Our Executive Director, Rich Fitzgerald, returned for his weekly spot on KDKA Newsradio with Larry Richert to talk regional news. The show featured Robert Cherry, CEO of Partner4Work, who joined the show to discuss a first-of-its-kind EV apprenticeship program in the country. The program is a collaboration between local stakeholders that include Partner4Work, the Community College of Allegheny County and the German American Chamber of Commerce, Pittsburgh chapter.

View the full story at audacy.com.

The Indiana County Board of Commissioners approved four proclamations Wednesday.

• On the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist bombings, one proclamation designated Indiana County as a Green Light for Veterans county, honoring “the service and sacrifices of our men and women in uniform who have transitioned or will transition from active service.”

Indiana County’s new Director of Veterans Affairs Jessica Walker said 9/11 “ultimately changed the course of this country, changed my life and changed my husband’s life.” She said 5,000 veterans now live in Indiana County.

Commissioner Sherene Hess said a cousin in Centre County, Adam Hartswick, “is now a mentor to others,” after losing his legs in the explosion of an improvised explosive device in Iraq in 2013. “He was barely over 18,” Hess said. “He came back to join a program where he would mentor others.”

• On the eve of an annual “Walk for a Wonderful Life,” a proclamation was approved marking Sept. 8-14 as Suicide Prevention Week, recognizing “suicide as a public health problem, and suicide prevention as a community responsibility.”

The week ends with the 12th annual Walk for a Wonderful Life Sunday in Mack Park, a fund-raising event which Indiana County Suicide Task Force Co-Chair Chelsey Baroni said is being expanded this year, beyond advertising now run on the radio, billboards and masks.

• Another proclamation marked National Transportation Demand Management week, marking how strategies are used “to inform and encourage travelers to maximize the efficiency of a transportation system leading to improved mobility, reduced congestion and lower vehicle emissions.”

Receiving the proclamation was Ronda Craig, public involvement coordinator for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, a regional organization that helps local governments access state and federal funding for transportation and economic development projects in 10 counties around Pittsburgh, including Indiana, Armstrong and Westmoreland.

• A fourth proclamation marked Constitution Week from Sept. 17 to 23, including Sept. 17 which is the 237th anniversary of the framing of the Constitution of the United States, “the guardian of our liberties,” which “embodies the principles of limited government in a republic dedicated to rule by law.”

Receiving the proclamation were Indiana County Daughters of the American Revolution Regent Debbie Bier and Past Regent Darla Mechling.
 
Bier said the DAR campaigned for a week marking the Constitution in the 1956, when a law marking Constitution Week was signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
 
Bier said work has been going on for more than a year on a plaque that will honor patriots buried in Indiana County. She said 141 patriots have been found so far.
 
In other business Wednesday, the commissioners approved reappointment of John Somonick and John German to the board of Indiana County Parks & Trails for terms to expire in August 2019.
 
They also approved the reappointments of Indiana County Chamber of Commerce President Mark Hilliard, Wright-Knox Motor Lines President Gladys Knox and Nelson & Associates Insurance Director of Operations Jack Nelson to the Tri-County Workforce Development Board for terms expiring in September 2027.
 
They authorized an application on behalf of the District Attorney’s Office for the 2025 Rights and Services Act Grant, seeking $71,151, most of which will cover salary and benefits for a full-time victim witness coordinator, as well as $641 for training for a victim service staff and $1,213 for office supplies.
 
And they approved multiple requests for Indiana County Children and Youth Services, including a 2024-25 non-placement listing for Justice Works Youthcare in Wilkinsburg, Allegheny County, to be facilitator and host for Act 33 child fatality/near fatality review meetings at a rate of $450 per meeting.
 
Also for CYS, 2024-25 foster care placement listing renewals were approved for:

• Family Cares for Children and Youth in Milton, Northumberland County.
   
• LifeSpan Family Services in Punxsutawney.
   
• Professional Family Care Services Inc. in Johnstown.
   
  Also approved were group home placements for 2024-25 with:
   
• Pentz Run Youth Services Inc. in DuBois for its Supervised Independent Living and Transitional Living programs.
   
• George Junior Republic in Pennsylvania, in Grove City, for males ages 10-21.

Also approved for CYS was a new contract for 2024-25 with Altior Healthcare-Innercept of Los Angeles, Calif., providing a residential setting for drug and alcohol and mental health treatment for teenage youth at a location in Idaho.

View the full article at indianagazette.com.

