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After a decade of delays, the long-awaited extension of Marshall Drive to Route 48 may finally be nearing construction.

City council last week awarded a $349,000 contract to the 12th Congressional Regional Equipment Company for grading, filling and site preparation of the Marshall Drive Extension between Route 48 and Old Long Run Road.

The so-called "12th REC," based in Blairsville, Indiana County, is a non-profit corporation created by U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, to do low-cost earthmoving and general construction work for municipalities using surplus military equipment.

Most of its projects have been done within Murtha's congressional district. This is 12th REC's first foray into the city.

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Marshall Drive provides access to the Haler Heights section of the city and Serra Catholic High School. Motorists must currently turn off of Route 48 --- a banked, four-lane highway --- onto narrow Old Long Run to reach Marshall Drive.

"It's something that our people are very, very concerned about every day, because the traffic is fast through there," says Tom Clark Sr., owner of Tom Clark Chevrolet, which has been located near the intersection of Old Long Run and Route 48 since 1991.

The Marshall Drive extension will take part of Clark's dealership property; in exchange for that land, the city has agreed to vacate part of Old Long Run Road and trade it to Clark.

"It'll make for a much, much safer environment for the residents of Haler Heights, and for Serra, which has buses going in and out of there all the time," Clark says.

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Plans to extend Marshall Drive were approved by state environmental and transportation officials years ago.

The state committed $500,000 in the mid-1990s to extend Marshall Drive, and state Rep. Marc Gergely, D-White Oak, told the Almanac recently that the money has been waiting for the city to make the next move.

Although the city obtained another $100,000 in community development money to complete the project, bids have consistently come in at $1 million to $1.2 million, leaving the funding roughly a half-million dollars short.

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Using 12th REC should keep the costs within the city's budget, Mayor Jim Brewster says.

"As soon as we get the check from the state, we can proceed," he says. "The target is to get the road done before the asphalt plants close."

Paving will be handled by city public works crews, Brewster says, and will likely cost about $250,000. Another estimated $100,000 will be needed to install traffic lights on Route 48.

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Clark says of 12th REC, "they were all out here a few weeks ago. They're a great organization and the mayor and (city Administrator) Dennis Pittman have worked tirelessly to get this done."

City Public Works Director Nick Shermenti has also "been a big help," Clark says. "These three guys have done a great, great job to get the whole thing put together."

When the intersection is complete, Clark says, all northbound motorists entering his dealership will need to use Marshall Drive, avoiding the dangerous left-hand turn across oncoming traffic that's now necessarily.

Southbound motorists will be able to continue entering the dealership from the current driveway, he says.

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A big question, however, is whether the Marshall Drive extension --- and creation of a new traffic-signal-controlled intersection --- will spur additional development on the acreage between Old Long Run and Route 48.

Clark, whose dealership owns the property and currently uses part of it as a used-car area, says several companies have approached him about relocating to the site.

"We've got people who are lined up waiting to get a spot at the traffic light," he says, including another automobile dealership, "so it should create some jobs and development on that part of the highway."

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For Clark, it's the second bit of good news in a month. A few weeks ago, General Motors reassured him that Tom Clark Chevrolet's franchise with the company is secure, and that it is not one of the 1,900 dealerships that the bankrupt auto giant intends to shed.

"We got a full-blown green light," Clark says.

Soon, it appears, Route 48 motorists and Haler Heights residents will be getting one, too.