Fayette County Commissioner Vincent Vicites put the county on display Monday by hosting the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission meeting at the Fay-Penn Economic Development Council office.

Vicites serves as SPC secretary-treasurer.

The organization has moved recent meetings while its Pittsburgh Strip District offices are undergoing renovations.

“This is the first time in history that a meeting has been held here with public parties,” Vicites said.

He said officials from Butler, Armstrong, Washington, Allegheny and Greene counties attended the session.

More than 40 people attended the 75-minute session, including several members via internet.

The Fay-Penn site in Lemont Furnace provided video technical applications.

Joseph Ambrose of Republic Food Enterprises said his company’s affiliations with farms of all sizes creates second-source revenue for value-added products in southwestern Pennsylvania and parts of West Virginia and Maryland.

Ambrose catered the event.

Laura Kurtz Kuhns, Fay-Penn executive director, discussed such Fayette County attractions as the Joseph Hardy Connellsville Airport, Fort Necessity and Fallingwater.

She said Fallingwater has been named among the nation’s most loved attractions. The house near Mill Run was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and is considered to be his residential masterpiece.

Dom D’Andrea, director of transportation planning for the region’s long-range plan, outlined topics discussed in recent weeks during Fayette County commissioners’ meetings.

He said the planning sequence that runs through 2025 is reviewed every four years.

SPC members unanimously endorsed highway bridge investments, new transit investments and air quality conformity determination.

Major attention through investments will be given to Interstate highways 79, 70 and 376. In the long term, roughly $2.2 billion is expected for highway improvements.

A Vision Zero Plan will be implemented for Allegheny County, with a goal of achieving zero deaths or serious injuries from motor vehicle accidents.

Allegheny County has had more than half of the serious accidents in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

A Competitive Economy Infrastructure and Technology for Sustainable and Resilient Communities program is expected to focus on workforce assistance in areas of need.

View the full article at dailycourier.com

[…]

Aurora Sharrard
Executive director of sustainability at the University of Pittsburgh
Aurora Sharrard is the first-ever sustainability ED role for the University of Pittsburgh. This entails overseeing sustainability staff and the university’s sustainability efforts, policies, and partnerships related to its sustainability strategy. Sharrard was previously the Green Building Alliance’s executive director for 11 years and cofounded the Pittsburgh 2030 District, a network designed to ensure that communities and buildings are sustainable. In her spare time Sharrard is a board member for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services and co-chairs the Pittsburgh’s Higher Education Climate Consortium.

[…]

View the full article at technical.ly

In June 2019, the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission — the metropolitan planning organization for the area that includes Butler County — adopted a long-range transportation plan called “SmartMoves for a Changing Region.” The 25-year plan called for $35 billion in transportation and infrastructure improvements in the commission’s 10-county area.

Federal law requires planning organizations to update the plan at least every four years. As part of these efforts, the commission held a virtual meeting with residents of Butler County to gather public opinion on long-term transportation and infrastructure issues in the county.

The meeting for Butler County residents was the 10th out of 11 scheduled public meetings on the plan, with another held for the city of Pittsburgh.

The SmartMoves update is currently in the 30-day public comment period, and the commission is hoping to finalize the update by June 26.

“Public involvement is very critical and is the beginning and ending of the process to update the long range transportation plan,“ said Ryan Gordon, commission manager of Transportation Program Development.

Projects in the long-range transportation plan are divided into three stages. Stage 1 is for projects in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) which are projected for completion within the next three years. Stages 2 and 3 are for projects with much wider scope and are “much more conceptual in nature,” and are scheduled for completion between 2027 and 2050.

“We are going to have a number of TIP updates before we even get to 2035,” Gordon said. “So just keep in mind that this time frame represents numerous TIP updates and extends all the way to 2050.”

According to Gordon, many projects in the SmartMoves plan are still in Stage 2 or 3. However, some improvement projects in Butler County have moved from Stage 2 to the Stage 1. These include series of safety improvement projects along Route 228, such as the Balls Bend improvement project and the Three Degree Road intersection improvement.

