An engineering firm with offices in Columbus has been tapped to join the team trying to restore Amtrak service in the city.

HNTB Corporation will be tasked with planning and development services for the Midwest Connect route, a potential route connecting Pittsburgh to Chicago via Columbus and Fort Wayne, Indiana. The route would include stops in Marysville, Columbus and Newark.

The engineering firm joins a multi-entity partnership made up of the City of Fort Wayne, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

“This is a major step forward in the public-private effort to reconnect Central Ohio to the nation’s passenger rail network,” said William Murdock, MORPC executive director, in a press release. “This partnership across several states helps to advance the required work to qualify for federal funds for implementation. It builds on years of work showing passenger rail is a critical investment for prosperity and attracting talent.”

The firm specializes in transportation and has worked on more than 40 passenger rail corridors across the country, according to the release.

HNTB was awarded a contract of up to $450,000 to review past studies, identify remaining gaps and establish the scope, schedule and budget for the remaining planning work, according to the MORPC. The contract for the initial tasks ends in June 2025.

The funds come from a $500,000 grant the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) awarded the City of Fort Wayne for the project in December.

The Midwest Connect is one of two proposed routes that include Columbus. The other is the “3C + D,” connecting Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati, sponsored by the Ohio Rail Development Commission. It has also received a $500,000 grant for an initial study.

Last month, the Central Ohio Passenger Rail Committee, a temporary select panel composed of leaders from surrounding municipalities, was formed to help MORPC advance the bid to restore Amtrak routes through Columbus by providing data and guiding strategy throughout the multi-year process.

Design and construction will take several years to build stations and upgrade existing freight lines to handle 79-mph passenger trains. MORPC has said service could be online by 2030.

“This project represents a transformative opportunity for our region,” said Parag Agrawal, MORPC chief mobility and infrastructure officer, in the release. “By enhancing connectivity and accessibility, we are not only fostering economic development but also promoting sustainable and efficient transportation solutions for the future.”

Amtrak shut down its last route through Columbus in 1979.

View the full article at bizjournals.com.

1 Can you elaborate on engineering consultant HNTB’s specific role in the Midwest Connect Corridor ID Grant? How close does this bring us to passenger rail service?

A: The role of HNTB is to help the City of Fort Wayne as the primary applicant and its partners, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) and Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, set up and prepare the scope of work for the Service Development Plan for the Midwest Connect project.

HNTB, as a well-known transportation planning corporation, will serve a vital role as the vendor helping us to meet the expectations of the Federal Rail Administration in Step One of this Corridor ID passenger rail grant.

Many factors will influence the return of passenger rail service, but our hope is to see it happen in five to seven years, less if we can do it!

2 How does NIPRA engage with local communities, businesses and government officials to ensure support and successful implementation of the passenger rail project?

A: NIPRA board members have been meeting with elected officials and representatives of business organizations like Greater Fort Wayne Inc. and the Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana for years to ensure support for the restoration of passenger rail service to Fort Wayne, northern Indiana and the Midwest. We have also spent time educating key businesses like Steel Dynamics and others as to the importance of the restoration of passenger rail service for not only transportation options but also for the very significant economic development it will bring to our city and region.

3 How do partnerships with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission influence the project’s scope and timeline?

A: The partnerships have been of immeasurable help to our efforts to bring back daily passenger rail service along the five-state Midwest Connect Corridor ID line. This project is not just a Fort Wayne or an Indiana-only passenger rail line; it is a five-state Midwest passenger rail corridor connecting three large cities and many smaller communities with another important transportation option.

We were selected because the Federal Rail Administration recognized the impact and importance of our unique multistate, 545-mile-long passenger rail corridor.

And the match costs to the federal grants will be spread over five states, not just Indiana.

With several states involved showing the interest and importance of Midwest Connect, we hope this will expedite and cut the timeline.

4 Is there a plan to integrate the historic Baker Street Station into the new passenger rail service, and how has the community responded to these efforts?

A: Yes, we hope to see the Midwest Connect passenger rail stop in Fort Wayne at the Baker Street Station downtown. We expect that Baker Street Station, formerly the Pennsylvania Railroad Station, will be part of the service development plan for stops along the Midwest Connect line. The public knows about Baker Street Station and sees it as a past and future home for passenger rail service in Fort Wayne and Allen County.

