Mon Valley Toll Road-Pro-LTE

===LTE, An economic lifeline from the Post-Gazette ===
:August 8, 2006
Elimination of the Mon-Fayette Expressway project would be the fatal blow to the Mon Valley. Simply stated, you can't get into or out of those communities without suffering a driving experience more tortured than any trip in transportation-challenged Western Pennsylvania.
For fun, count the number of traffic signals in the six miles between the Liberty Tunnels and Century III Mall. Ponder the cost of buying all the properties necessary to widen the road to meet demands of a generation ago. Then, do the math on the traffic accidents and calculate the cost in human life. Next, consider the continued economic deprivation because the transportation network of the Mon Valley can't beat even mildly competitive regions.
Continue on and count the number of times you willingly traveled to the area for entertainment, shopping or for employment.
Well-intentioned people challenge the expressway because it ostensibly leads to urban sprawl. From my perspective, the horse goes before the cart. If you remove the horse of outrageous property taxes, I doubt the cart full of people would engage in sprawl.
Without private development, the Mon Valley will continue toward economic oblivion. Thousands of people will be caught in continued economic depression, thousands of homes will deteriorate and government (taxpayers) will carry the burden of supporting the region because developers will invest elsewhere.
Go ahead and cancel the Mon-Fayette project. Then move your business there and ponder the puzzled looks on the faces of people when you tell them why you did it.
Steve Franckhauser]], Leet