Change comes in both words and deeds – and that’s Southwestern Pennsylvania’s economic development approach. 

Western Pennsylvania’s economic stewards have a vehicle in the New Economy Collaborative (NEC) of Southwestern Pennsylvania, a public-private partnership created to administer the $62.7 million Build Back Better grant from the federal government announced back in 2022.

The big goal of the project? Help Pennsylvanians transition into jobs expected to grow, and goad the state’s manufacturing businesses into investing.

Big regional executives have shaped strategy. Prominent federal leaders have visited. The first waves of beneficiaries of the programs backed by the funds have graduated. 

Halfway through the project timeline, the Allegheny Conference-housed NEC is launching a marketing campaign to reach more Pennsylvanians — and Technical.ly is playing a role, too.

To start, NEC has launched an updated website. Find that here.

That site is a general clearinghouse of opportunities. For insiders curious about how the program works in detail, those grants’ deeds are playing out across five projects:

1. SME Robotics Adoption, led by Catalyst Connection: A $4.8 million initiative to enhance regional competitiveness by integrating Pennsylvania’s robotics innovations into small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across various industries, with a focus on urban and rural areas.
2. Robotics Manufacturing Hub, led by the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute: A $14.2 million project aimed at de-risking robotics adoption in SMEs, establishing regional Innovation Accelerators and strengthening manufacturing resilience and global competitiveness.
3. Expanded Pathways to New Economy Careers, led by Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission: A $24.8 million effort to create a coordinated upskilling system, offering non-traditional training options that evolve with industry needs, fostering a robust robotics and autonomous career ecosystem.
4. The Robotics Factory, led by Innovation Works: A $12 million grant to bolster Pittsburgh’s robotics ecosystem by supporting startups through seed funding and scaling up manufacturing, positioning the region as a global robotics leader.
5. Expanded Pathways to Entrepreneurship, led by InnovatePGH: A $6.9 million program to increase minority and women-owned business participation in the robotics industry, offering academic fellowships and entrepreneurial training to underrepresented populations.

Boosters boast that their strength is funding existing entities, so credible work can get done quickly. Each has pushed out examples of their work. Now, they’re aiming to grow the work faster.

To do that, the NEC is kicking off this marketing campaign that will run the remaining two years of the grant, into late 2026. The purpose of that program is to amplify the projects’ success stories to encourage others to participate. 

This is where Technical.ly will play a big role. Over the next few months, our newsroom will profile a series of Western Pennsylvania residents who have benefited from the programs to join advanced manufacturing roles. That sort of coverage — like the one we published this week — is well within our editorial strengths and priorities, and so it fit neatly with our journalistic approach. 

From there, the marketing team that enlisted us — whip-smart digital marketer Maddi Love and her team, as well as Warhol Creative — will take those and other people stories to market on social and in video to broaden the narrative.

The goal: That more residents benefit from the program. The thought: Deeds have started, now get the stories out — and that will change the narrative.

View the full story at technical.ly.

Our Executive Director, Rich Fitzgerald, returned for his weekly spot on KDKA Newsradio with Larry Richert to talk regional news.
 
This week’s show featured Audrey Russo, President & CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council. Audrey talked about #SWPA’s booming tech industry and the region’s transformation into an innovation hub.
 
Also on the show was Jennifer Apicella, Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Robotics Network. Jennifer talked about the region’s history of robotic development and why companies want to invest here. 

View the full story at audacy.com.

The good news about traffic deaths after the pandemic is continuing: Preliminary figures through the second quarter this year show deaths declined another 3.2%, the ninth straight quarter that deaths have gone down.
 
That’s a marked difference from the pandemic, when reduced traffic and lack of enforcement seemed to encourage motorists to engage in dangerous activities on empty roads such as speeding, distracted driving and impaired driving. That led to some of the highest increases in traffic deaths since federal agencies started keeping statistics in the 1970s after nearly a decade of regular declines.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg released the death figures Wednesday during a media briefing about the agency releasing $1 billion in grants under the Safe Streets and Roads for All program. Buttigieg said those grants and other measures taken by the department over the past two years are part of the reason for the decrease in traffic deaths that will be released by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration on Thursday.
 
NHTSA estimates show 18,720 people died on the nation’s roadways through June. That’s 610 fewer than the first six months of 2023.
 
The grant program is part of the Biden administration’s infrastructure plan and part of USDOT’s Vision Zero effort to eliminate all traffic deaths. This round of funding will help pay for planning or implementation of 354 safety programs across the country, including $1.3 million for planning in Pittsburgh.
 
