The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has awarded a $31.3 million contract to begin the next, 8.5-mile phase of the 17-mile section of Mon-Fayette Expressway between Uniontown and Brownsville.

It has signed Golden Triangle Construction Co. to build 1.5 miles of divided, limited-access highway in Redstone, an overpass to carry Route 40 over the toll road, and twin bridges crossing Dunlap Creek and Davidson Siding Road.

Five more contracts are to be awarded before the end of the year to place all remaining miles under construction and to position the turnpike to open the entire $455 million section to traffic in late 2011 or early 2012.

About 35 miles of the Mon-Fayette Expressway are open south of Uniontown to the West Virginia line and north of Brownsville to Route 51 in Jefferson Hills. Consequently, when the Uniontown-Brownsville section is finished, more than 50 continuous miles of the project will have been completed.

The first 8.5-mile phase of the Uniontown-Brownsville section, costing $390 million, has been under construction since February 2006. It's scheduled to be open in October.

The Y-shaped, 24-mile northern section from Route 51 north to the Parkway East/I-376, with arms to Pittsburgh and Monroeville to serve as a bypass of the Squirrel Hill Tunnels, is in the second year of final design. Officials have been looking to raise up to $3.8 billion for property acquisition, utility relocation and construction.