Highway visibility and exit off RT 43 make this a great opportunity for a variety of businesses. This highway has been a long time in coming, and it is still coming. Local politicians hailed the new Mon Valley Expressway as much needed vital link to Pittsburgh which would supplement rail and river links for the area industries. The original plan also included an expressway to Monroeville referred to as the "New 48" as this highway was to replace the existing PA 48. Into the 1980s, maps of Pittsburgh showed this road as being proposed along side the current PA 48. It would have begun at the Parkway East in Monroeville and then followed PA 48 to PA 51, south of where PA Turnpike 43 connects. When the current plan was proposed, PennDOT and the PTC decided to bring it into Pittsburgh and compensate Monroeville with a spur.