To our valued Members, Planning Partners and Colleagues:

As this year draws to an end, I must begin with a heartfelt thank you to our Members, whose communities comprise the region we at SPC are honored to serve. It is your unwavering support that enables and inspires us to do our best work every day, work that ultimately improves the quality of life for our region’s residents.

Thank you to our Planning Partners, without whose contributions our work would be impossible. It is your intimate knowledge of the needs of your communities and programs that informs and guides our commitment to keep southwestern Pennsylvania connected and moving forward.

Thank you to our Colleagues and the communities and residents of southwestern Pennsylvania. This region is your home, and we’re planning to keep it a great place to live. Each day in our work, we strive to advance our regional vision of a world-class, safe, well maintained and connected multimodal transportation system that provides mobility for all, empowers resilient and sustainable communities, and supports a globally competitive economy.

I would also like to take a moment to thank the SPC staff for their tireless work. Without their dedication and their collaboration with our Members, Planning Partners and Colleagues, the region would not have secured $24.8 in Build Back Better funds, completed the Broadband Connectivity Implementation Program (CIP), won the APA’s prestigious Award for a Plan for SmartMoves Connections, or adopted the 2023-2026 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

We look forward to 2023 with great anticipation as we will be moving into our new offices in the Strip District early in the year, leading the Regional Broadband Summit in February, planning the Expanding Career Pathways Summit and developing the long range plan update for adoption in June.

Thank you for being with us in 2022 and we look forward to even more success next year in 2023! May you and your families have a safe, healthy, and very happy holiday.

Regards,

Vincent Valdes

November 14 – 18 , 2022 is Crash Responder Safety Week (CRSW). A Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sponsored initiative, CRSW communicates the simple steps everyone can take in keeping our roadway responders and the public safe around traffic incidents.

SPC has developed a series of animated PSAs to raise awareness and keep our emergency responders safe on the job.

A new PSA will be released every day of Crash Responder Safety Week. Be “In the know, on the go” by clicking below:

(via https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov)

Every minute of every day, law enforcement, fire and rescue, emergency medical services, public works, transportation, towing, and other responders work roadside to make roadways safe for all road users. Unfortunately, these traffic incident responders put their lives at risk when clearing each of the nearly 7-million annual motor vehicle crashes or the broader range of incidents such as stalled vehicles or roadway debris. CRSW is an opportunity to promote road user awareness and adherence to Move Over laws and Traffic Incident Management (TIM) training for all traffic incident responders.

Visit our Operations and Safety page to learn more!

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC), in partnership with DQE Communications, is applying to the Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Grant Program (MMGP) to establish and enhance fiber-based infrastructure across the 10-county southwestern Pennsylvania region. SPC is the federally-designated metropolitan planning organization (MPO) responsible for the region’s transportation planning process, as well as the Local Development District and Economic Development District, that establishes regional economic development priorities and provides a wide range of technical services to the region.

In 2022, SPC developed A Connectivity Roadmap for Southwestern Pennsylvania, a strategic regional plan to identify and guide the deployment of high-speed connectivity programs and projects throughout southwestern Pennsylvania. The Connectivity Roadmap provides a guide to building a more comprehensive and equitable broadband network that will help connect people to opportunities, jobs, and education; attract new and retain current businesses; and ultimately enable southwestern Pennsylvania to be better- positioned in securing future connectivity funding for potential projects and programs.

The regional cooperation required to develop the Connectivity Roadmap has provided SPC with the tools and information needed to apply to the highly-competitive MMGP, administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Internet fiber-optic networks, also called “middle-mile” networks, act as a superhighway that allows internet traffic to quickly travel across far distances. The exits on the highway are local networks that consumers interact with, like home WiFi or business Internet—these are what we call “last-mile” services and are often offered by other Internet Service Providers (ISP’s). The MMGP focuses on the highway, not the driveway!

Historically, middle mile fiber networks are built, owned, and operated by ISP’s, telecom companies, and electric utility entities who then lease fiber to last-mile providers/ISPs. Therefore, while middle-mile construction does not immediately impact consumer concerns associated with last-mile services, such as plan pricing, speeds, or a pesky router, without extensive middle-mile network enhancements, it becomes difficult and costly to improve current network capacity or to establish reliable networks in underserved and unserved communities. That’s why SPC saw the Middle Mile Grant Program (MMGP) as the natural next step for improving high-speed broadband in Southwest PA.