Other projects currently in the Stage 1 phase include signal replacements along Route 68, as well as improvements to various small bridges in Butler County such as the Geibel Road bridge in Summit Township and Callery Bridge in Callery.

The commission is seeking additional funding for projects to improve the Karns Crossing Bridge and the Picklegate Crossing viaduct, among other bridges and roadways.

“Bridges continue to be a large percentage of the investment in the region, and Butler County is no different,” Gordon said.

After meeting with the Butler Transit Authority, the commission identified transit needs for the county which it estimates will amount to $108 million over the life of the SmartMoves plan. This includes $73.1 million in operating and maintenance costs, $32.2 million for buses and other vehicles, and $2.7 million for facilities.

Projects high on the priority list include two more park-and-ride facilities for commuter service direct to Pittsburgh — one in Evans City and one on Stevenson Road in Renfrew. Combined, these would cost $3.75 million to design and construct. $120,000 has also been budgeted for bus shelter upgrades.

The commission is still allowing the public to submit comments on the SmartMoves plan until Friday, June 9. Comments can be submitted by email at comments@spcregion.org or by fax at 412-391-9160.

In June 2019, the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission — the metropolitan planning organization for the area that includes Butler County — adopted a long-range transportation plan called “SmartMoves for a Changing Region.” The 25-year plan called for $35 billion in transportation and infrastructure improvements in the commission’s 10-county area.

Federal law requires planning organizations to update the plan at least every four years. As part of these efforts, the commission held a virtual meeting with residents of Butler County to gather public opinion on long-term transportation and infrastructure issues in the county.

The meeting for Butler County residents was the 10th out of 11 scheduled public meetings on the plan, with another held for the city of Pittsburgh.

The SmartMoves update is currently in the 30-day public comment period, and the commission is hoping to finalize the update by June 26.

“Public involvement is very critical and is the beginning and ending of the process to update the long range transportation plan,“ said Ryan Gordon, commission manager of Transportation Program Development.

Projects in the long-range transportation plan are divided into three stages. Stage 1 is for projects in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) which are projected for completion within the next three years. Stages 2 and 3 are for projects with much wider scope and are “much more conceptual in nature,” and are scheduled for completion between 2027 and 2050.

“We are going to have a number of TIP updates before we even get to 2035,” Gordon said. “So just keep in mind that this time frame represents numerous TIP updates and extends all the way to 2050.”

According to Gordon, many projects in the SmartMoves plan are still in Stage 2 or 3. However, some improvement projects in Butler County have moved from Stage 2 to the Stage 1. These include series of safety improvement projects along Route 228, such as the Balls Bend improvement project and the Three Degree Road intersection improvement.

Other projects currently in the Stage 1 phase include signal replacements along Route 68, as well as improvements to various small bridges in Butler County such as the Geibel Road bridge in Summit Township and Callery Bridge in Callery.

The commission is seeking additional funding for projects to improve the Karns Crossing Bridge and the Picklegate Crossing viaduct, among other bridges and roadways.

“Bridges continue to be a large percentage of the investment in the region, and Butler County is no different,” Gordon said.

After meeting with the Butler Transit Authority, the commission identified transit needs for the county which it estimates will amount to $108 million over the life of the SmartMoves plan. This includes $73.1 million in operating and maintenance costs, $32.2 million for buses and other vehicles, and $2.7 million for facilities.

Projects high on the priority list include two more park-and-ride facilities for commuter service direct to Pittsburgh — one in Evans City and one on Stevenson Road in Renfrew. Combined, these would cost $3.75 million to design and construct. $120,000 has also been budgeted for bus shelter upgrades.

The commission is still allowing the public to submit comments on the SmartMoves plan until Friday, June 9. Comments can be submitted by email at comments@spcregion.org or by fax at 412-391-9160.

