Investors won't find profit in finishing the Mon-Fayette Expressway, the state's top transportation official said Monday.
Not enough vehicles would travel the expressway in Allegheny County to lure a private firm to complete the $5 billion project, state Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler said.
"It simply doesn't have the projected traffic," he said during a transportation discussion hosted by the Heinz Endowments and Urban Land Institute at the Rivers Club, Downtown.
Getting a private company to build the rest of the 100-mile toll highway between Interstate 68 near Morgantown, W.Va., and Pittsburgh appeared to be the project's last hope. The highway network includes the Southern Beltway.
Turnpike Commission CEO Joe Brimmeier shelved the project in December, saying no new work would begin until lawmakers approve more money.
"I don't know how to afford $5 billion," Biehler said yesterday. "There's a reality to this stuff that people need to start dealing with."
Macquarie Group, based in Sydney, Australia, is one of 48 groups interested in leasing the 359-mile main line of the turnpike. It conducted a traffic and revenue analysis of the proposed 24-mile section between Jefferson Hills and Oakland, said turnpike spokesman Bill Capone.
Biehler, a Turnpike Commission board member, said results of the study soured Macquarie Group's interest and has him doubting that others would be interested.
The message sounded familiar to PennFuture's Andrea Boykowycz. The Downtown-based environmental agency is critical of the project.
"I think that's consistent with what we've seen looking at this project," she said. "The costs to build it have been skyrocketing out of control, and at the same time, the public's stomach for subsidizing projects like that is diminishing."
Macquarie did not give its results to the commission, nor did it say it was no longer interested in the Mon-Fayette, Capone said. The commission projects 40,000 to 50,000 vehicles daily would use the Mon-Fayette near Pittsburgh and Monroeville.
"They didn't close the door on anything," Capone said.
Recently, community backers of the project began a campaign to pair private companies with public money. The Mon Valley Progress Council, based in Monessen, planned to review proposals and submit the best to Biehler and Gov. Ed Rendell.
Other backers include the Monroeville Area Chamber of Commerce and Regional Business Alliance.
Progress council Executive Director Joe Kirk criticized Rendell for not including financial help for the Mon-Fayette project in the governor's proposal to lease the turnpike.
"When it came down to a public policy decision about leasing of the turnpike, I think the governor of Pennsylvania came up sorely short on support for this project," Kirk said.
Kirk said there are companies interested in the highway but would not name them. Companies would be revealed in late July or early August, he said.
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