"When are they going to finish the part to Pittsburgh?"

It's a $2 billion question asked most often by people using, or waiting to use, the Mon-Fayette Expressway, one of the largest and costliest road-building programs in progress in the United States.

The question has a three-part answer.

Last.

Not for another 10 years, at least.

And maybe not until after the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission builds a Squirrel Hill Tunnel/Parkway East bypass.

Sixty-five miles of toll roads have opened in Western Pennsylvania since 1990, costing more than $1.4 billion. While traffic has been slowly increasing on the Beaver Valley Expressway, the Greensburg Bypass and the Mon-Fayette Expressway, they carry about 10,000 fewer cars and trucks a day, combined, than Pittsburgh's Fort Pitt Bridge does in one direction. The roads also are not generating the new jobs foreseen by supporters. Yet the Turnpike Commission is planning and building 70 more miles in the region, one of the largest active highway construction programs in the United States, at a cost estimated to exceed $3.5 billion. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provides an update in "Tales of Three Toll Roads, Part Three." Related stories Supporters insist road will pay off in future Part One: Expected economic boon hasn't arrived along Beaver Valley Expressway Part Two: Drivers are getting their kicks from Toll 66

The answers don't surprise Mary Ann Quinn, 57, who lives in the Low Hill area of Washington County, where a former governor, Milton J. Shapp, broke ground in 1973 for a modern highway project that she remembers talking about in junior high school.

At the 1990 ribbon-cutting for that first section, between Route 40, Brownsville, and Interstate 70, Fallowfield, which took 17 years to finish, Quinn predicted the two young sons who accompanied her to the ceremony would be in their 20s before they could drive the entire route to Pittsburgh.

"You still can't get there from here," she said.

The older son, Julian Quinn, now 23, spends about 90 minutes a day, each way, commuting to his job in Sharpsburg. A completed Mon-Fayette Expressway would be likely to cut at least 30 minutes from his drive.

After all these years, about 12 miles are finished and opened in Fayette County, as are 23 miles in Washington and southern Allegheny counties, about half of the massive project envisioned to provide quick new access to Pittsburgh and trigger economic redevelopment in the Monongahela River Valley corridor.

Under scenarios proffered in the early 1990s, all 70 miles were to have been "fast-tracked" and open from Interstate 68 east of Morgantown, W.Va., north to Pittsburgh and the Parkway East as early as 1999 or no later than 2001, depending on the forecaster.

But for people looking forward to coming Downtown at least 30 minutes and 30 traffic signals faster than driving Routes 51 or 88, what they see is likely to be all they're going to get for the next 10 years or longer.

If federal agencies, as expected, approve the 24-mile, $2 billion Y-shaped section to be built north of Route 51 to Monroeville and Pittsburgh later this year, Pennsylvania Turnpike Chief Engineer Frank Kempf said, "realistically, we're talking about five years to do final design and secure the rights of way."

He said it would take "another three or four years, in round numbers," for the actual construction of such a complex configuration of ramps, roads and bridges in an urban setting defined by its hills, rails and rivers.

Other circumstances appear to be as challenging as the planning and engineering.

Money. State Sen. Barry Stout, D-Bentleyville, has been having persistent health problems. He has been the king of the road, steering gas-tax and other legislation for raising virtually all of $1.4 billion spent or being held in escrow for the Mon-Fayette Expressway and a related, 30-mile Southern Beltway toll road to Pittsburgh International Airport.

Opposition. Anti-highway and environmental groups are preparing to take the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and project supporters to court to stop the northern section of the expressway, citing everything from noise and air pollution to "urban flight" issues and violations of federal laws.

Priorities. Turnpike officials and others are considering dividing the northern, Y-shaped section of the Mon-Fayette Expressway into two parts. A Squirrel Hill Tunnel-Parkway East bypass would be likely to get priority because it would carry the most traffic and provide bigger, more immediate benefits.