View the full story at butlereagle.com

The draft long-range transportation plan for 10 southwestern Pennsylvania counties and the city of Pittsburgh calls for spending $41.4 billion over the next 25 years for roads, bridges, public transit and trail improvements.

That’s nearly a $10 billion increase since the plan was updated four years ago and marks a major change in emphasis from road and bridge work to public transit. Under the new proposal from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, transit spending is expected to increase from $14.4 billion to $26.8 billion while road and bridge spending is expected to drop from $17.3 billion to $14.6 billion.

Domenic D’Andrea, director of SPC’s office of transportation planning, emphasized the agency hasn’t shifted its priorities but planned future spending based on where it expects funding to be available over the next 25 years. The agency plans how federal transportation money will be spent in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland counties, as well as Pittsburgh.

“I don’t think there’s a shift in priorities,” he said. “We look at the revenues and what we think is going to be available.”

The Biden administration’s stimulus plan earmarked billions for public transportation because that addresses the president’s goal to reduce air pollution.

“This is going to be a really exciting time” for transit as a result of the extra funding, Dave Totten, SPC’s transit planner, said during a recent public input meeting in Pittsburgh.

He noted the plan includes funding for major Pittsburgh Regional Transit initiatives such as building a new maintenance garage, replacing light rail vehicles, extending the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway to Monroeville and developing a transit corridor from Pittsburgh’s Strip District to Oakland, Hazelwood and Overbrook neighborhoods that could include the use of gondolas.

Other counties can expect help replacing diesel buses with electric vehicles and funding for other projects. One of those would be creating a common payment system for all transit agencies in the region, to make it easier for customers to transfer from one agency’s system to another for longer commutes.

Butler County is conducting a study on the feasibility of setting up a transfer station near the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.

Although there will be a smaller pool of money for roads and bridges, D’Andrea said, a higher percentage of that money will go toward bridge projects. That’s because billions have been earmarked under President Joe Biden’s stimulus plan to upgrade thousands of bridges, he said.

D’Andrea said the region “has made some pretty good strides” over the past 10 years, reducing the number of state-maintained bridges in poor condition to 9.5% and locally owned bridges to 25%. The agency is emphasizing funding for local bridges, holding seminars in recent months to help local officials find funds for their projects.

“You’re going to see a lot more bridge projects,” he said. “Everybody is getting money for bridges. We still have a lot of work to do.”

Pittsburgh, in particular, has several bridge projects moving forward:

• Charles Anderson Bridge in Schenley Park, which was closed earlier this year after inspectors found structural problems, had a $48 million rehabilitation project moved up to next year.
• Swindell Bridge over Interstate 279 on the city’s North Side has a $27 million rehab project set for 2026.
• Larimer Avenue Bridge, above Washington Boulevard in Larimer, has $14 million for work scheduled after 2027.

D’Andrea said the collapse last year of Pittsburgh’s Fern Hollow Bridge between Squirrel Hill and Point Breeze “brings focus to the issue” of bridge conditions but really had little to do with the city seeing an increase in projects. He noted the agency has to stay nimble to accommodate special cases where a bridge unexpectedly needs to be added to the work list, such as the Versailles Avenue Bridge in McKeesport, where a $10 million replacement project moved up after serious deterioration was discovered.

The draft also includes billions of dollars in road projects throughout the region, such as a $30 million traffic management system for the Parkway East in Pittsburgh, designed to ease crowded conditions by limiting where vehicles can enter the highway.

Another major project already underway is the $137 million installation of a diverging diamond interchange at Interstate 70 and Route 51 in Rostraver, Westmoreland County. The design reduces side-impact collisions by having traffic switch sides of the road going through the interchange.

Other proposed work includes eight projects on Route 21 in Fayette and Greene counties; 19 projects on Route 28 in Allegheny and Armstrong counties; 11 on Route 30 in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties; and 13 on Route 51 in Allegheny, Westmoreland and Fayette counties.