We have held rallies for passenger rail service twice in the past few years at Baker Street Station with 800 to 1,000 supporters attending, as well as many elected officials. Along this same theme, NIPRA is planning to hold a passenger rail rally Oct. 27 at Baker Street Station, and we expect a large and enthusiastic crowd of supporters and many elected officials as well.

5 What strategies is NIPRA using to raise public awareness and educate the community about the project’s benefits and progress? How can people get involved?

A: NIPRA has used the media to keep the public informed about our progress toward the restoration of passenger rail service in Fort Wayne, northern Indiana and the Midwest. Some of our board members, like City Councilman Geoff Paddock, speak to many organizations each year about passenger rail and the Midwest Connect Corridor ID project. NIPRA maintains a website, niprarail.org, and has a Facebook page as well with updates on our progress, and of course we do media interviews whenever there is more news to report.

We are also members of business organizations like Greater Fort Wayne Inc. and the Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana and have representatives of business on our board of directors.

The public can support our efforts to restore passenger rail service by joining NIPRA as a member for a whopping $10 per year and by contacting state and local elected officials to express their support for the Midwest Connect Corridor ID passenger rail project.

View the full article at journalgazette.net.

The City has a new partner in efforts to bring a passenger rail service to Fort Wayne.  The project would get federal funds but now has the experience of the HNTB Corporation – a Kansas City-based engineering company to help in the planning work of bringing back passenger railway to Fort Wayne.

Current plans are for the rail service to run from Chicago to Pittsburgh through Columbus and Fort Wayne.

The City of Fort Wayne released the following:

The City of Fort Wayne, in partnership with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC), has retained HNTB Corporation to assist with the implementation of the Midwest Connect Corridor ID Grant.

In December of 2023, the City of Fort Wayne received a $500,000 Corridor ID grant from the Federal Railroad Administration. The federal grant funds Step 1 to develop a scope, schedule, and budget for performing corridor planning and preparing a Service Development Plan to implement passenger rail service from Pittsburgh to Chicago via Fort Wayne & Columbus.

The selected consultant, HNTB, brings vision and extensive experience, having worked on over 40 passenger rail corridors nationwide. With over 110 years in transportation planning and design, HNTB is no stranger to the Midwest Connect corridor, having analyzed sections of the route over the past decade. They provide fully integrated services for all project phases, including feasibility studies, planning, environmental review, conceptual design, final design, and construction management.

“It’s encouraging to see this progress as Fort Wayne continues to lead an effort that will have a lasting and meaningful impact,” said Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker. “As work continues with our partners, it’s our belief that this latest effort gives us the best chance to restore passenger rail services to Fort Wayne.”

The Corridor ID program garnered additional support from several key stakeholders, including the Northern Indiana Passenger Rail Association (NIPRA), Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC), Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG), Northeastern Indiana Regional Coordinating Council (NIRCC), Lima/Allen County Regional Planning Commission (LACRPC), Licking County Area Transportation Study (LCATS), Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association (OMEGA), and Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission (BHJTS). The program also received advocacy from the Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania Departments of Transportation.

“We are thrilled to have HNTB on board as our consultant for this project. Their extensive experience and vision will be invaluable as we move forward,” stated City Councilman Geoff Paddock. “The momentum of this initiative is inspiring, and while we recognize that there is a long road ahead, we are confident that with the support of our dedicated stakeholders, we can navigate this journey successfully.”

View the full article at 963xke.com.

The city of Fort Wayne announced it has gained another partner to try and bring a passenger rail to the community. The city is already partnered with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC.)

The city has now retained HNTB Corporation to assist in executing the Midwest Connect Corridor ID Grant to bring the Midwest Connect Passenger Rail Project to life. The rail would provide passenger rail between Pittsburgh and Chicago, through Fort Wayne and Columbus.

HNTB is a consulting company that creates “infrastructure that best meets the unique demands of its environment. With client relationships spanning decades, we understand infrastructure life cycles and have the perspective to solve technical challenges with clarity and imagination,” according to the company’s website.

In December 2023, the city received a grant for $500,000 for the project. The Federal Railroad Association gave the city the grant to start working on the planning portion for the Midwest Connect Passenger Rail. The planning portion includes developing a scope, schedule and budget.

“It’s encouraging to see this progress as Fort Wayne continues to lead an effort that will have a lasting and meaningful impact,” said Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker. “As work continues with our partners, it’s our belief that this latest effort gives us the best chance to restore passenger rail services to Fort Wayne.”

This planning portion is just the first step for the project and is fully funded by the federal government. The second step is creating a service development plan—  90% of which is federally funded.

