The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has disclosed the makeup of five "Design Advisory Teams" and tentative issues they will address for the $2 billion, 24-mile northern stretch of the Mon- Fayette Expressway.

The teams are a voluntary, unprecedented step taken by the commission to make the toll road compatible with its surroundings in old valley towns and several Pittsburgh neighborhoods where it often has been viewed as an unwelcome intrusion.

The teams, consisting of elected, appointed and civic officials, turnpike engineers and consultants, also have been viewed as a strategy to avoid some of the controversy -- and a lawsuit -- that has plagued parts of the massive project.

"We're keeping our commitment to the people," said Tom Fox, the turnpike's community involvement coordinator for the project, a 70-mile highway south to Interstate 68 in West Virginia. "It's what we said we would do in our final environmental impact statement," before the Federal Highway Administration issued a "notice to proceed" with the final design in December.

Turnpike officials named the initial members to the advisory teams. Those members evaluated other people who asked to participate. Not every person or every group that applied was chosen.

For example, the Bates-to-Glenwood advisory team received 22 applications; four were chosen to the final team.

"They tried to balance the makeup of their groups," Fox said.

The teams are to meet at least once a month under the auspices of a facilitator, provided by Pittsburgh-based Olszak Management Consulting, under a contract not to exceed $1.5 million. Each group has already met once, basically to get acquainted.

"How they run their meetings is basically up to them," Fox said. "They'll continue to meet until the end of final design, or maybe earlier if outstanding issues are settled."

The turnpike commission broke the northern end of the expressway into segments and hired a dozen different engineering-consulting firms to focus on the final design, a process expected to take three years. The northern section is Y-shaped, running from Route 51, Jefferson Hills, north to East Pittsburgh, where one leg veers northeast to the Parkway East at Monroeville and one leg splits west, following the Mon River into Pittsburgh.

The Glenwood-to-Bates team has more members than the others. It is where the turnpike has received more criticism, mainly because it proposes to relocate and rebuild Bates Street between the Boulevard of the Allies and Second Avenue and because it proposes to build the expressway in a depressed "trough" that opponents say would divide Hazelwood.

Fred Gottemoeller, of Rosales Gottemoeller & Associates, is a member of all five teams. Fox said Gottemoeller has written a book and been a consultant on "concept-sensitive designs" in urban areas. He is "an expert in these kinds of situations," Fox said.

After the team meetings, turnpike officials and the engineering firms working on final design then meet for a debriefing.

"It's where everybody here learns what happens and what we need to do to get answers and address the problems and issues brought up," Fox said.

Members of each Design Advisory Team and starting points for their discussions follow.

Dravosburg

Members: Greg Bednar, project manager, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission; Nick Bosonetto, Allegheny County Department of Economic Development; Ted Czekaj, Turtle Creek councilman; Gerald McGrew Jr., Dravosburg mayor; Todd Morris, Pennoni Associates; Jay Smith, Dravosburg fire chief; Michelle Vezzani, Dravosburg council member; Jill Vovaris, environmental specialist for Mackin Engineering; Dave Williams, Michael Baker Corp.

Provide advice on design of the proposed expressway through the area.

Identify potential relocation sites and recreation plans to accommodate replacement of Riverview Park and Fleetwood Drive Playground.

Provide advice for development of design elements that lessen the visual effects of the highway in the vicinity of the Riverview neighborhood.

Nine Mile Run

Members: Marilyn Gelzhiser, planning manager, county Department of Economic Development; Patrick Hassett, city transportation planner; Lenna C. Hawkins, Army Corps of Engineers; Marijke Hecht, Nine Mile Run Watershed Association; Caryn Rubinoff, Rubinoff Co.; Luke Ravenstahl, city councilman; Dave Williams, Michael Baker Corp.; Joe Sutor, Pennsylvania Turnpike engineer; Jill Vovaris, Mackin Engineering; Jay Rohleder, vice president, Figg Bridge Engineers; Lois Liberman, a resident who has testified against the project.

Consider plans to accommodate Frick Park development along the riverfront, the regional trail system and the enhancement or development of the proposed additional recreational features along the river.

Provide advice on appearance of the expressway, especially a proposed aerial crossing over Frick Park, and review architectural modifications (colors, textures, etc.) to walls and roadway structures.

Consider methods to minimize scarring of wooded hillsides.

Consider planting native trees and ground cover along retaining walls and hillsides.

