The debate over whether the Mon-Fayette Expressway should be completed or abandoned continued today before a commission responsible for setting the state's transportation priorities.

The State Transportation Commission held the meeting at the Hilton hotel at Southpointe in Washington County to take testimony from several surrounding counties.

It got plenty from both sides on the expressway, the partially built, limited access highway that is planned to connect West Virginia and the Mon Valley with Pittsburgh and Monroeville.

Money has not yet been committed to build the Allegheny County section from Route 51 in Jefferson to the Parkway East.

Public officials, including legislators representing the Mon Valley, spoke favorably.

But Braddock Mayor John Fetterman called the project "environmental racism," and Andrea Boykowycz of Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future said the highway would actually make it easier for traffic to bypass Mon Valley towns, rather than bringing the promised economic benefits.