Although the spending plan appears to be robust, the report cautions there will be a shortfall in needed funds after the stimulus program ends in four years. It estimates the region will be $15.5 billion short of needed funds for the recommended projects unless something changes.

“The overall conclusion is that investment decisions for the highway and bridge asset management categories are diversified and reflect an appropriate overall commitment to Asset Management spending. But the overall shortfall in available funding is serious and means that without an overall increase in funding, transportation system performance will deteriorate during the period of this plan.”

The agency has two more virtual public meetings this week to discuss the draft plan:

• 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday for Butler County.
• 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday for Allegheny County.

The SPC board is scheduled to vote on the draft plan when it meets June 27.

View the full article at unionprogress.com

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.

Rachel Duda, PennDOT District 12’s assistant district executive for design, said the state transportation department has yet to begin study of the proposed project at Georges Station Road, which she said Westmoreland planners suggested for consideration.

Without a left-turn signal or lane, traffic headed south on Georges Station often is backed up behind motorists waiting to turn left onto eastbound Route 30.

Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) planners have estimated in the draft version of its SmartMoves Long Range Transportation Plan that it could cost $29.5 million to improve that intersection.

“We need to do a little more work there to figure out what can be done,” said Angela Saunders, transportation planning manager for PennDOT District 12. “Because it is a very tight intersection, there may not be a lot of options. But we’re going to see what we can do.”

The SPC estimates it could cost $92.6 million to reconstruct the North Huntingdon stretch of Route 30 and $30 million to make roadway improvements at the Donohoe Road intersection with Route 30.

Duda said PennDOT is looking into another Hempfield project, at the intersection of Donohoe and Georges Station roads, that might be easier and quicker to achieve than the nearby Georges Station/Route 30 improvement. The crossroads on Donohoe, currently controlled by four-way stop signs, also is subject to traffic backups at peak hours.

Duda said preliminary engineering is underway for three options there: a traffic signal, a roundabout placed directly at the crossroads or a roundabout shifted toward one of the corners.

“That has not been decided yet,” she said. “Whenever we have an intersection project, we always start with a roundabout in mind because they’re most efficient and they’re safer. You never have someone turning left in front of you, so you eliminate angle crashes.”

$1.1 billion eyed for work

The SPC is proposing projects in Westmoreland County with a total value of $1.1 billion as part of its 10-county long-range transportation plan, which looks forward through 2050. Domenic D’Andrea, SPC’s director of transportation planning, said another $1.3 billion in spending can be allocated over those years among projects across PennDOT District 12, which includes Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington and Greene counties.

Since a previous long-range transportation plan was completed in 2019, D’Andrea said, the covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on transportation, along with other sectors of society. But additional federal and state funding has allowed the SPC and PennDOT to advance several Westmoreland projects to the current Transportation Improvement Plan of work scheduled through 2026.

Those include the second and third segments of the three-phase Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project, which is meant to improve alignments and intersections along the Route 981 corridor between Mt. Pleasant and Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity.

September 2023 is the target date for completing the first project section, currently under construction, between Route 819 and Norvelt in Mt. Pleasant Township. Saunders said bids are expected to be let in October for the northern section of the project, between Pleasant Unity and the airport, and in October 2025 for the middle section, between Norvelt and Pleasant Unity.

All three Laurel Valley project sections represent an investment of more than $200 million, she said.

Other pending projects in Westmoreland include:

• Rehabilitation of the West Newton Bridge that carries Route 136 over the Youghiogheny River, at an estimated cost of $7 million.
• Replacement of the Salina Bridge over the Kiski River and Norfolk Southern Railroad, estimated at $13.3 million.
• Safety improvements on Route 30 between Route 48 in North Versailles, Allegheny County, and Malts Lane in North Huntingdon, with a $22.3 million price tag.

Bridge projects dominate

The West Newton Bridge project is intended to maintain the historic significance of the metal truss span, which was built in 1909. After undergoing previous work in 1957, 1982 and 2010, it has received a poor rating for its superstructure.

Bids for the new bridge rehab project are to be let in 2024.

