The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced that the Fort Duquesne Bridge, the West End Bridge and the McKees Rocks Bridge will all undergo major repair work that will last several years, at a cost of $132 million.

Structural repairs to decks, surfaces, underbellies and beams are some of the areas that will gain attention for the projects.

Repairs are expected to run through 2034, a massive work project that will produce at least 1,500 new jobs, based on estimates by the Allegheny-Fayette Labor Council.

“Over 150,000 men and women cross them in one day, living their lives,” said Darrin Kelly, president of the Allegheny-Fayette Labor Council. “How much commerce go over top of them? How many fire trucks protect people? How many ambulances?”

Roadways and other structures leading up to the bridges will also face repairs.

“A transportation network that can provide the span across these rivers, and to connect the communities necessary to make sure that the economy of this region and our state thrives,” Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll said.

“These projects are costly, but they’re important for the entire region here in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County and we can’t put off these upgrades for too much longer,” Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said.

View the full article at wtae.com.

This week, we’re taking a look at Pittsburgh Regional Transit.

Like many institutions, it has faced challenges over its 60-year history, but the agency says it’s always working to be better. We discuss what the agency has in store for 2024, the challenges PRT is facing and improvements that riders would like to see.

Segment One: Katharine Kelleman – CEO, Pittsburgh Regional Transit
Segment Two: Laura Chu Wiens – Executive Director, Pittsburghers for Public Transit
Segment Three: Rich Fitzgerald – former Allegheny County Executive and incoming Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission

View the video at wtae.com.

The new executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission is no stranger to the 10 counties in that organization.

Rich Fitzgerald was Allegheny County’s executive for 12 years, but also served on the SPC board and its executive committee.

Still, Fitzgerald is planning to meet with the boards of commissioners in Indiana, Armstrong, Westmoreland and other counties that surround Allegheny.

His meeting with the Indiana County Commissioners is scheduled for Jan. 22.

“One of my jobs will be to hear from the commissioners what their goals are,” Fitzgerald said Tuesday in an interview that also is for an upcoming annual business review in The Indiana Gazette.

SPC may be best known for its role as a metropolitan planning organization, working on such measures as the Transportation Improvement Plan.

As was disclosed during a series of public meetings this past fall, SPC is dealing with $3.9 billion in traffic projects across 10 counties around Pittsburgh, including Indiana County.

But, as was noted by Indiana County Commissioner Sherene Hess during that interview with Fitzgerald, there is a lot of things happening, involving a wide range of partnerships meant to drive Indiana County forward.

According to SPC’s website, its mission is to help direct the use of state and federal transportation and economic development funds allocated to the region — approximately $35 billion through 2045.

The commission states on that website that it works closely with counties, cities, municipalities, and townships access this funding and support them with their planning needs.

Fitzgerald has served on SPC’s board, working among others with retired Indiana County Commissioner Rodney D. Ruddock during his four terms on the county board, as well as his service on SPC’s executive committee, where Ruddock once was chairman.

Recently, Armstrong County Commissioner Pat Fabian was elected as SPC’s chairman.

Hess also serves on that executive committee, and is part of the SPC’s board along with fellow Commissioners R. Michael Keith and Robin A. Gorman, as well as Indiana County Office of Planning & Development Executive Director Byron G. Stauffer Jr. and Indiana County Chamber of Commerce President Mark Hilliard.

That includes broadband, workforce development and economic development.

SPC is designated by the Appalachian Regional Commission as a Local Development District and by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration as Economic Development District for Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Fitzgerald said he will get the priorities of each county’s officials.

“There will be follow up meetings based on their recommendations,” the new SPC executive director said.

Fitzgerald also wants to look at what opportunities are available in each county.

In Indiana County, a probable destination is Windy Ridge, a county industrial park on the outskirts of White Township’s Oakland Avenue business district, where Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters Inc. purchased nearly 48.5 acres from the Indiana County Development Corporation to construct a 750,000-square-foot fulfillment center, creating 225 permanent full-time jobs.

