In a surprise to officials, the county now is part of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area just got a little bigger.
Lawrence County, which includes the city of New Castle, recently was added to the MSA, joining Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Read more »Reconstruction and intersection changes on Route 30 are among more than $1.1 billion in long-term highway projects proposed in a 25-year transportation plan for Westmoreland County.
The reconstruction of Route 30 would occur between Leger Road in North Huntingdon and the Irwin borough limits, and improvement is planned for two intersections in Hempfield — at Donohoe and Georges Station roads.
Read more »The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission is hosting a virtual meeting from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 6, to gather public opinion on the county’s long-term transportation and infrastructure needs.
In June 2019, the commission adopted the region’s long-range transportation plan called “SmartMoves for a Changing Region,” which includes more than $35 billion in regional transportation projects for the next 25 years. Tuesday’s meeting is part of the its effort to periodically update the plan.
Read more »From May 15-21, Individuals that Track their Commute Can Enter to Win Big Prizes.
Today, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC), the region’s metropolitan planning organization, kicked off a one-week long Commuter Challenge—an effort to encourage local residents to take sustainable modes of transportation like carpooling, vanpooling, and biking.
The Commuter Challenge is an initiative of Commute Info, a ride sharing program that offers multiple solutions for individuals or businesses looking to travel in a more green, sustainable way.
Read more »The New Castle Area Transit Authority will be looking to better market itself and its services over the next couple of years.
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission presented the marketing plan for the authority for fiscal years 2022-2025 during the authority’s board meeting in March. The SPC helped work on the plan with the authority.
The marketing plan is part of the implementation of the PennDOT Act 44 performance review action plan originally outlined in the NCATA performance system review report of 2018.
The authority will work to market to commuters who ride between three and five days a week, workers, students in high school and college, senior citizens and people with disabilities, as well as tourists.
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SPC’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Team is implementing a comprehensive “bicycle level of comfort”, analysis on our region’s road network. This level of comfort, or LOC analysis aids cyclists in finding comfortable and enjoyable routes as we continue promoting bike travel in the region.
View the video to learn more and view the current Level of Comfort map here.
The grant is a U.S. Department of Transportation Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) transportation grant. It covers the second phase of the $63 million Route 228 corridor project.
This portion of the project stretches from Route 3020 Haine School Road to the Beaver County line. Gateway 228 also includes the realignment of Balls Bend in Middlesex Township.
The improvements to the stretch of road will allow for better traffic capacity, safety and accessibility.
“Strategically, it’s a great project,” Gordon said.
Gordon said about $17 million has been raised locally for Gateway 228, an amount he referred to as “unheard of” at a local level.
Gr
Through a multiple-stop tour Friday, Butler County officials welcomed Vincent Valdes, the new executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.
According to a county news release Friday, Butler County officials, including the county commissioners, ushered Valdes and U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, through stops including construction work improving the Route 228 corridor and the UPMC Sports Complex, the Pittsburgh Penguins practice site, in Cranberry Township.
“We’re in such an expansion mode,” said Kelly about the growth of the county.
Mark Gordon, Butler County chief of economic development and planning, said the tour was to welcome Valdes to the region and showcase the county’s economic development.
“We wanted to show the diversity of the county,” Gordon said.
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Virtual public meetings are planned to allow citizens to learn about and comment on transportation improvements proposed in Southwestern Pennsylvania through 2024.
Since large gatherings are on hold during the covid-19 pandemic, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission will instead livestream public input sessions on the draft 2021-2024 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).
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We’ve updated the SPC Regional Data Center “Visualize: SPC Tableau” with the Census Bureau 2010-2019 Total Population Estimates by Municipality in the SPC Region. The dashboard can display a variety of indicators and data comparisons by municipality, county, and region, based on user selections.
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