“The bridge that exists will stay, and we’ll preserve all the historic parts of it,” Duda said, adding that a temporary bridge will be used during construction.

“Building a temporary bridge is something that’s crazy for a bridge that size,” she said. “It took a lot of planning.”

Otherwise, the project would have required a detour “way too long to be able to handle that kind of closure,” Saunders said.

Bidding for the Salina Bridge project is targeted for December, with construction to begin next year. The existing bridge will remain open to traffic as the replacement is constructed next to it.

“There will be some detours at the end when we’re tying into the new alignment,” Saunders said.

The largest chunk of funding available for the long-range transportation plan, 44%, will be devoted to bridge projects, while roadway improvements will account for 32%.

“In the last 10 years, our region has made very good progress in decreasing the number of poor-rated bridges,” D’Andrea said. “They have been cut in half, but we still have work to do.”

He said about 10% of state-owned bridges and 25% of locally owned bridges across the region remain in poor condition.

Additional Westmoreland bridge projects proposed in the long-range transportation plan, with associated cost estimates, include:

• Replacement/rehabilitation of the Walworth Viaduct bridge that carries Route 30 over Route 119: $17.7 million.
• Replacement/rehab of the Avonmore Bridge that carries Route 156 over the Kiski River: $6 million.
• Replacement/rehab of the Larimer Bridge that carries Route 993 over Brush Creek in North Huntingdon: $5.2 million.
• Preservation of the Route 30 bridge over Edna Road in Hempfield: $8.2 million.
• Preservation of the West Leechburg Bridge over the Kiski River: $5 million.
• Improvements to the bridge carrying Route 366 over Route 380 in Murrysville: $17.5 million.
• Rehabilitation of the bridge carrying White Cloud Road over Route 56 in Allegheny Township: $5.1 million.

Additional projects proposed

Other proposed long-term Westmoreland projects:

• Reconstruction of Route 66 from Route 22 north to the county line: $21.6 million.
• Reconfiguration of North Greengate Road in the vicinity of the railroad overpass in Hempfield: $15.5 million.
• Route 130 corridor review and improvements: $10 million.
• Improvements on Route 119 from the vicinity of the former Sony plant to Youngwood and from Youngwood to the Route 30 interchange: $137 million.
• Restoration of Route 119 in the area of the West Tec Drive exit: $4.5 million.
• Pavement preservation on Route 286 between the Allegheny County and Indiana County lines: $13.3 million.
• Preservation of Route 366 from the Allegheny County line to Route 66: $7.2 million.

Public transit addressed

SPC’s plan also calls for investing $408 million in public transit in Westmoreland County through 2050. Some proposed projects include a preventive maintenance program for Westmoreland Transit buses, at a cost of $16.5 million; resurfacing of a 245-space Park & Ride lot at Carpenter Lane and Route 30 in North Huntingdon, $3.7 million; and upgrading the fare collection system, $275,000.

Senior transit planner David Totten said the SPC is working on a regional mobile ticketing study that could be ready for review in August. He said it is examining the feasibility for neighboring authorities, including Westmoreland Transit and Pittsburgh Regional Transit, to “work together, maybe at the back office level, so that there would be interoperability between transit tickets.

“You could really make a trip across the whole region on public transit.”

D’Andrea said the SPC also has identified potential multimodal hub locations across the region, “where multiple transit agencies could come together to transfer folks.”

It’s working on a detailed study of one of those proposed hub sites, near the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, he said.

Comment deadline near

The long range transportation plan is set to be finalized by June 26, with public comments accepted through Friday, June 9.

Comments can be submitted via email to comments@spcregion.org. For more information, visit spcregion.org.

About three dozen people attended the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission meeting in the former Gallatin Bank Building.

Ryan Gordon, SPC transportation program development manager, said the Long Range Transportation Plan is nearing the end of an 11-step process.

County officials are expected to approve the plan by June 26.

