Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Nitwittery in Braddock
Improving the area’s infrastructure is an impediment to economic development? That is the opinion of one Mon Valley mayor regarding the Mon-Fayette Expressway. According to the Mayor of Braddock, “talk about building the highway has discouraged investment in communities such as Braddock along the highway’s proposed path.” To celebrate the notion that the project will not come to fruition, the Mayor is throwing a party.
The purpose of the Expressway is to link Pittsburgh with the transportation arteries serving other areas of Southwestern Pennsylvania in order to foster regional economic development (Policy Brief Vol.2, No. 17). The southern portion of the Expressway from Fayette County into southern Allegheny County has been built and is operational. However, the northern leg from southern Allegheny County into Pittsburgh and the eastern suburbs through the Mon Valley is being contested and it is not clear if or when construction will begin.
A study by an anti-growth organization claims that there is a lack of public money available to build it and thus it is likely to be killed. While construction costs have escalated since the project was proposed years ago, there has been no official word from PennDot that the Expressway’s northern portion will be abandoned.
But does the Mayor actually believe that the Expressway is causing his Borough’s problems? Braddock has been in decline for decades as the businesses have either closed or scaled back. Could any of them have benefited from better access to the southern part of the county, I-70, or even Pittsburgh? It is more likely that improved access to a major highway will help rather than hurt the tiny Borough’s economic development chances.
Consider that Braddock has been under Act 47 state oversight since 1988 and nearly 20 years later, its fortunes have not improved. The town is still dominated by dilapidated structures and empty buildings. The Expressway has had less to do with the Borough’s struggle to attract investment than has its tax rates which include a commuter tax, a poor school district, high crime rate, or a rapidly declining population—details that elude the Mayor.
Instead he will throw a party for the hoped for demise of the Expressway. But considering that the Borough is financially distressed, the party is pot luck.
The purpose of the Expressway is to link Pittsburgh with the transportation arteries serving other areas of Southwestern Pennsylvania in order to foster regional economic development (Policy Brief Vol.2, No. 17). The southern portion of the Expressway from Fayette County into southern Allegheny County has been built and is operational. However, the northern leg from southern Allegheny County into Pittsburgh and the eastern suburbs through the Mon Valley is being contested and it is not clear if or when construction will begin.
A study by an anti-growth organization claims that there is a lack of public money available to build it and thus it is likely to be killed. While construction costs have escalated since the project was proposed years ago, there has been no official word from PennDot that the Expressway’s northern portion will be abandoned.
But does the Mayor actually believe that the Expressway is causing his Borough’s problems? Braddock has been in decline for decades as the businesses have either closed or scaled back. Could any of them have benefited from better access to the southern part of the county, I-70, or even Pittsburgh? It is more likely that improved access to a major highway will help rather than hurt the tiny Borough’s economic development chances.
Consider that Braddock has been under Act 47 state oversight since 1988 and nearly 20 years later, its fortunes have not improved. The town is still dominated by dilapidated structures and empty buildings. The Expressway has had less to do with the Borough’s struggle to attract investment than has its tax rates which include a commuter tax, a poor school district, high crime rate, or a rapidly declining population—details that elude the Mayor.
Instead he will throw a party for the hoped for demise of the Expressway. But considering that the Borough is financially distressed, the party is pot luck.
