A grant from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission will provide $450,492 in funding for a sidewalk and dedicated bike path along Saltsburg Avenue, White Township officials announced at a meeting Wednesday.

Communication specialist Chauncey Ross said the township will be responsible for $60,000 in engineering costs for design fees.

The grant will fund a project that will be developed this year, with ground likely being broken in 2023, Ross said.

It will provide a continuation of bike lanes that run down Rose Street beginning near Hoss’s restaurant and ending at Saltsburg Avenue. The bike lane would be extended to Rustic Lodge Road, and a sidewalk would also be constructed along Saltsburg Avenue.

The project promotes safe walking and the use of alternative transportation, Ross said.

Read the full story at www.indianagazette.com

The U.S. Department of Transportation will announce a five-step program Thursday to reduce an unexpected spike in traffic deaths during the pandemic with a goal of eliminating them in the future.

The program, called the National Roadway Safety Strategy, marks a major shift in the department’s approach by recognizing that drivers make mistakes and will supplement educational efforts with safer roadway designs, vehicle technology improvements and better care for accident victims. Department officials briefed the news media Wednesday on the strategy that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is scheduled to announce in Washington, D.C., at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

Mr. Buttigieg announced in October his department would spend the rest of the year developing a strategy to reduce traffic deaths after estimates through the second quarter of 2021 showed the highest percentage increase since the Fatality Analysis Reporting System began in 1975. An estimated 20,160 died in the first half of 2021, an 18.4% increase over the previous year, and the fatality rate increased to 1.34 fatalities per 100 million miles driven from 1.28.

That continued a trend that began with the start of the pandemic in early 2020 when reduced traffic apparently led some drivers to increase their speed substantially, resulting in more accidents. As the pandemic has worn on, officials say there also has been an increase in dangerous behavior such as impaired and distracted driving and reduced use of seat belts.

The higher speeds have resulted in more deaths and more serious injuries from unbelted drivers being thrown from vehicles.

The department said the 42-page strategy takes what it calls a “safe system approach” that tries to improve driver performance but builds in design and other safety improvements when drivers come up short.

Read the full story at https://www.post-gazette.com/

Pennsylvania is preparing for an influx of broadband funding expected from the federal infrastructure bill.

The new funding follows a pandemic that pushed many people online and revealed widespread challenges with broadband access. Federal legislators answered the call with $65 billion in the infrastructure bill, in addition to some broadband funding in pandemic relief packages. But this isn’t the first time large amounts of money have been pumped into broadband.

For many years, Federal Communications Commission programs have offered funding for broadband expansion. But many places still lack access, or affordable access, and in some cases, it’s not entirely clear where the money went. This time, states are hoping to make sure the dollars translate into access.

The key to getting that access out there is outreach and accurate data, according to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. The commission, which is a regional organization that focuses on metropolitan planning for Pittsburgh and the surrounding counties, launched its Connected Initiative with several other partners in the region during the pandemic.

“It was a natural evolution for us,” said Vincent Valdes, executive director of the commission. “Really, if you think about it, connectivity and virtual access is the new transportation mode, so why not treat it and plan for it as you would any other?”

And, Valdes told Farm and Dairy, it makes sense for the commission to take that on in the region — it has a lot of experience with long-range planning and managing infrastructure funding.

The commission already has a long-range transportation plan, in addition to a shorter-range, five-year transportation improvement program. It decided to mirror that by developing a connectivity improvement plan that will include details on the region’s current connectivity situation and recommendations for projects to prioritize.

Broadband came up as an issue organically, through conversations with communities in the region. Communities know they need access, but getting funding and making projects happen can be a challenge. That’s what the commission is addressing with its connectivity improvement plan.

Read the full article at www.farmanddairy.com

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Coalition is one of 60 finalists out of 529 entrants for Phase 1 of the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) $1 billion “Build Back Better Regional Challenge”. The Build Back Better Regional Challenge provides transformative investments, up to $100 million per grantee, to develop and strengthen regional industry clusters across the country, all while embracing economic equity, creating good-paying jobs, and enhancing U.S. competitiveness globally.

“We’re proud to be partnering with the Allegheny Conference on Community Development in creating the Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Coalition and working together on these important projects. This new coalition will help leverage our region’s first-class and growing robotics and information technology sector into providing more economic development and job creation throughout all of Southwestern Pennsylvania,” said Vincent Valdes, Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Coalition will receive a Phase 1 grant of approximately $500,000 to further develop their proposed projects and strengthen their regional growth clusters in advance of submitting a Phase 2 application. The projects are as follows:

• Project 1: Support small, medium, and family-owned enterprises (SMEs) in designing and deploying robotics and AI solutions in their operations through technical assistance programs.
• Project 2: Provide capital to nonprofit centers of excellence to make facilities and support available for SMEs to develop, test, adopt robotics and AI technologies.
• Project 3: Establish inclusive career pathways from high school and beyond, preparing new workers to thrive in robotics and AI and providing them with upskilling opportunities.
• Project 4: Develop robotics and AI accelerators that provide wraparound business support and development services.

The two-phase competition will ultimately award 20-30 regional coalitions between $25 and $100 million to implement 3-8 projects that support an industry sector.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Corporation, a 501(c)(3) corporation, on behalf of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC), is requesting Technical Proposals and Price Proposals (together, the Proposal package) for Regional Ridesharing Software Consultant Services. The selected firm or team of firms will provide SPC with a comprehensive and dynamic regional ridesharing software platform for the 10-county SPC region, along with staff training, software maintenance and technical support.