Learn More!

It was another sad day in Southwestern Pennsylvania with the passing of Cranberry Supervisor and SPC Commissioner Richard Hadley,” said Vincent Valdes, SPC Executive Director. Commissioner Hadley represented Butler County on the Commission since 2015. He was dedicated to real-world planning and championed mixed use and complete streets policies for Cranberry Township as a long-time township supervisor. He brought his passion for planning to SPC’s regional forum and we will miss his expertise on how to plan for growing communities. Every day, the residents of Cranberry Township are witness to and of his life-long, dedicated public service.

Vincent Valdes

https://www.butlereagle.com/20220825/longtime-cranberry-supervisor-chairman-dies-2/

The State Senate Transportation Committee met with PennDOT officials Wednesday in Pittsburgh to discuss different ideas to fix bridges across Pennsylvania, now that tolling is off the table.

PennDOT planned to implement tolling on at least nine major bridges across the state, including the I-79 bridge in Bridgeville, in order to pay for their repair or replacement, but lawsuits stopped that from happening.

Now, alternative ideas are being considered.

One option is an electric vehicle fee potentially based on mileage.

“It’s a priority of the committee to get something to the finish line for mileage-based user fees for electric vehicles,” said State Sen. Wayne Langerholc. “Those are users that are using our roads just the same as we are when we fill up our pumps.”

Another issue the committee looked at is how to deal with out-of-state drivers who only use highways, like the turnpike, and fill up with gas where it’s cheaper before crossing state lines.

The committee also heard from members of the construction industry about whether the projects can be done more affordably and with Pennsylvania companies as the lead contractors.

Read the full story at WTAE.com

A big part of having a job is getting to the job.

And that was a big part of the hiring fair that Amazon held at Steel Valley Transit in Steubenville on Tuesday.

More than two-dozen job seekers filed through the Robert J. Cutri Multi-Modal Center downtown, hoping to hear back on a job offer from the Imperial, Pa. Amazon Warehouse.

The job fair is the brainchild of Amy Kirlangitis, a Weirton woman who took a positive approach to being unemployed during the pandemic.

She found bringing a large Pittsburgh-area employer in drew job seekers. She went to work in the Amazon Warehouse.

“The recruiting office hired me, and I work there full-time ,and they said you can feed your passion. You can help the Ohio Valley come work for us,” said Kirlangitis, who is now Amazon Pittsburgh’s staffing coordinator.

Kirlangitis said with help from Ronda Craig, public involvement coordinator, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, and Tim Turner of SVRTA, the issues of transportation were handled.

“There’s no blanket statement that says we’re on welfare, we don’t want to work. They can’t get out. They can’t get out of their dysfunction, they want to work, they just need a way,” Kirlangitis said.

“We definitely team up with (Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson MPC) here in Steubenville, and we have seen over the last five years that I’ve been with the SPC that people are trying to commute from down here,” Craig said.

SPC and BHJ coordinated a rideshare and vanpooling system, with the bus routes being the next step.

Read the full article at wtov9.com

“It is a sad day for Southwestern Pennsylvania with the passing of Joe Grata. Joe was a lifelong public servant and advocate for our region’s transportation system first as a longtime transportation reporter who shared his deep understanding of the planning, engineering and funding of infrastructure with the public. Later, in his retirement, he worked to advance connectivity, safety and regionalism as an SPC Commissioner representing Fayette County. Joe recognized that all transportation is ‘local’ in the minds of our communities and further understood the role of mobility to regional economic vitality and quality of life. The Commissioners and staff of SPC will miss his perspective, intellect, and sense of humor as we continue our work to keep Southwestern Pennsylvania connected and moving forward.”

Vincent Valdes

Obituary: P. Joseph ‘Joe’ Grata | Post-Gazette, Press reporter and civic leader | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Southwestern Pennsylvania’s transportation infrastructure is slated to receive a slew of expansions, updates and remodels after officials approved a regional transportation improvement plan at a meeting Monday.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission approved about $6 billion in funding over a four-year period as part of the 10-county region’s plan to improve its transportation infrastructure, according to a 2023-2026 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) investment summary.

The program’s summary includes $740 million for bridge maintenance, $2.2 billion for roads, $186 million for buses and passenger vehicles and $420 million for operations and safety projects.