Gordon said projects will include bridges, roadways, safety networks, roundabouts and efficiency.

The plan comprises three phases, 2023 through 2026; 2027 through 2034; and 2035 through 2050. Cost for the initial phase is estimated at $1.9 billion, the other two at a combined $10,778 billion.

About 44% of the money will go to bridges, 32% for roadways.

Numerous state roads will be affected including such main highways in Fayette County as routes 21 and 51 and U.S. routes 40 and 119.

Projects locally would involve the Layton Bridge in Perry Township, Sheepskin Trail and state Route 819 over Jacobs Creek in Dawson.

Angela Swallop Saunders, PennDOT transportation planning manager, said the McClure-Kingview Road project near Upper Tyrone Township will begin by late 2024.

U.S. Route 119 improvements would include reconstruction from Uniontown to Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus, Connellsville to Kingview, and the Uniontown Bypass.

She said air quality and environmental concerns will be considered.

Officials expect to soon be notified on the status of a $12 million grant application for high-speed internet connectivity.

Immediate projects are planned on a two year cycle, while long-range projects follow a four-year cycle.

Citizens may submit comments about information provided at the SPC meeting through June 9 by going online to www.spcregion.org

Discussions concerning projects for 2025 will take place in 2024.

View the full article at dailycourier.com

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.

Access to the meeting is available at https://spcregion.webex.com/spcregion/j.php?MTID=m9bb14bbd2e9e336d183ff8f7a3d28c5f. People who are not able to attend the meeting can submit comments until June 9, the end of the public comment period, by email at comments@spcregion.org, by fax at 412-391-9160, or mail comments to Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s address at PO Box 101429, Pittsburgh, PA 15237.

The commission is the area’s designated metropolitan planning organization, and works closely with 10 counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania, including Butler County.

View the full article at cranberryeagle.com

Pittsburgh officials are close to finalizing the design for the Charles Anderson Bridge, which carries Boulevard of the Allies over Schenley Park, and connects Oakland to Squirrel Hill; construction is slated to begin in 2024. While that’s two years ahead of schedule, city officials and community members alike acknowledged at a meeting Wednesday night it still feels like a long time off.

Work on a plan for the Charles Anderson began in 2019.

The span is historic, which complicates things; Pittsburgh is receiving state and federal money, which adds additional burdens; and it runs over a park, which has its own quirks. Zachary Workman is the project lead for the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, and he explained rehabilitating the Charles Anderson means working through the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, which can be quite a lengthy process.

“There’s a lot of considerations that go into making sure the project is really considering all those who are impacted, both the neighborhoods and the environment around it,” he said.

Still, the city was able to shift the anticipated 2026 construction date, which led to a question of whether there was any room to expedite it further.

The limiting factor is usually federal funding, said Kim Lucas, who leads the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure. But in the last few years, Pittsburgh has “received more federal funding for our bridge projects than probably ever in the history of the city,” Lucas said.

“That funding is usually budgeted out to future years, and if you need to move it up, there are tradeoffs.”

Working with the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (the regional planning organization), PennDOT, and the Federal Highway Administration, Pittsburgh was able to make tradeoffs, but the implication was there aren’t more to be made. Lucas also noted physical realities, such as rehabilitating old steel, limit speed.

Though the city’s design for the bridge is constrained by its historic designation, officials say they will be able to add a bike lane, while also keeping both sidewalks.

While the bridge has been closed to cars since this winter, it remained open to pedestrians and cyclists. Once construction starts, those users will also be detoured to other routes.

Another meeting with an updated design is expected later in the summer, and construction is expected to conclude in 2025.

In addition to talking about the Charles Anderson Bridge, city officials also provided a brief update on other affected bridges: the Panther Hollow Overpass and the Swinburne Bridge. Work on the former will begin during the work on Charles Anderson, and the latter will begin after (Swinburne currently serves as a detour for the Charles Anderson).