Help plan new access from Old Browns Hill Road to allow emergency, community service and maintenance vehicles to enter Duck Hollow community.

Turtle Creek

Members: James F. Currie, borough council president; James H. Davis, mayor; Norman P. Erkel, McMasters Methodist Church; Bill Fusetti, Michael Baker Corp.; Lynn Heckman, county Department of Economic Development; Rob Hilliard, Mackin Engineering; Norine Kelly, Turtle Creek Council of Governments; Frank Kempf, Pennsylvania Turnpike engineer; Dale Kraeer, police chief; Gerry J. Meyer, St. Colman Church; Jill Thompson, Orth-Rodgers & Associates; Susan Zacher, Bureau of Historic Preservation.

Plan for potential relocation of Penn Plaza shopping center that includes re-orienting the core civic area with the focus on Grant Street.

Design elements such as railings, light standards, signs, retaining walls, pedestrian access and landscaping to ensure compatibility with surroundings and provide adequate lighting under expressway.

Provide for snow storage on bridges and shoulders of elevated expressway sections.

Implement ADA-accessible crosswalks, pedestrian-sensitive traffic signals and other pedestrian improvements and examine traffic-calming strategies for the Tri-Boro Expressway.

Mitigate the impact on historic properties, especially churches in the downtown area.

Consider a linear park under the elevated highway structure from Penn Avenue to Line Street.

Provide advice on bridge pier designs that blend with surrounding landscape and architectural treatments to reduce visual impacts of walls and elevated roadway.

Glenwood to Bates Street

Members: Bill Fusetti, Michael Baker Corp.; Patrick Hassett, city transportation planner; Lynn Heckman, county Department of Economic Development; Rob Hilliard, Mackin Engineering; Frank Kempf, Pennsylvania Turnpike engineer; Bob Holder, Steel Valley Trail Council; Lisa Kunst-Vavro, Chatham College director of landscape architecture; Mavis Rainey, Oakland Transportation Management Association; Brooks Robinson Sr. and William P. Widdoes, both of ALMONO/RIDC; Rosanne Rodgers, SAI Consulting Engineers; Doug Shields, city councilman; Eric Veydt, Gannett Fleming; Jerry Williams, Urban Redevelopment Authority; Susan Zacher, Bureau for Historic Preservation.

Coordinate with ALMONO to ensure that expressway and former LTV Hazelwood Coke Works redevelopment are compatible and that the community has input into the final highway design.

Consider additional pedestrian access points across expressway where possible and a crossway at Melanchton Street.

Extend Steel Valley Trail from Glenwood Bridge to Eliza Furnace Trail.

Create distinctive gateway and park element at Bates Street to enhance Oakland "portal concept," potentially including a separated walkway over Bates.

Incorporate greenways along Bates Street "valley" between expressway ramps and neighborhoods.

Consider land use, landscaping and aesthetic designs for expressway "covers" built atop a trough-like section through Hazelwood.

Provide design advice on properties within the Hazelwood historic district and near individually eligible historic properties.

Consider plans for design elements such as railings, light standards, signs, retaining walls, pedestrian access and landscaping to ensure compatibility with surrounding community and for trees, shrubs and other vegetation along the mainline and ramps.

Braddock-Rankin-Swissvale

Members: Pauline Abdullah, Braddock mayor; Jesse Brown, president of Braddock council; August R. Carlino, Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area; Bill Fusetti, Michael Baker Corp.; Marilyn Gelzhiser, county Department of Economic Development; Rob Hilliard, Mackin Engineering; Frank Kempf, Pennsylvania Turnpike; Tom McGrew, Benetec Associates; Andrew K. Munster, Allegheny County Trail Council; Susan Zacher, Bureau for Historic Preservation; Laura Zinski, CEO, Mon Valley Initiative; Steve Moore, MS Consultants.

Maintain local street connections and replace sidewalks to maintain community connectivity.

Explore potential to provide public open space within the project rights of way.

Consider pedestrian connection with Carrie Furnace site from Rankin Bridge Talbot Avenue approach ramp.

Construct all or part of Steel Valley Trail west from Carrie Furnace site to Nine Mile Run and extend it east into Braddock.

Create pedestrian underpass east of Eighth Street between Talbot and Woodlawn avenues.

Context-sensitive design elements for expressway as it passes National Register-eligible historic resources.

Include design elements such as railings, light standards, signs, retaining wall, streetscapes and landscaping compatible with surroundings.