“That’s when we really get into the planning and understand where stations are going to go,” Paul Spoelhof, planning and policy director for the City of Fort Wayne, said. “What type of track alignments are necessary, where we can use existing track, where it makes sense to add new track alignment, what kind of speeds we’ll be able to achieve.”

The third step is 80% federally funded. Having been approved for step one, Fort Wayne is automatically approved by the federal government to conduct steps two and three if remaining local funding is secured. That money doesn’t have to only come from Fort Wayne, Spoelhof said. It can come from states and other cities along the entire proposed rout from Pittsburgh, Penn. to Chicago.

“That will involve some environmental management, environmental analysis of some of the projects that need to be built, and it will also involve preliminary engineering,” Spoelhof said.

Fort Wayne city councilman and board member for the Northern Indiana Passenger Railroad Association, Geoff Paddock, said this doesn’t only mean Fort Wayne residents can easily access places like Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, but people living in other proposed stops like Lima, Ohio and Warsaw can come to the summit city. The passenger rail station would be the old Baker Street station on the southern edge of downtown Fort Wayne.

“We’re right across the street here from Parkview field,” Paddock said. We’re two blocks south of the Grand Wayne Convention Center. We’ve got the Citilink bus station that could take someone to the Fort Wayne international airport to catch a flight.”

Spoelhof stressed that big projects like this take time. He is hopeful that because of these steps being taken now, Fort Wayne will have passenger rail service in the future.

“If we had not been spending the last 10 to 15 years studying this corridor, we would not have been in a position to get the attention of the Federal Railroad Administration and get in this program,” Spoelhof said. “Many communities applied and did not get in.”

Both Paddock and Spoelhof said this is a combined effort requiring collaboration between all communities along the proposed route. Lima, Ohio is a proposed stop between Fort Wayne and Columbus. The following is a statement from Lima’s mayor on the progress of this project:

“We are excited to learn that the City of Fort Wayne is aggressively moving forward with bringing passenger rail back to the region. The selection of a consultant is an important next step, and we are pleased to continue supporting Fort Wayne as the lead applicant.”

View the full article at wane.com.

Lower Burrell officials have outlined a plan to make Leechburg Road safer for students, pedestrians, bicyclists and people with disabilities.

The city soon will start projects geared toward pedestrian safety and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance along the city’s main business artery, Mayor Chris Fabry said.

Projects include flashing beacons at different points along Leechburg Road, updated school zones near Bon Air and Stewart elementary schools, and sidewalk and ADA ramp upgrades, Fabry said.

Funding comes from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s Smart Transportation for Livable Communities program. Lower Burrell was awarded $312,500.

Fabry said improvements at school intersections previously had been discussed among city officials, as both of Burrell School District’s elementary schools are located on Leechburg Road.

“Basically, we identified a need (and) problem, found a potential financial solution and explored it,” Fabry said. “I’m pleased to say that we were chosen.”

School zones in Lower Burrell have old lighting that is hard to see, Fabry said.

“It is so important for people to slow down, but the message isn’t clear,” he said. “Now, the message will shine bright with LED lighting.”

Crash numbers in and near the school zones were not available, but Fabry said the upgrades “will certainly make things safer.”

Flashing beacons will be placed near McDonald’s, Glen’s Custard, Stewart Elementary, St. Margaret Mary Church and Bon Air Elementary.

“As far as the flashing beacons, we’ve all experienced kids or adults, running across Leechburg Road,” Fabry said. “I, myself, have had a group of kids run out with one or two staying on the other side of the road because they didn’t feel as comfortable trying to cross. It creates a dangerous situation. The flashing beacons will help ensure everyone’s safety.”

Project construction isn’t anticipated to begin until next year. The program’s funding starts Oct. 1.

View the full article at triblive.com.

Jarod Trunzo, Executive Director of the Latrobe Community Revitalization Program, joins the Big K Morning Show with Larry Richert to discuss the economic impact of the Steelers Training Camp in Latrobe. Also, Armstrong County Commissioner Anthony Shea dials in from the Great Allegheny Passage on his journey to Washington D.C..

View the full story at audacy.com.

This week, the nonprofit Heritage Community Initiatives celebrated a quarter-century of providing bus service for dozens of eastern Allegheny County communities — and now, its leadership is using a recently completed analysis to make the service better.

