interchange could be finished between spring of 2032 and fall of 2034.
In June, township commissioners approved a preliminary development plan for a new turnpike maintenance complex on a nearly 42-acre property with an entrance along Route 130. The property is almost directly across the road from the current maintenance facility, which has an entrance off Sandy Hill Road, according to Bill Roberts, township community development director.
The maintenance facility will contain an office space, truck and maintenance garages, a salt storage building and nearly 8 acres of solar panels.
Pending stormwater, sewage and driveway permit requirements, the complex is scheduled to be built between fall 2026 and fall 2027, according to the turnpike’s website.
Turnpike officials have told the township that moving the maintenance facility is part of the turnpike’s $300 million project to widen the toll highway between the Monroeville and Irwin interchanges.
The widening project includes expanding the highway from four to six lanes in the 10-mile stretch and reconstructing the Irwin interchange.
A bridge carrying Penn Township’s Harvison Road over the turnpike was removed in August in preparation for the widening project.