Buttigieg said the traffic death numbers are “the most heartbreaking” aspect of the department’s work but also the area for the “most opportunity” for improvements. Providing federal money directly to local communities is an important part of improving safety, he said.
 
“No one knows better what the local community needs are,” said Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. “The ideas don’t come from us, but the money has to.”
 
Steve Benjamin, President Joe Biden’s director of public engagement, agreed.
 
“It puts funding directly in the hands of people who need it to make their communities safer,” he said.
 
The money is designed to help underserved communities and rural areas, and so far about 43% of the funds have gone to communities with under 50,000 residents.
 
For example, Memphis Mayor Paul Young said the $13.2 million his community will receive will be used to reduce pedestrian deaths, where the city ranks third in the nation. Specifically, it will be used to close one street at a particularly dangerous intersection where three roads come together near a 15-acre park.
 
The city will contribute $3.2 million to the project.
 
In another project, rural Kalamazoo County, Michigan, will use $25 million to improve about 130 miles of roadways where 74 people have died over the past five years. Half of those deaths involved vehicles running off the road and crashing.
 
In Pittsburgh, the $1.3 million grant will be used to work with the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission and Carnegie Mellon University to develop safety programs, Olga George, press secretary for Mayor Ed Gainey, said in an email. The city joined the international Vision Zero Network in March.
 
With SPC, the city will develop safety programs as part of the agency’s countywide comprehensive safety action plan. That will include working with CMU to on two supplemental planning projects and three demonstration projects, including a Vision Zero ambassador program and two quick-build multimodal safety demonstration projects.
 
Other projects under development include a road safety audit to identify 10 high-injury corridors, a Complete Streets design manual with safety guidelines, and roadway reconfiguration on commercial streets in East Liberty and Downtown Pittsburgh.
 
Two other communities in Pennsylvania received implementation grants. State College will receive $15.9 million to make Calder Way a safer street for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians by reducing the speed limit, widening sidewalks, and eliminating curbs while Harrisburg’s $955,184 will help pay for retiming traffic signals at 25 intersections in underserved downtown neighborhoods.

View the full article at unionprogress.com.

Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Rich Fitzgerald, joins Larry Richert in the KDKA radio studio each Wednesday morning.
 
On this week’s show, Bob Kerlik, Director of Public Affairs at the Allegheny County Airport Authority was on to talk about the airport modernization program. Kelsey Ripper, Executive Director of Friends of the Riverfront dialed in to discuss a recent kayaking event through a lock on the Allegheny River.

View the full story at audacy.com.

The Butler Transit Authority board voted in August to apply for up to $2.6 million to purchase up to four new buses to increase the number of trips available in the five local routes.

The application is being made to the state Department of Transportation, which will rule on whether or not to grant the $2.6 million request.

John Paul, executive director of the transit authority, said Friday, Aug. 30, that he will request a study from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission which will help determine how much money the authority will need. Paul said the transit authority has six buses for the local routes, and additional buses would not only give riders more frequent route departures, but could expand routes as well.

“Right now they make trips about every hour; if we could put a bus out in between, then service people would be able to use it every half hour, which would drive ridership and add convenience,” Paul said. “I’m going to look at morning and afternoon service to East Butler, and then use those buses midday and later in the day to have expanded service locally.”

Paul said he does not know how long it will take for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission to complete the study, so it may be a while before the authority actually submits its funding request to PennDOT.

According to Paul, more time options for trips has been a frequent request from riders of the local service.

“That’s always been a request here for the service,” he said.

View the full article at butlereagle.com.

Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Rich Fitzgerald, joins Larry Richert in the KDKA radio studio each Wednesday morning.

On this week’s show, Beaver County Commissioner Jack Manning was on to talk about the Hookstown Fair and Big Knob Grange Fair. Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew dialed in to promote the Westmoreland County Fair.

View the full story at audacy.com.

The following the second installment of a first-person account from Armstrong County Commissioner Anthony Shea regarding his recent bike trip from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh:

In my last article, I told of my bike trip starting in Washington DC and ultimately finishing 334 in Pittsburgh, PA using the C & O and GAP Trails. The goal of this series of articles is to highlight how bike trails reinvigorate the towns they traverse, and to promote our county’s own Armstrong Trails.

We left off in our last article finishing the day in Williamsport, MD completing 99 miles of the 334 mile bike trip.