Heritage’s bus service currently consists of three main routes covering just over 81 miles, serving several municipalities in the Mon Valley, spanning from Swissvale, Liberty, Wilkins, Monroeville and many places in between. There are 81 stops, and the nonprofit has an annual budget of just over $1 million to operate the system, according to Heritage President and CEO Paula McWilliams.

Of that, 85% is funded through PennDOT, and the other 15% is funded through local sources. The county has funded that remaining gap in recent years, she said.

On Tuesday, Ms. McWilliams, with other Heritage officials and partners, announced service enhancements to the system, along with a recently formed partnership with Pittsburgh Transportation Group, a company that provides the buses and drivers to operate the system. Molly Allwein, vice president of transportation services for Heritage, said during a news conference that some of those enhancements include full service on weekdays, Wi-Fi on all buses, a new data collection system to learn more about ridership patterns, and an app for riders to track where buses are. Heritage officials have also been able to maintain a 25-cent fare for rides.

Along with all the service changes, Ms. McWilliams said that she and others are currently reviewing an analysis completed by Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh Regional Transit, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission and national consultants on Heritage’s bus system.

That analysis concluded that the nonprofit could do better to improve its brand recognition and that minor route changes and times might be in order — but Ms. McWilliams stressed any discussions of potential changes are preliminary.

She and others said it’s important to consider the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on transit and how people use it to get around. According to data provided by Heritage, there were 87,255 rides provided from July 2019 through June 2020. That dropped to 42,283 rides from July 2023 through June 2024, although officials anticipate that number to rise by roughly 8% in the next 12 months, through marketing and community outreach.

That drop in ridership mirrors a drop in the nonprofit’s financial performance as reported in its IRS 990 forms. It ended fiscal year 2020 with 87,255 rides and $400,000 in the black, but ended last year with a $248,000 loss.

Ms. McWilliams said the recent analysis showed that perhaps there might not be much change in fixed routes but an increased need for microtransit, or meeting people where they are.

“Do you do on-demand only service? Do you run a circulator only within a certain area, so analyzing how that service is delivered? …We are in the midst of [looking at] that right now,” she said.

Public transit is key to economic development, she said, and where companies decide to locate can determine how service might be impacted, at least broadly, she said.

There’s also the challenge of operating a transit system in a post-COVID world. Juan Hernandez, GM of the Pittsburgh Transportation Group — the contractor providing service on Heritage’s routes — said many bus drivers across the region decided to retire during the pandemic. Finding bus drivers with good backgrounds and the proper licensing is now a challenge, he said.

Ms. McWilliams echoed that, noting along with education and nutrition — two other major sectors that Heritage operates in — transportation is a compliance-heavy industry.

“I think we were a little bit spoiled before, and we didn’t even know, didn’t even realize it, as far as having operators and bringing them in whenever we needed them,” Mr. Hernandez said.

He and others said it’s also important to continue marketing Heritage’s new rider app, in order to make riding on the system easier to use.

Ultimately, larger economic forces — how many people return to the office versus working remotely, whether employers require it, and where businesses locate — will determine what changes to service might occur, Ms. McWilliams said.

But in a system where almost 80% of riders don’t have access to a car, figuring out how to improve that service is vital, she said.

“It’s important to always keep your eye on the ball for efficient and effective service, and service delivery,” Ms. McWilliams said.

View the full article at post-gazette.com.

In the event of a major flood, do you know what to do?

That was a question posed at the Extreme Event Workshop led by the Pennsylvania Silver Jackets on Thursday. Community leaders and stakeholders took part in an hour-long game that challenged them to budget for resources and work with other teams to solve hypothetical problems that could appear during a flooding scenario.

The workshop was led by Patricia Usher, community planner and public involvement specialist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District, who previously worked for the Huntingdon Silver Jackets team and completed several workshops with West Virginia groups.

“We’re hoping to do a lot more of these,” she said, “because it’s a great way to get people to learn about the planning process.”

Among the participants was Indiana County Commissioner Sherene Hess.

“(I wanted to gain) some knowledge,” she said, “about what I can do in my role to be the most effective for when these events do occur, and to meet all these partners — local, federal and state — and there’s lots of good opportunities here.”

Set in the hypothetical River City — complete with all the right conditions for a major flood, including recent snow melt and incoming heavy rain — participants were split amongst six sectors: First Responders, Households, Businesses, Community Groups, Federal Officials and Local/State Officials.

Their first task was to take 24 cards, representing hypothetical manpower, equipment and other important resources typically allocated by different sectors, and asked to budget for 12. Participants had no additional details other than basic facts about River City and the knowledge of an incoming flood emergency.