“The consideration of the TIP would be looking at how are we an advancing and resilient community,” Leslie Osche, the body’s commissioner, said in an interview Monday.

She added that the four-year TIP plan is part of a 25-year vision to improve Southwestern Pennsylvania’s transportation infrastructure to make it more resilient, connected and competitive.

The TIP, which was unanimously approved by the body Monday, is set to provide funding to rehabilitate or reconstruct 266 bridges and 466 miles of roadway in the region, the commission’s summary report states.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission region represents Armstrong, Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

The report states that the funding will also focus on serving low-income and minority communities that new transportation construction like highways have historically fractured.

Ms. Osche said the improvements will give people fairer access to transportation.

The SCP has scheduled about $740 million for bridge maintenance across the region. The planned improvements include the Karns Crossing Bridge in Butler County, the McKeesport-Duquesne Bridge in Allegheny County and the U.S. 422 Graff Bridge in Armstrong County.

Read the full article at postgazette.com

Roads and bridges in Southwestern Pennsylvania will see a $300 million boost in funding because of the infrastructure law enacted in 2021.

The extra money is included in a regional plan for $1.5 billion in transportation projects that is set to be approved June 27 by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

The commission’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) covers 2023 through 2026 and includes increases in funding for bridges, highway safety improvements and bike-and-pedestrian infrastructure compared to the previous program.

The SPC is responsible for allocating state and federal funds to local transportation infrastructure projects across 10 Southwestern Pennsylvania counties that surround Pittsburgh.

Among the $300 million increase in funding for roads and bridges under the commission’s jurisdiction, $100 million is earmarked just for bridges.

At a June 1 public meeting, SPC staff explained that the increase in funding for Pittsburgh-area transportation infrastructure is thanks to the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law passed by Congress in 2021.

“With passage of the bipartisan law, the highway and bridge funding is back up to higher levels,” said SPC director of transportation planning Domenic D’Andrea.

Roads and bridges are the biggest winners, but bike-and-pedestrian improvements, while still comparatively small, also saw a big jump and increased five-fold compared to the last TIP.

Funds for public transit also saw a modest jump. D’Andrea said this includes some money for capital improvements, but most is for operations. The majority of public transit funds are funneled to Port Authority of Allegheny County — rebranded Pittsburgh Regional Transit last week — the region’s largest public transit agency.

Read the full article at www.triblive.com

Allegheny County, followed by Indiana and Fayette counties, had the highest number of homes and businesses with internet connections in a 10-county region with connections so slow they didn’t even qualify as broadband, according to a new study by a Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission-led coalition of nonprofits.

At the same time, the study named Allegheny, Beaver and Armstrong as counties as places with remarkably fast online speeds as well.

Although Allegheny County had among the fastest internet speeds in the 10-county region, the study identified pockets of the county where internet access lagged — in municipalities along the Monongahela River, for example. Western Washington County, Greene County and much of Indiana County, traditionally Amish country, also lacked the fiber cables, towers and other gear necessary for speedy connections.

“Rural areas were frustrated by the complete lack of access,” Laura Stephany, health policy director, Allies for Children, said during a briefing Monday about the study. “This is an issue of equity. It’s also an economic development issue.”

Included in the 10-county region were Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission defines “well served” by download and upload broadband speeds greater than or equal to 100/100 megabits per second; “underserved” is slower than 50/10 megabits per second; and “unserved” is speeds less than 25/3 megabits per second, or barely fast enough to support a Zoom call.

Megabit is a measurement of network speed, with the higher numbers being faster download and upload speeds.

Some 36,000 homes and 15,000 businesses in Pittsburgh and surrounding 10-county region were unserved or underserved by broadband while 12% of the population relied on cell phones for internet access, which can be too slow for some internet applications.

The study will determine the amount of federal dollars the region will receive to expand access and boost connectivity speeds to 100/20 megabits per second, far faster than the 25/3 megabit per second speed the Federal Communications Commission now uses to define high-speed broadband.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Allies for Children, and the Metro21 and Traffic21 initiatives at Carnegie Mellon University, collaborated to form Southwest Pennsylvania Connected, a group to advise applicants for funding from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Through the law, some $65 billion will be available to broadband installation and expansion projects in the U.S., with priority given to areas with slow speeds and high poverty recipients without access.

Read the full story at post-gazette.com