Another county facility, the 119 Business Park in Center Township, is home to the Air Liquide biomethane project now under development.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, also known as the Southwest Pennsylvania Regional Planning Commission, was formed in 1962.

In 1974, it was designated the region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization by the governor of Pennsylvania.

Until 1992, SPRPC only covered the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area counties of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland, as well as the City of Pittsburgh itself.

In 1992, SPRPC joined with Fayette, Greene and Indiana counties to form the Southwest Pennsylvania Regional Development Council, to as a Local Development District.

In 1999, SPRPC and the council came together as the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, or SPC as it is now known.

In 2003, SPC expanded to include Lawrence County.

View the full article at indianagazette.com.

The Pittsburgh Business Times has named the Pittsburgh Power 100, a listing of the region’s most influential business leaders. 

The complete list is presented alphabetically below. Profiles will be published in the Feb. 16 weekly edition. The Power 100 is not a ranking, but rather a guide that aims to reflect who are the most influential people at this moment in time. The editorial staff of the Business Times selected those who made the list, with input from the community at large. It does not include elected officials and is limited to those who currently reside in the Pittsburgh metro area. 

To develop our list, we asked ourselves a series of questions: Who has the power to move the market? Whose clout reaches beyond their company or industry? Who in the business community does the governor or local leaders call for help? Who do you need to know to do business in this town? Who is likely to shape our futures?

The influencers on this year’s list are connectors, people who build bridges. They are executives, leaders and community builders. In short, they are the people to call to make things happen, and they are the people whose power extends well beyond their given roles. Many are familiar names, but some are less well known, working behind the scenes.

For the first time, this year’s list also features an additional set of Pittsburgh Power 100 Legends. These are people who over the breadth of their incredibly influential careers, they are deserving of being honored with this special recognition.

While this year’s selections are finalized, there were many people that have played significant roles, and many more will undoubtably emerge in the next year. If you have anyone you’d like to suggest for the 2025 Power 100, please email me at jbeahm@bizjournals.com.

Without further ado, this year’s Power 100 leaders are:

• Kevin Acklin, president of business operations, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Dan Adamski, senior managing director, and JC Pelusi, market director and international director, corporate solutions, JLL
• Bill Artman, CEO, Giant Eagle Inc.
• Mamadou Balde, market leader and managing director of Pittsburgh and West Virginia operations, CBRE
• Leroy Ball, CEO, Koppers Inc.
• Jenn Beer, president and CEO, Leadership Pittsburgh Inc.
• Gregg Behr, executive director, The Grable Foundation
• Eric Boughner, chairman, BNY Mellon Pennsylvania
• Jeff Broadhurst, president and CEO, Eat’n Park Hospitality Group
• Chris Brussalis, president, Point Park University
• Quintin Bullock, president, Community College of Allegheny County
• David Burritt, president and CEO, United States Steel Corp.
• Christina Cassotis, CEO, Allegheny County Airport Authority
• Lou Cestello, head of regional markets and regional president of Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania, PNC Financial Services Group Inc.
• Rob Cherry, CEO, Partner4Work
• Rob Cochran, CEO and chairman, #1 Cochran Automotive
• Jeff Craft, Pittsburgh office managing partner, Deloitte
• Dave Daquelente, executive director, Master Builders’ Association of Western Pennsylvania Inc.
• Leslie Davis, president and CEO, UPMC
• Nick DeIuliis, president and CEO, CNX Resources Corp.
• John Deklewa, CEO, and Shawn Fox, president, RDC Inc.
• Vincent Delie Jr., chairman, president and CEO, F.N.B. Corp.
• Bill Demchak, chairman, president and CEO, PNC Financial Services Group Inc.
• John Dick, CEO and founder, CivicScience
• John Engel, chairman, president and CEO, Wesco International Inc.
• Evan Facher, vice chancellor for innovation and entrepreneurship and associate dean for commercial translation, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• Rich Fitzgerald, executive director, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
• Cliff Forrest, president and founder, Rosebud Mining Co.; owner, Pittsburgh Brewing Co.
• Patrick Fragman, president and CEO, Westinghouse Electric Co.
• Evan Frazier, president and CEO, The Advanced Leadership Institute
• Joan Gabel, chancellor, University of Pittsburgh
• Ajei Gopal, president and CEO, Ansys Inc.
• Ken Gormley, president, Duquesne University
• Tom Grealish, president, Henderson Brothers Inc.
• Steve Guy, president and CEO, Oxford Development Co.
• Charles Hammel III, president, Pitt Ohio
• Karen Hanlon, COO and EVP, Highmark Health
• Maggie Hardy, owner and CEO, 84 Lumber Co. and Nemacolin
• Jason Hazlewood, Pittsburgh office managing partner, and Casey Ryan, global managing partner, Reed Smith LLP
• David Heaton, president and CEO, The Buncher Co.
• Lauren Hobart, president and CEO, Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc.
• Diane Holder, president and CEO, UPMC Health Plan; president, UPMC Insurance Services Division; executive vice president, UPMC
• David Holmberg, president and CEO, Highmark Health
• Mike Huwar, president, Peoples
• Farnam Jahanian, president, Carnegie Mellon University
• Tommy Johnson, managing partner, Allegheny Strategy Partners
• Matthew Johnson-Roberson, professor and director of Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
• Greg Jordan, executive vice president, general counsel and chief administrative officer, PNC Financial Services Group Inc.
• Justin Kaufman, Pittsburgh office managing partner, PwC
• Katharine Kelleman, CEO, Pittsburgh Regional Transit
• Darrin Kelly, president, Allegheny/Fayette Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO
• Mark Kempic, president and COO, Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania and Maryland
• Kevin Kinross, founder, The Carey Group; principal, 40 North Advocacy LLC
• Tim Knavish, chairman and CEO, PPG Industries Inc.
• Jeff Kotula, president, Washington County Chamber of Commerce
• Michael Lyons, head of Corporate and Institutional Banking, PNC Financial Services Group Inc.
• David Malone, chairman and CEO, Gateway Financial Group
• Christopher Martin, president of Carnegie Bosch Institute and director of R&D at Bosch’s Research and Technology Center
• David McCall, International president, United Steelworkers
• Christopher McElroy and Steven Thompson, co-CEOs, Schneider Downs & Co. Inc.
• Jim McQuade, president and CEO, Dollar Bank
• Brandon Mendoza, director, public and government affairs, Master Builders’ Association of Western Pennsylvania Inc.
• Marimba Milliones, president and CEO, Hill Community Development Corp.
• David Motley, general partner, Black Tech Nation Ventures; co-founder, African American Directors Forum; president and CEO, MCAPS LLC
• Susheela Nemani-Stanger, executive director, Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh
• Louis Oliva, executive managing director, Pittsburgh office, Newmark
• Stefani Pashman, CEO, Allegheny Conference on Community Development
• Gregg Perelman, CEO and founding partner, and Todd Reidbord, president and founding partner, Walnut Capital
• Lucas Piatt, CEO, Piatt Companies; founder and CEO, Piatt Sotheby’s International Realty
• Michael Polite, EVP, Beacon Communities LLC
• Herky Pollock, executive vice president and Northeast director Retailer Services Group, CBRE
• Ven Raju, president and CEO, Innovation Works
• Peter Rander, president, and Bryan Salesky, CEO, Stack AV
• Sam Reiman, director, Richard King Mellon Foundation
• Toby Rice, president and CEO, EQT Corp.
• David Roger, president, Hillman Family Foundations
• Clifford Rowe Jr., executive chairman, PJ Dick/Trumbull/Lindy Group
• Audrey Russo, president and CEO, Pittsburgh Technology Council
• Rafael Santana, president and CEO, Wabtec Corp.
• Sabrina Saunders Mosby, president and CEO, Vibrant Pittsburgh
• Jim Scalo, CEO, Burns Scalo Real Estate
• Lisa Schroeder, president and CEO, The Pittsburgh Foundation
• James Segerdahl, global managing partner, and Thomas J. Smith, co-United States managing partner, K&L Gates
• Susie Shipley, president, Pennsylvania, Ohio Valley and Mahoning Valley Region, Huntington National Bank
• Darrell Smalley, Pittsburgh office managing partner, EY
• Don Smith Jr., president, Regional Industrial Development Corp. (RIDC)
• Matt Smith, chief growth officer, Allegheny Conference on Community Development
• Brandon Snyder, vice president, Pittsburgh market leader, Al. Neyer
• John Thornton, CEO, Astrobotic Technology Inc.
• Jaime Tuite, head of the Pittsburgh office, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC
• Thomas Tull, founder, chairman and CEO, Tulco LLC
• Nish Vartanian, chairman, president and CEO, MSA Safety Inc.
• Luis Von Ahn, co-founder and CEO, Duolingo Inc.
• Jeremy Waldrup, president and CEO, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership
• Kevin Walker, president and CEO, Duquesne Light Holdings Inc.
• Bobbi Watt Geer, president and CEO, United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania
• Kendra Whitlock Ingram, president and CEO, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
• Karen Wolk Feinstein, president and CEO, Jewish Healthcare Foundation
• Albert Wright Jr., president and CEO, West Virginia University (WVU) Health System
• Dr. Don Yealy, chief medical officer, UPMC

