The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission has received $520,000 in federal funding to develop a plan to make streets safer in Allegheny County, which is coming off its deadliest traffic year in nearly two decades.

Last year, Allegheny County saw 84 traffic fatalities, the most since 2005, according to PennDOT. After a dip in road fatalities in 2020 when the region was in lockdown for months due to the pandemic, traffic fatalities have been increasing.

More than $1.3 million in additional funding has been made available to complete the section of the Sheepskin Trail through the city of Uniontown.

“We’re continuing to add to the trail as quickly as we can and get this thing built,” said Fayette County Commissioner Vince Vicites.

Vicites said $1,300,832 came through his involvement with the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) as the secretary/treasurer, his fellow commissioners, Uniontown Mayor Bill Gerke and the state Department of Transportation to obtain funds to finish the Uniontown leg.

To say last week was good for the passenger train industry would be a massive understatement.

At the national level, President Joe Biden released $8.2 billion to fund 10 major projects, including the first high-speed rail line in the U.S. and $34 million to study 69 corridors across the country for new or expanded service.

Outgoing Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald has a new role for the organization leading growth in this region.

Fitzgerald was named recently as the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s new executive director by its board.

Fitzgerald will assume this role on Jan. 2 when his tenure as Allegheny County Executive concludes.

The SPC is the federally certified metropolitan planning organization and local development district serving 10 counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, including Lawrence County.

Every two years, the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission, the metropolitan planning organization for the area that includes Butler County, updates its Transportation Improvement Plan, which is in effect for a three-year period. While the plan for 2023-26 is still in effect, the commission is working on putting together the plan for 2025-28, which comes into effect October 2024.

The commission held a public meeting at the Middlesex Township municipal building on Wednesday evening, Dec. 6, to gather feedback from Butler County residents.

Amid a national push to boost (and fund) digital access, the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are on a mission to close the digital divide by 2030.

To make this hope a reality, city and county leaders tasked the Pittsburgh Digital Equity Coalition, a group of nonprofits and institutional partners, with gathering feedback from residents and devising a plan to ensure all county residents have digital access. Roughly a year after the coalition and its members were introduced to the public, the coalition has settled on a plan.

Every two years, the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission, the metropolitan planning organization for the area that includes Butler County, updates its Transportation Improvement Plan, which is in effect for a three-year period. While the plan for 2023-26 is still in effect, the commission is working on putting together the plan for 2025-28, which comes into effect October 2024.

The commission held a public meeting at the Middlesex Township municipal building on Wednesday evening, Dec. 6, to gather feedback from Butler County residents.

People gathered to hear the proposed transportation projects in Butler County.

State, regional, and local officials got together Wednesday night to discuss the future of transportation projects in Butler County.

Representatives of PennDOT and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission joined Butler County Commissioners, municipal administrators and the Butler County Public Participation Panel for information about the Transportation Improvement Program that is being developed for 2025-2028.

A meeting Wednesday night will look at the future of transportation projects in Butler County.

The program is put together by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission and the Butler County Public Participation Panel.

It will discuss the Transportation Improvement Program that is being developed for 2025-2028.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission and Butler County Public Participation Panel will host an informational in-person public meeting starting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday Dec. 6.

The meeting will be held at the Middlesex Township Municipal Building, 133 Browns Hill Road in Valencia.

This meeting will begin with a short presentation of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s Transportation Improvement Program with a display of Butler County transportation projects.