The Request for Proposals (RFP) was released by SPC on December 15, 2021. Copies may be downloaded from the SPC Website (www.spcregion.org) or may be obtained by e-mail request to Anthony Hickton at Ahickton@spcregion.org.

Electronic submissions will be required via SPC’s SharePoint site. Full submission details are provided in the RFP document. Proposal packages are due on January 21, 2022.

More than two dozen residents attended a “Community Conversation” held at the Greene County Fairgrounds Monday evening to discuss broadband access and speed issues in the area and learn about an ongoing statewide connectivity improvement plan.

The event was coordinated by the Greene County commissioners and facilitated by representatives affiliated with Southwestern Pennsylvania Connected, an initiative created to develop a plan to bring equitable broadband access and high-speed internet to the area.

Facilitators Leanne Doran and LaTrenda Sherrill said the Greene County meeting was one of many being held in 10 counties throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania to assess residents’ concerns regarding broadband access and speed.

Doran said the connectivity improvement plan, which is being led by Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Allies for Children and Carnegie Mellon University, includes holding regional conversations and workshops, identifying priorities, obtaining funding and grants, developing programs and implementing a plan based on research.

Those in attendance discussed their concerns with slow or no broadband speed and access, identifying numerous dead spots of service throughout the county. Issues such as affordability, poor service, low trust in internet service providers, insufficient repairs and outdated equipment were also discussed.

Read the full article at www.observer-reporter.com

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, which covers Indiana and nine other Pittsburgh-area counties, is nearing the end of a survey seeking information about internet access and experience.

SPC’s Southwestern Pennsylvania Connected initiative is asking community members to take a brief survey online or by phone.

Eligible participants can win a $50 Visa gift card for completing the survey.

SWPA Connected is a regional consortium that includes the SPC, Carnegie Mellon University, Allies for Children and a diverse group of regional partners.

Its aim is to develop an equitable Connectivity Improvement Plan to provide affordable, reliable broadband internet access across the region.

The partners stress that this initiative is not affiliated with any internet provider and is not intended to sell any internet services. Rather, it seeks to guide the region’s future internet investments that can be made now that the historic infrastructure bill has passed, which includes $65 billion for broadband.

Read the full article at www.indianagazette.com

Murrysville officials are considering using some of the municipality’s $1.9 million in American Rescue Plan money to expand broadband internet access.

“I think it’s vital,” Murrysville Chief Administrator Jim Morrison told Murrysville Council members this week. He encouraged residents to complete a survey being undertaken by the nonprofit Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s Connected Initiative to learn about broadband access across the six counties the commission serves.

This summer, the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units and Penn State Extension conducted a survey to determine students’ home access to internet. Its purpose was to help school districts identify pockets without internet access and have internet-­related data available for grant applications, including for the $7.1 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund launched by the Federal Communications Commission in May.

Funded with ARP dollars, it aims to “enable schools and libraries to purchase laptop and tablet computers, Wi-Fi hot spots and broadband connectivity for students, school staff and library patrons in need during the covid-19 pandemic,” according to an FCC release.

Read the full article at www.triblive.com

With an eye to bringing affordable, reliable internet access throughout a 10-county region, including Indiana, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Connected initiative is asking community members to take a brief survey online or by phone to provide information about their current internet access and experience.

The initiative said eligible participants can win a $50 Visa gift card for completing the survey.

SWPA Connected is a regional consortium that includes the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Carnegie Mellon University, Allies for Children, and a diverse group of regional partners to develop an equitable Connectivity Improvement Plan to provide affordable, reliable broadband internet access across the region.

Organizers said this initiative is not affiliated with any internet provider and is not intended to sell any internet services.

Rather, it seeks to guide the region’s future internet investments that can be made now that the historic infrastructure bill has passed, which includes $65 billion for broadband.

“We need the input of our residents, businesses and neighbors so that we can work together to overcome barriers and develop solutions that make broadband access what it truly should be: a required service that is always provided,” said SPC Executive Director Vincent Valdes.

the survey is now closed

Read the full story at IndianaGazette.com.

Visit the SWPA Connected page to learn more!

President Joe Biden’s signature on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure act will put money in a pipeline that will help communities across Western Pennsylvania in dealing with needs that have been building for years.

“This is the biggest investment that the federal government has made in infrastructure in over half a century. So some of us haven’t seen anything like this investment that we’re going to see in the coming years,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4. “Number one, it’s going to put a lot of people to work over the next couple of years as these projects get built out. But the other thing, when it’s all done, it’s going to improve transportation and access and broadband, not just for Allegheny County but for the entire region.”

Pennsylvania US Senator Bob Casey says over the next five years, funding the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will send Pennsylvania includes:

• $11.3 billon in federal highway aid
• $1.6 billion for bridge replacement
• $2.8 billion to improve public transportation
• $1.4 billion for replacing lead pipes and improving infrastructure for clean, safe drinking water

Vincent Valdes, Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission said, “I think it means a windfall. I think it means that many of the projects that are pent up here, that have been obviously a need for years, could now be funded, could now be promoted and moved forward.”

The SPC is the organization federally mandated to prioritize spending of federal transportation funds in a 10-county southwestern Pennsylvania region.

Read the full story on WTAE.com