LEGENDS

• Doris Carson Williams, president and CEO, African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania
• Helen Hanna Casey, CEO, Hanna Holdings Inc.; Annie Hanna Cestra, COO, Hanna Holdings Inc.; Howard “Hoddy” Hanna III, chairman, Hanna Holdings Inc.
• J. Christopher Donahue, chairman, president and CEO, Federated Hermes Inc.
• Art Rooney II, president and owner, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Bill Strickland, founder and executive chairman, Manchester Bidwell Corp.

View the full article at bizjournals.com.

The Southwest Pennsylvania Commission will host an in-person and virtual federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Workshop on January 8 at the SPC Offices, Strip District Terminal Building, 21st and Smallman Streets in Pittsburgh from 10:00 a.m. to Noon.

This SPC Workshop is your chance to learn about reducing pollution and making a positive impact on our environment and will provide valuable insights and strategies for implementing climate pollution reduction projects.

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and organizations who are passionate about creating a sustainable future and learn more about $5 billion in federal grants available.

Click Here to register to attend in-person. Click Here to attend virtually.

Learn more about grants by visiting the SPC Climate Pollution Reduction Implementation Grants webpage. Questions should be directed to Cathy Tulley at ctulley@spcregion.org.

Visit the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission website and the SPC Water Resource Center webpage to learn more about other educational opportunities.

View the full story at paenvironmentdaily.blogspot.com

Rich Fitzgerald joined Tyler Friel during the WISR News at Noon. 

Outgoing Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald has already announced starting next year he will become the Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

In his new role he will be overseeing economic development in the 10-county western Pennsylvania region.

With billions of dollars coming to the region for infrastructure, Fitzgerald wants to spend that money on more than just major highways.

“I don’t want to limit it to just highways, there are things we could do for places like Moraine State Park that could be dollars accessed through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the IRA, which are projects that deal with climate change and decarbonization,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald also talked about what his goal will be for the area in 10 years.

“For people when they grow up, I want people to say there are jobs here so that my kids can live there and I can see my grandkids,” Fitzgerald said.

View the full story and listen to the interview at butlerradio.com.

At this time last year, Cheryl Moon-Sirianni outlined a series of projects to improve the Parkway East, which hasn’t had a major overhaul in more than 30 years.

On Monday, the former district executive who now has a statewide job with the state Department of Transportation got several of those projects funded through a federal grant, plus additional money for a series of projects that will benefit bus riders who use the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway. 