Stakeholders from Oakland, Squirrel Hill, and Greenfield voiced numerous concerns about communication around and plans for Swinburne, and repeatedly asked city officials to reopen comments on the project and to commit to more meetings. They agreed to both of those requests.

View the full article at wesa.fm

Members of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC), met on Tuesday at the new Butler County Community College in Ford City to collect public input for their long-range transportation plan.

The plan they are updating, according to an SPC press release, called SmartMoves for a Changing Region, was adopted in June 2019 and included more than $35 billion in regional transportation priorities for the next 25 years.

Caitlin O’Connor, SPC media point of contact, wrote in the release that the SPC is the area’s designated metropolitan planning organization and works closely with the 10 counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania, including Armstrong County.

The agency also works closely with PennDOT on road improvement projects.

Ryan Gordon, manager, transportation program development for the SPC, presented a PowerPoint presentation about the plan during the meeting.

He said SmartMoves for a Changing Region includes a regional vision of a world-class, safe and well maintained, integrated transportation system that provides mobility for all, enables resilient communities and supports a globally competitive economy.

To achieve this vision, the long-range plan includes a list of projects currently within fiscal capacity and projects beyond the fiscal capacity, he said.

Mr. Gordon said the Regional Vision includes three major categories, including: transit projects, such as a West Busway Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) extension to Pittsburgh International Airport and an East Busway extension to the east suburbs and the Mon Valley, among other projects.

The Regional Vision also includes an active transportation category, or funds for walking/biking trails and filling in gaps between trails, he said.

The active transportation category includes extending the Three Rivers Heritage Trail to Freeport; and connecting the Westmoreland Heritage Trail to the Great Allegheny Passage, the bike trail that runs through Homestead, among other projects.

The third category is roadways, that is, highway improvement projects such as the modernization of U.S. Route 30.

The Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), lasts 25 years, and is updated every four years.

When projects are moved from the LRTP to the short-term, two-year TIF (Transportation Improvement Program), it means those projects will soon be started, or are, in the case of the Margaret Road intersection, already underway.

Other Armstrong County projects moved to the 2021 or 2023 TIF list include preservation work on the Judge J. Frank Graff Bridge; rehabilitation of the 1/112th Infantry Bridge and Graff Ramp; Armstrong State Route 28 group bridge rehabilitations; and safety improvements to the Goheenville Dip.

According to Mr. Gordon’s PowerPoint presentation, Armstrong County projects in the current TIP include the Poverty Hill Bridge, work on the State Route 85-State Route 2001 intersection, U.S. Route 422 concrete preservation, Rural Valley Bridge #4, Brick Church Bridge #2, and the Pyra Road Bridge.

He said the projects will also be evaluated from an “environmental justice” perspective, which helps ensure projects do not negatively impact minority communities.

Enhanced broadband is also important and a needed improvement, Mr. Gordon said.

After the meeting, Harold Swan, a planning and programming manager for PennDOT, said improvements on State Route 28 north of Kittanning will likely include turning lanes and other work to make the road safer.

Darin Alviano of the Armstrong County Planning and Development office said the county is concerned with projects to the north, east, and in all parts of the county, not just in Kittanning.

Jeremy Dias of state Sen. Joe Pittman’s office submitted the following statement about the meeting between SPC staff members, local officials and PennDOT representatives:

“Sen. Pittman is always pleased to advocate and work to secure funding that addresses critical infrastructure needs within the 41st Senatorial district,” he wrote. “We are grateful for the partnerships that exist with PennDOT, SPC and Armstrong County and for their efforts to help advance transportation projects within the region.”

Public input

If a member of the public wasn’t able to attend the meeting, but still wants to provide their perspective on the transportation plans and issues, SPC members invited them to submit their comments before June 9.

Citizens can submit their comments either by email at comments@spcregion.org, by submitting an online form by fax at 412-391-9160; or by mailing comments to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s address at P.O. Box 101429, Pittsburgh, PA, 15237.

An SPC spokeswoman said SPC staff people respond to every comment.

View the full article at leadertimes.com