CORAOPOLIS — Ground-breaking is set for today on a new commissary and post exchange to serve about 170,000 active, retired and reserve military members and their families within a 100-mile radius of Pittsburgh.

The new facilities under construction will be built along Interstate 376 in Moon Township, about 10 miles west of the city.

The plan approved by the military last year calls for a 43,000-square-foot supermarket or commissary and a 10,000-square-foot department store or post exchange.

The new stores ensure Pittsburgh-area military families won’t have to drive to Dayton, Ohio or Carlisle, Pa., the next closest locations for similar facilities.

Planning for the new facilities began when the Defense Department announced in 2005 it was closing the Charles E. Kelly Military Support Facility in Oakdale. Lawmakers have kept the commissary and post exchange there open until the new facilities are built.