Bit by bit, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission continues to build the Mon-Fayette Expressway, a $5 billion toll road assigned to it in the mid-1980s by the state Legislature.

Turnpike officials will open the latest stretch to traffic at 1 p.m. Oct. 23 -- the first nine miles of what ultimately will be a 17-mile section between Uniontown and Brownsville.

Those nine miles will go from the Route 119-Route 51 interchange north of Uniontown to a new interchange near Route 40, Redstone, with an intermediate interchange at Searights Road.

The cash fares for two-axle vehicles will be 95 cents at a mainline toll barrier near the Redstone-Menallen line and 65 cents at two interchange ramps.

Typical 18-wheel, five-axle tractor-trailers will be charged $3.75 on the mainline and $2.50 at the interchange ramps.

The eight remaining miles of the Uniontown-Brownsville section are under construction. When finished, a continuous 57 miles of the Mon-Fayette Expressway will be open from the West Virginia line north to Route 51 in Jefferson Hills.

To celebrate the opening, the turnpike is sponsoring Community Day on the Expressway on Oct. 11, starting with a Family Fun Walk at 9 a.m., a parade at 10 a.m., music, bus tours, children's activities and food vendors, ending at 5 p.m. Residents may bicycle the new roadway. For information: www.paturnpike.com/MonFaySB.