A $142.3 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant for the Eastern Pittsburgh Multimodal Corridor Project will install signs for variable-speed traffic on the parkway, fix chronic flooding in the area known as “the bathtub” in Downtown Pittsburgh, and build hard shoulders for buses and a ramp from the parkway directly to the inbound Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway.

The grant, announced by Pennsylvania’s U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman and U.S. Rep. Summer Lee of Swissvale, all Democrats, is part of the Biden administration’s economic stimulus program. The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, which oversees federal transportation for a 10-county area, applied for the money on behalf of several agencies and governments, including PennDOT and Pittsburgh Regional Transit.

“Thanks to the infrastructure law, two of Allegheny County’s most heavily traveled roadways will become safer and easier to navigate,” Casey said in a news release. “The Parkway East and the MLK Busway allow people from Monroeville to Oakland — including many in historically marginalized communities — to travel Downtown and points throughout the region.”

The project that probably will affect the most people is the traffic management plan for the highway, which carries about 100,000 vehicles daily. PennDOT wants to install special equipment that can read traffic congestion and set variable speed limits on inbound traffic between Monroeville and the Squirrel Hill Tunnel to keep traffic moving at an even pace.

Traffic engineer Todd Kravitz has said previously that it is safer and quicker for motorists if traffic travels at an even speed rather than traveling at 55 miles an hour and then coming to a complete stop due to congestion. The $48.5 million system, which also includes equipment to identify and warn vehicles traveling in the wrong direction, could be ready for construction in the next year or two.

The bathtub is a low area of the inbound Parkway East adjacent to the Monongahela Wharf, a parking area and park that gets covered with water when the Monongahela River rises. PennDOT has been developing plans for several years to build a higher retaining wall along the edge of the highway in that area to reduce or eliminate the chance of flooding, which closes the roadway and forces traffic to wind through narrow, congested Downtown streets.

In January, Moon-Sirianni said building a higher wall will be tricky because holding back more water could create additional pressure on the highway itself and cause it to heave. That would create a more serious problem.

The grant allocates $39 million for that project, which Moon-Siriani had said could be ready for construction in 2026.

Additional road work will include improvements to arteries that feed traffic to the parkway to reduce congestion and improve response to incidents.

Fetterman called the grant “a game-changing investment.”

“This massive funding will help fix longstanding flooding concerns in the corridor, allow our region’s infrastructure to adapt to the climate crisis, and expand transit options across Allegheny County. Most of all, it will make sure people across our region can get where they need to go,” he said in the news release.

To serve transit riders, the grant will fund work to create hard shoulders that buses can use and build a ramp directly from the Parkway East to Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway near Edgewood Towne Center at the Edgewood/Swissvale border.

The hard shoulders and ramp will allow quicker trips for PRT buses by freeing them from rush-hour traffic congestion and eliminate slow trips on neighborhood streets that those buses use now to get to the busway.

“A better connection from [the Parkway East] to the busway could certainly benefit PRT,” spokesman Adam Brandolph said.

Among the agency’s goals in its NexTransit long-range plan two years ago were exclusive highway lanes for buses and extending the busway from Swissvale to East Pittsburgh.

The agency also would benefit from several other aspects of the grant. That includes additional sidewalks around bus stops in Monroeville to improve safety for bus riders along Business Route 22, plus slope stabilization to prevent landslides, paving and drainage work along the busway.

View the full story at unionprogress.com .

Western Pennsylvania’s eastern corridor is set to get a massive investment in two of its most important pieces of transportation infrastructure, the Parkway East and the East Busway.

The offices of U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) along with U.S. Representative Summer Lee (D-PA-14) and Chris DeLuzio (D-PA-17) announced $142.3 million in federal infrastructure funding dedicated to the Parkway East and East Busway.

The funding derives from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and was allocated by the federal Department of Transportation to make way for a long list of improvements and generate 2,500 jobs and add a total value of $254.9 million to the region’s economy, according to the announcement.