We will now pick up the thread on day four.

Day four

July 25, the morning started with breakfast at the Waffle House next to the Williamsport Red Roof Inn.

After breakfast, it got real interesting, I agreed to do a live radio interview on 1020 KDKA AM and 100.1 FM hosted by Larry Richert and Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) CEO, Rich Fitzgerald.

In our interview, I talked to Larry and Rich about the bike trip to that point, plus our plans for the upcoming day.

I also explained how the towns along the C & O Trail had truly benefitted from the trail, becoming conduits for business activity.

All in all, the interview went well.

This day would be an easy one for us, my wife, Kerry, daughter, Abby, and I, only had 24 miles on the itinerary to get from Williamsburg to Hancock, Md.

The C & O Trail again followed the old canal towpath with its familiar locks and aqueducts.

In places, the canal water was very green with algae; I truly hoped we did not have to purify this water in a pinch.

While biking, I received a call from my wife, Kerry who was a little behind us; she said she was stuck. I asked if she had an issue with her bike, a flat tire perhaps.

She said, “no, there’s a snake on the trail”.

I said, “just ride around it”. She said it was big enough to cross the entire width of the trail.

Eventually, the snake moved on and Kerry was able to proceed.

We arrived in Hancock, Mile Marker 124.1, relatively early in the day.

As we entered Hancock, we saw a large bike outfitter, C & O Bicycle, based right along the trail.

The business offered many services, and was a magnet for the passing bikers.

One of the services offered was a shuttle; Kerry and Abby opted to skip the 60 mile bike ride the next day and reserve a shuttle from Hancock to Cumberland, Md., instead.

Being saddle sore, I purchased padded bike shorts and a Cloud 9 bike seat; the seat supposedly sported the widest girth available at the shop.

Extra real estate for this part of the body, in the form of a padded seat, is a good thing.

That night, we stayed at a Super 8 in Hancock.

Luckily, there were no hills getting to the hotel. We had dinner that night at the close by Potomac Grill on U.S. Route 522.

Day five

July 26, Kerry and Abby parted ways with me in the morning taking the shuttle from Hancock to Cumberland, as I started my 60 plus mile bike trek to Cumberland on the C & O Trail.

The weather was perfect this morning with zero humidity and cool air.

The trail was perfect, albeit very remote, and I was moving along just enjoying the scenery.

That all changed in an instant when at about five miles into the ride, my back tire blew out.

Fortuitously, I broke down next to a picnic bench, if that is a consolation.

I easily took off the tire and changed the inner tube and re-inflated it.

The problem came when I tried to re-attach the back gear mechanism; I hope only the trees heard some of the expletives that I blurted out in the heat of the moment.

Right in the middle of wrangling with the chain, I received a call from my colleague, John Strate, who wanted to ask how the trip was going; I guess timing is everything.

I also received a call from my daughter, Abby who saw that I had not moved in almost an hour on her family locator.

She called to ensure I was alive and not in a ditch somewhere along the trail with buzzards circling over the carcass.

I finally got the bike all back together, though the wheel looked somewhat crooked.

It reminded me of the car repair scene in the National Lampoon’s Vacation movie where Clark Griswold jumped the family truckster and had it repaired at the shady garage.

Since I was able to proceed, I made my way down the trail.

The big casualty in all of this were my hands and arms up to my elbows were completely black with bicycle grease.

When I came to one of the hand pumped water wells (non-potable water), I tried to pump the water and wash up.

Let me tell you, using the pump for this type of operation is a two person job.

This would have been quite comical to watch if it weren’t me.

I also realized I did not have any soap, so I tried using dirt as a substitute with no success.

Things got worse when I wiped the sweat from my face as I biked down the trail and the dirt and grease also transferred to my face as well.

Luckily, there are no pictures.

Nonetheless, I proceeded onward and the miles passed quickly as I biked toward Cumberland; it seemed like I was biking through a green tunnel at points, with views of the Potomac River appearing every once in a while through the rare breaks in the foliage.

Every so often, I heard the distant echoes of train whistles from across the Potomac River but was never able to see any actual trains.

I saw a beaver climb out of the canal and jump right back into the water after taking a look at me; I’ll try not to draw any conclusions here.

I saw hundreds of turtles basking in the sun on the various logs that came out of the green canal water; they all stuck their heads straight up in the air.

It seemed like the biggest turtle got the top spot on the log.

I guess everyone wants to be the top dog, or turtle in this case.