	Online Map: Tracing the Mon-Fayette Expressway

A massive interchange with ramps to and from Second Avenue, Bates Street and the Parkway East below South Oakland would be likely to be the first contract awarded.

The part from the existing Route 51 interchange north to Route 837, Duquesne and a massive Mon River bridge providing the missing link to the Y for southern traffic seeking a fast, unobstructed route to Pittsburgh would be built last.

Although turnpike Executive Director Joseph Brimmeier said building the Squirrel Hill-Parkway East bypass is an option under consideration, he denied any decision had been made.

"My personal preference is to start at all three ends of the Y and work toward the middle," he said. "If we had enough money, I'd also like to see everything put on an accelerated schedule so we don't have to wait 10 years."

If federal agencies issue a "record of decision" by the year's end, as expected, the turnpike is ready to begin spending $300 million and five years of final engineering and design, property acquisitions and utility relocations.

Not so fast, say opponents of the northern section, who have indicated they will sue to stop the turnpike from laying down new ribbons of concrete. The anti-highway folks favor upgrading existing roads and expanding public transit.

"We continue looking into all possible legal options if they become necessary," said Heather Sage, Western Pennsylvania Outreach Coordinator for Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, or PennFuture.

She said the opposition could include other environmental and special-interest groups, including the Sierra Club, Group Against Smog and Pollution, Hazelwood Initiative, Ground Zero Action Network, Nine-Mile Run Watershed Association, Oakland Community Council, Preservation Pittsburgh and Citizens for Alternatives to New Toll Roads.

Dave McGuirk, of Jefferson Hills, a member of the last group, unsuccessfully led a legal fight in the 1990s trying to stop turnpike officials from building the 17-mile, $610 million section between I-70 and Route 51. While concluding that highway planning is a complex and imperfect process, U.S. District Judge Ralph J. Cindrich upheld the turnpike, ruling that it complied with all federal laws and procedures.

That section, opened in April 2002, has seen traffic grow to more than 10,000 vehicles a day, exceeding a traffic consultant's projections.

"When I've driven it, there's hardly anybody on it," McGuirk said. "The turnpike already owes $5 billion [in principle and interest]. That's a forest fire compared to Pittsburgh's financial problems."

Therein lies another challenge -- up to another $3.5 billion will be needed to complete the missing links and build a related, 30-mile Southern Beltway following the Washington-Allegheny County line to Pittsburgh International Airport.

To bring the projects this far, Stout, a member of the state House and then Senate since 1970, used his clout to earmark 0.7 cents of a 5-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax increase in 1991 and a flat $28 million a year in vehicle registration, license and other fees to the turnpike in 1997 for them.

User fees had never been set aside for any but wholly owned state highways at any other times in state history.

But health problems have kept Stout out of Harrisburg and out of his home office for the past several months. Expressway supporters are depending on him to lead the charge for funding for a third time if the General Assembly considers another gas tax increase this fall or spring 2005 as expected.

"He's the godfather of transportation," Brimmeier said. "If he's unable to step to the plate, at least virtually every community leader and elected official up to Gov. [Ed] Rendell understands the project and need for it. I think they'll all pitch in and do the right thing."

Because of his health, Stout, now 67, was unavailable for an interview.

Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler, an ex officio member of the five-member Turnpike Commission, said construction, environmental issues and even lawsuits are not as challenging as the $2 billion cost of the northern section of Mon-Fayette Expressway.

"It's the equivalent of 4 or 5 cents of the gas tax just to do that part, and the target moves as time moves on," Biehler said. At the 1990 ribbon-cutting of the inaugural section, officials estimated that all 70 miles of the expressway between West Virginia and Pittsburgh would cost $1.2 billion, less than the turnpike has already spent.

Jim Dodaro, of White Oak, a 20-year member of the commission until retiring in December, said the turnpike couldn't handle more debt, or isn't willing to take on more debt, without more state or federal help.

"That is the problem, no question about it," he said.