DJ Ryan, director of strategic initiatives and policy at the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, the agency that oversees transportation investment in the region, boiled down the comprehensive impact of the investment in a prepared statement: “Once completed, the Eastern Pittsburgh Multimodal Corridor Project will directly benefit the lives of many individuals—streamlining travel routes, enhancing safety, and increasing access for those that live in our region’s eastern communities.”

The funding is expected to both help with needed upgrades to the physical infrastructure as well as implement a host of new modernization efforts to make transportation in the corridor safer, faster and smoother.

The announcement quotes from a 2019 study noted the Parkway East, so often slowed by the Squirrel Hill tunnel, was ranked as the fifth most congested highway in the United States.

The huge grant includes funding to rehabilitate 10 bridges as well as to build a new flood wall along the stretch of the Parkway East that runs near downtown that is nicknamed “the bathtub” due to its inability to keep out too much water during major rains.

The funding will also support implementing new technology to ease traffic from Monroeville to downtown.

According to a summary of the grant allocation by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, the strategy is to implement what it calls Active Arterial Management from the PennDOT Traffic Management Center at certain sections of the corridor.

For the busway, the funding allocation calls for adding a new inbound bus lane along the Parkway East from Churchill to a new busway off-ramp at Edgewood.

The SPC summary also references the investment in electric buses as well.

Funding is also expected to be used to stabilize hills prone to landslides, improve sidewalk safety and improve other bus infrastructure, with upgrades also in the works for South Braddock Avenue and the junction of Route 30, Lincoln Highway and Ardmore Boulevard near Wilkinsburg and Forest Hills.

Senator Casey called it a “generational investment” that he and his colleagues in the Pennsylvania delegation fought for so that ” two of Allegheny County’s most heavily-traveled roadways will become safer and easier to navigate.”

Fetterman, who was outspoken in his opposition to a major highway project in the Mon-Fayette Expressway when he was mayor of Braddock, expects the new funding will prove to be a “game-changing investment” that will help resolve flooding issues, expand transit options and “allow our region’s infrastructure to adapt to the climate crisis.”

Lee, whose district includes many of the communities along the Parkway East, highlighted the jobs to come from the projects funded and how it will “help to right the wrongs of disinvestment and disconnection in left behind communities.”

Matt Smith, chief growth officer at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, called the funding a “huge win for the Pittsburgh region” that he expects will “benefit the community and all who live and work in the region.”

View the full story at bizjournals.com.

Members of Western Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation just announced $142 million in federal grant money secured for a series of projects to improve both the Parkway East and the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway.

“This is a tough commute coming in or out of town,” Congressman Chris Deluzio said. “I think this could have a big impact and improve our quality of life.”

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission applied for the grant funding, which will go to rehab 10 aging bridges along the Busway, add new technology to ease traffic congestion between Monroeville and downtown, and install a new flood wall to prevent flooding on a stretch of road known as “the Bathtub.”

Variable speed limits are among the tech planned to limit traffic along the busy roadway, which is one of the most congested in the country.

“The research seems to be that if you can spread that out, keep folks moving, that actually moves traffic more efficiently,” Deluzio said.

DJ Ryan, the SPC’s Director of Strategic Initiatives and Policy, said the project could reduce rear-end crashes on the Parkway East by 50%.

“So some of the projects are ready to go pretty much immediately, and we’re going to start to see shovels in the ground this year,” Ryan said. “Other things have to do a little more design and planning and might take a little longer than that, but I think that commuters are going to see changes almost right away.”

View the full story at wtae.com.

From businessman to county council president to county executive. After 12 years, Rich Fitzgerald is vacating his office. For over a decade, the Democrat has overseen the commonwealth’s second-most populous county. Next month, he leaves public office. Shannon Perrine sits down with Fitzgerald as he looks back on the past, present and future of the region.

View the full story at wtae.com.