With a crack of thunder and steady rainfall, the flood waters came and presented a new challenge to the participants. Now split amongst six different neighborhoods within River City, they had to work together to allocate as many resources to different issues as possible.

In one neighborhood, the hydroelectric power station was damaged, forcing responders to choose to divert power to the local hospital or nursing homes and emergency shelters. Another had to choose to flood the historic district or allow rising waters to consume the local research laboratories.

The room was just as chaotic as an actual disaster, with participants bartering amongst a loud and busy room for resources to solve their unique issues.

In the end, only the Meadowland residents, who faced a decision to transfer inmates in the local prison to neighboring towns or to set up a temporary shelter in the city, was able to allocate enough resources to successfully transfer these imaginary inmates to other regional prisons.

“We were unaware of a (secure shelter) may be,” Planning Section Deputy Director of the Indiana County Planning and Development Office Josh Krug said, “and knew that there were other communities, and we were hopeful that we could come to some agreement to be able to transfer some of the inmates.”

Many noted challenges in the planning process and communication. One team discarded their warm clothing and heaters “resources” as they noted the warm weather and determined those wouldn’t be as important, but for many scenarios, that was the key element that was missing.

“One of the things that was noticeable, if we were able to talk to each other across sectors — picking our resources — we would have picked differently, and that is kind of the point. We’re not talking to each other. We’re working in our own little vacuums to prepare for things, so that when it happens, you wouldn’t know what’s going on.”

When discussion solutions to these communications and planning issues, FEMA Region 3 Interagency Recover Coordination Branch Chief Wynne Kwan said that it is important to identify resources across all partners.

“One of the things we constantly talk about and really promote,” she said, “is really get to know your partners because everybody in a community has some resource.”

Tammy Collazzo, Indiana Borough council member, advocated getting to know the people you live next to and how they could possibly help in the event of a disaster — a personal motto she practices, including sharing extra food with her neighbors.

“I know it may never happen,” she said, “but in the event of an emergency, how many of your neighbors do you know? How many children do you recognize? None of them.

“What matters is, can you walk to your neighbors, feel welcome, give help and enjoy life?”

The workshop concluded with a Q&A session where participants asked about available resources for disaster prevention and preparation, including about preventing flooding that occurred in Clymer back in April.

“I learned that communication is so important,” Hess said. “It’s clear to me that being prepared is one things and being able to communicate is another. Thank you to all of the first responders that put their lives on the line to protect our lives and property.”

View the full article at indianagazette.com.

Indiana County’s board of commissioners voted Wednesday to approve a grant agreement and resolution dealing with the future of the Indiana County-Jimmy Stewart Airport in White Township.

The resolution will start the process of turning up to 50 vacant acres into an “Airport Land Development Zone,” while the grant agreement opens up state funding for what Airport Authority Manager Rick Fuellner described as “a big hangar out there (that is) going to attract a lot of business.”

Indiana County Office of Planning & Development Executive Director Byron G. Stauffer Jr. said the grant is for $1.5 million from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Aviation Development Program.

The grant requires a 25% local match commitment, or $500,000, but Stauffer said the funding will leverage an additional $4.95 million in federal and state funding.

Board Chairman R. Michael Keith concurred, saying “there is opportunity, there is growth happening,” and the 12,000-square-foot corporate hangar facility and related infrastructure approved Wednesday are expected to bring in larger aircraft — such as one Keith saw three weeks ago on the tarmac of the airport also known as Stewart Field.

“There are companies that are actually wanting to use them,” Keith said.

Meanwhile, ICOPD, in collaboration with the airport authority, is planning an application to the state Department of Community & Economic Development, requesting designation of up to 50 acres for a zone meant “to encourage and promote the creation of new jobs on land and buildings at and around airports within this Commonwealth, while accelerating economic activity at and around airports on undeveloped land or vacant buildings owned by airports, that can provide new revenue sources for airports.”

And, Keith hopes, new revenue sources that can further relieve the burden on property owners of paying real estate taxes.

As Stouffer put it, “the ALDZ program is an incentive-based tax credit program to foster development on this vacant land.”

County Commissioner Robin A. Gorman said an airport is an economic asset in any community, and said the local airport was lauded by Gov. Josh Shapiro and three members of his cabinet.

Gorman had a chance to talk about Indiana County’s assets earlier in the day, joining Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission Executive Director Rich Fitzgerald as part of his weekly hour on the KDKA-1020 “Big K Morning Show.”