I also saw a box turtle and a snake on the trail.

The next point of interest was the Paw Paw Tunnel at Mile Marker 155.2.

The incline on the C& O Trail increased as I got closer to the tunnel’s entrance.

Also present in this area were many tourists walking to and from the tunnel on either side of it.

The 3,118 foot long tunnel itself was very dark, with air cool wafting through it, with a rough walkway that paralleled the unseen canal below in the darkness.

Water dripped from the ceiling in places with the echoes amplified by the acoustics of the tunnel.

I used my I-phone’s flashlight app to guide my way through the tunnel.

I came upon a sign for the town of Oldtown, MD at Mile Marker 166.7; the town sort of reminded me of Templeton from Armstrong County.

Looking up the road into town, I saw a hand painted sign advertising food and drinks; I almost missed it.

I pedaled up to an old elementary school now turned restaurant/market and walked inside.

I am sure I looked very rough at this point with my grease stained face, arms and hands, plus not having shaved for a week.

The sweet older lady behind the counter did not even seem fazed one bit by my appearance as she took my food order (bless her soul).

I was finally able to clean up in the restroom while my food was being cooked.

The air conditioned room, coupled with being cleaned up and eating a good meal were like nirvana at this point.

Other bike packers came and left as I ate.

I relaxed for a while in the cool air.

With approximately 18 more miles to go to Cumberland, I got back on the trail. The C & O Trail still had its typical locks and aqueducts.

The scenery changed as I got closer to Cumberland with the trees opening up to sweeping views of the Potomac River, the city of Cumberland, and mountains in the distance.

Ironically, about five minutes out from my destination point for the day, the YouTube account on my iPhone spontaneously started, and randomly played the live version of Neil Diamond’s song “America”.

It seemed kind of fitting, so I cranked up the volume as I finished up the 184.4 mile C & O Trail portion of the trip.

Waiting on the trail at the C & O Terminus were my wife, Kerry and daughter, Abby. It was good seeing them.

I think they were taking bets on whether I would make it or not.

We walked into the Fairfield Inn which was right off the trail.

The hotel was fully equipped to accommodate bike packers.

The town of Cumberland appears to have fully embraced the C & O and Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trails.

From bike shops to restaurants, all the businesses around the trails appeared to cater to the cyclists.

There were many bike racks around town, and even bike lockers.

We later ate dinner at the Crabby Pig Restaurant.

Multiple folks kept recommending this restaurant as we biked up the C & O Trail.

We all had their specialty, crab cakes and lobster bisque soup.

Even with the padded bike shorts, I was reminded of my saddle soreness sitting on the hard wooden seats at the restaurant.

As we left the restaurant, a concert was playing in the park adjacent to the hotel.

We listened to it for a while in the waning evening sunlight and warm summer breeze.

Day six

July 27, Kerry and Abby drove back to Leechburg in the morning, as I started my journey on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trail from Cumberland to Meyersdale, PA.

The trip out of Cumberland on the GAP Trail was literally uphill for the first 24 miles to the Eastern Continental Divide.

Cumberland is at 605 feet above sea level and the Eastern Continental Divide 2,392’ above sea level for a 1,787 feet elevation gain.

Without fail, folks on E-bikes asked if I were “ok” each time I got off my bike and walked for a few minutes here and there; I held back my sarcastic comments and just re-assured them I was good to go.

The first notable milestone on the GAP Trail was the Bone Cave at Mile Marker 4.0.

During the excavation of this section of railroad, 44 different types of mammal fossils were discovered, of which, 16% of them are now extinct.

A couple of the now extinct fossils found at the site were the Pleistocene cave bear and saber toothed tiger cat.

Some of these fossils are on exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.

Tourist used the adjacent railroad tracks by this section of the GAP Trail to take some type of pedal powered rail car back down the long hill.

Mile Marker 15.5 offered a trail access point into Frostburg, MD; the parking lot here overflowed with cars with bike racks.

The GAP Trail crossed the Mason Dixon line at Mile Marker 20.5.

The Mason Dixon Line is the pre-Civil War demarcation line between Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Many of folks here were snapping pictures of the marker.

The trail had a couple smaller tunnels, such as the Brush Tunnel and Borden Tunnel; but, the longest tunnel on the bike trip was the Big Savage Tunnel at 3,294.6 feet long.

Again, the tunnel seemed to draw a lot of tourists to it.

The trail close to the Continental Divide offered many sweeping views of the valleys and mountains in the distance under a cloudless sapphire blue sky.

Many large windmills could be seen churning on distant mountain tops.

I found all of this truly awe inspiring.

One of the main milestones for the day was crossing over the Eastern Continental Divide at Mile Marker 23.7.

The Eastern Continental Divide is the point where water east of it goes to the Atlantic Ocean and west of it flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

At this point, the GAP Trail was all downhill for the next eight miles to my stop for the night in Meyersdale, PA (Mile Marker 31.9).

This area of the GAP Trail had a boreal forest feel to it, with its thick canopy of Canadian hemlocks and rhododendrons lining the trail.

I pulled into Meyersdale relatively early for the day at about 12:30 p.m.

Adjacent to the GAP Trail in Meyersdale was a refurbished train station turned museum and tourist center.

The center had a lot of pictures and artifacts from the early railroad days.

The museum also had a room with a large miniature railroad train display.

The train station was a hub of activity for promoting Meyersdale tourism.

Volunteers fielded questions that ranged from the history of the area, to places to eat and stay.

I personally pre-reserved a room for the night at Yoder’s Bed and Breakfast.

Check-in at Yoder’s was very simple.

I talked at length with one of the co-owners of the B&B, a husband and wife team; he said the trail accounted for about 85% of their business which lasted from spring to fall with the winter months being slow.

With my wardrobe limited, I chose to eat at the Take Six Pizza & Subs restaurant versus the fancier White House restaurant in town.

This is where we will end this installment of the trail series.

The last installment will detail the GAP Trail from Meyersdale, PA to its terminus at Point State Park in Pittsburgh to include my guest riders on the last day.

Additionally, I will detail both the current state, and future plans for the bike trails in and around Armstrong County.

View the full article at leadertimes.com.

Politicians, environmentalists, engineers and outdoor enthusiasts gathered Friday to kayak through the Highland Park Lock and Dam, a nearly century-old structure on the Allegheny River. Employees with the Pittsburgh District Army Corps of Engineers were on hand to operate the system and answer questions.

“So as you’ll see as you go through, our infrastructure is getting a little bit older,” said the deputy chief of the Pittsburgh district’s operations, Greg Turko. “The locks that you’re about to go through were built in the ‘30s.

“So we’re going on about 95 years in operation.”

The second-largest inland port in the U.S., the Port of Pittsburgh is home to 17 locks and dams along the three major rivers that converge at Pittsburgh. Over the last decade, about 30 million tons of freight passed through the port each year — 70% of which was coal.

But as that industry declines, so does funding that supports maintenance of the infrastructure.

The port’s public relations manager Matthew Pavlosky also pointed out the number of registered recreational boaters in the Pittsburgh region is one of the largest in the United States.

To that end, Friends of the Riverfront, the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission along with other community partners hosted this “lock-through” kayak paddle.

“The economic impact and the quality of life impact of investing in our rivers and our locks and our dams is important,” said SPC’s executive director and former Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. He said the paddling event is an important way to reorient decision makers with often overlooked logistical realities in the region they serve.

Once locked inside the gravity-powered Highland Park Lock (also known as Allegheny River’s Lock No. 2), Pennsylvania leaders, including Fitzgerald, state representative Mandy Steele, and state senator Lindsey Williams were collectively lowered in their kayaks about 12 feet.

Williams said she has ‘locked-through’ before with the Fish and Boat Commission, “but I’ve never done it in a kayak!”

Williams, who sits on the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, pointed out the lock hours of operation have been shortened. “Especially with the closing of the Cheswick power plant and the reduction in commercial traffic on the Allegheny River, we want to make sure that we don’t lose access so that people up here at the top of Allegheny County can get in their boats or their kayaks and go all the way down into the city, maybe catch a Pirates game or whatever.

“We want that access to continue to be available to everyone.”

“It’s kind of a little bucket list day,” said Kate Zidar, a board member with the Three Rivers Waterkeeper. Zidar said she came to experience the lock-through because it sounded like a fun, unique experience and because she wants to promote “swimmable, fishable water. That’s what we need.

“If you live on the river and you touch the water, it should never make you sick.”

All told, about 30 staff members from federal, state, and local representatives’ offices, as well as members of local nonprofits and businesses like Three Rivers Outdoor Company (which provided boats, gear and guidance), paddled together downstream to better understand the economic, environmental, and recreational importance of maintaining the locks and dams on the Allegheny River.

View the full story at wesa.fm.