A commissioner from Lawrence County also was featured. SPC covers Indiana as well as nine other counties around Pittsburgh in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and Gorman is Indiana County’s representative on SPC’s executive committee, while the other commissioners, Stouffer and Indiana County Chamber of Commerce President Mark Hilliard represent the county on the SPC board of directors.

It also wasn’t the first time recently that Indiana County was noticed in Fitzgerald’s weekly appearances on KDKA. On June 24, he was joined by Westmoreland County-based syndicated columnist Salena Zito, to recap a recent series of Interagency Working Group on Coal & Power Plant Communities & Economic Revitalization hearings, one of which was held recently at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex.

Elsewhere in White Township, with the encouragement of ICOPD and Indiana County Community Action Program Inc., the commissioners entered into an Option to Purchase Agreement with Mystic Brooke Development LP of Indiana to secure a parcel of vacant ground for a HOME-ARP (American Rescue Plan) Non-Congregate Shelter that would temporarily house homeless individuals and/or families while working with them to secure permanent housing solutions.

“The facility will include administrative offices for the case management staff of ICCAP,” ICOPD Assistant Director LuAnn Zak told the commissioners. “The proposed project … is in the development and application phase. The requested option is for a nine-month time frame and will cost $1 (one dollar).”

The application is being aired today at a public hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. in the commissioners’ meeting room on the second floor of the courthouse.

Also Wednesday, the commissioners agreed with ICOPD, the YMCA of Indiana County and Thomas R. Harley Architects LLC to enter into a $123,400 contract agreement with Davis Brothers Heating & Air Conditioning of Indiana to install five new boilers and two new hot water heaters as part of a replacement project at the YMCA, along West Pike and Ben Franklin Road North in White Township.

“A total of four proposals were submitted ranging from (the) low bid by Davis Brothers … to a high bid of $265,000,” ICOPD Deputy Director for Community Development & Housing David Morrow told the commissioners. “This project is being funded with (state) Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program and YMCA funds.”

View the full article at indianagazette.com.

In a continuation of last year’s “Link Up Lawrence” broadband study, Lawrence County is spending $8,400 for a regional funding application with Pennsylvania’s Northwestern Commission.

Federal American Rescue Plan Act funds totaling $244,750 were also previously spent by the county to continue the partnership with Michael Baker International, the engineering firm responsible for “Link Up Lawrence.”

The study was started following the rollout of the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) worth $42 billion, part of President Joe Biden’s “Internet for All” initiative.

The study was needed to help secure a slice of Pennsylvania’s $1.2 billion in federal funding for broadband improvements.

Plain Grove Township, an early action area designated by the study, is the first area earmarked by the county to receive infrastructure improvements for its broadband signal.

The engineering firm responsible for the study, Michael Baker International, found 47 percent of Lawrence County’s population is either underserved or unserved in internet connection

According to the FCC, underserved access is defined by download speeds of under 100 Mbps and upload speeds of 20 Mbps. Unserved access is defined as no access at all, download speeds under 25 Mbps and upload speeds under 3 Mbps.

“We are just in the beginning of this process and securing funding is the next step,” said Amy McKinney, director and fair housing officer of the Lawrence County Department of Planning and Community Development. “We can’t move forward until the funds are in place.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro laid out plans for the $1.16 billion of BEAD funding at the state level to disburse throughout Pennsylvania in October 2023. The funding will be distributed over a five-year plan, with statewide surveys and applications taking place.

According to Pennsylvania’s Broadband Development Authority, applications will be evaluated based on “the size and scope of the unserved or underserved Pennsylvania community…the experience and ability of the applicant to successfully deploy high-speed broadband service, affordability standards that include a low-cost option, criteria to support Pennsylvania’s workforce, a plan to ensure high adoption rates in proposed areas upon the project’s completion, and more.”

Lawrence County was previously passed up by the Shapiro Administration’s distribution of $200 million in Broadband Infrastructure Program Awards, a segment of ARPA funds.

Lawrence County, part of both the Northwest Regional Commission and Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, is also partnering with the SPC.

According to McKinney, partnerships with both commissions will increase the chances of receiving funding from the state.

“The main factor is going to be how strong of an application the two commissions can put together,” she said, noting the “highly competitive” nature of the infrastructure funding. McKinney also said no amount of funding is guaranteed.

“If successful, I would hope that we could begin within a year of the award and be complete within two years,” McKinney said.

View the full article at ncnewsonline.com.