The pandemic drove public board and commission meetings online. As COVID-19 fears wane for many, there’s little consistency regarding citizen access to information and deliberations.

Eric Boerer estimates that he attends more than 100 public meetings a year. For the advocacy director of Bike Pittsburgh, being able to join a meeting online makes it easier to pop in and stay updated or give input on something that otherwise might not be a priority. You can, he notes, “listen in while you cook,” and there’s no need to hire a babysitter.

Carol Hardeman, executive director of the Hill District Consensus Group, values the more personal experience of in-person meetings. She has missed at least one opportunity to speak due to difficulties she had getting on screen on time.

The two are among many civic-minded people trying to participate in the community at a time when tools exist for a golden age of public engagement, but when each agency seems to have its own unique rules for when and how citizens can have input into decision-making.

More than three years after COVID-19 drove most public processes online, there’s no consistency among Pittsburgh and Allegheny County agencies regarding citizen participation. Some of the region’s most important agencies are split on practices, and a few appear to be running afoul of state guidance.

Unelected boards and commissions make important decisions affecting how you travel, the water you drink and flush, the availability of housing and other buildings and even aspects of the educational system.

Want to get involved with local boards and commissions? 5 tips for effective engagement.

PublicSource, in its Board Explorer tool, gives readers a look at some 60 panels that make important decisions for the region. This fall, we zoomed in on 10 of those, asking how they’re interacting with the public.

Before 2020, the rules and practices for public engagement with such panels were relatively simple, and guided by the Sunshine Act. In short, governmental decisions have to be made at regular or advertised meetings, open to the public, with deliberations on most issues held in full view amid opportunities for citizen comment.

Early in the pandemic, when the usual standard of in-person meetings wasn’t always prudent or viable, the General Assembly passed Act 15 of 2020, which allowed agencies to conduct meetings with “an authorized telecommunications device until the expiration or termination of the COVID-19 disaster emergency.” That emergency, though, officially ended in mid-2021.

The state Office of Open Records now considers the virtual-only option expired. The office provides for exemptions in cases of declared local disasters, but now generally expects all public meetings to have in-person access, according to Liz Wagenseller, the office’s executive director.

That suits Hardeman, who wants to look people in the eye, and finds it useful to observe, and use, body language. When someone is on Zoom, and their video is off, she can’t tell if they are really listening to her or to other public speakers.

Boerer acknowledged that the ease of meeting online comes with a trade-off. He feels you get more out of an in-person meeting and can connect and chat with residents and staffers afterwards. “You can get a sense of the room, how people are feeling.”

Panning cameras vs. invisible boards

Three of the 10 boards and commissions reviewed by PublicSource continue to conduct online-only meetings.

The Pittsburgh City Planning Commission, Urban Redevelopment Authority [URA] and Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh [HACP] all cite the closure of their longtime Ross Street offices and their relocation from there to 412 Boulevard of the Allies as the reason. David Geiger, the URA’s director of government and strategic affairs, said the conference room on the ground floor of the agencies’ current location is undergoing renovation. Representatives of all three agencies said they intend to reincorporate an in-person component once renovations are complete. Geiger gave no estimated date of completion.

Instead of crowded in-person meetings, the URA, HACP and Planning Commission use Zoom.

For the URA’s September board meeting, members logged in from separate spaces.

For much of the meeting, the virtual setup allowed viewers to see only the person speaking, making it impossible for the audience to know whether other members were actively listening.

The URA reports, though, that virtual attendance numbers regularly exceed 50 and push 100, and complaints about access have dropped since the meetings were held in a Ross Street meeting room with limited capacity.

Two boards — the Community College of Allegheny County [CCAC] and the Allegheny County Housing Authority — have reverted to in-person public meetings format, although ACHA will also set up a virtual link upon request.

Other agencies are holding hybrid meetings, potentially offering the best of both worlds — in-person access with the convenience of remote participation. Not all hybrid formats, though, are created equal.

During the Sept. 15 meeting of the Allegheny County Airport Authority, board members kept their video off as the meeting was conducted on the platform WebEx instead of the more commonly used Zoom. Starting at 11 a.m., it concluded by 11:30. Agenda items and a presentation were read speedily with no discussion of any item.

In contrast, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority [PWSA] convenes board members in one room. They face a spread of seats assembled for the public and a podium for speakers. The online viewer gets to see both the public arena, the speaker and the board members, as the camera pans to each area depending on who has the stage.

According to Rebecca Zito, PWSA’s senior manager of public relations, the agency invested $19,200 during the pandemic to hire an audio visual contractor and now devotes a staff person to each meeting to ensure “a seamless experience.”

However, Zito said that public attendance at PWSA board meetings was actually down to 10 to 15 people, versus pre-pandemic levels of 25 to 35 people.

Pittsburgh, Allegheny commissions all over the board on public engagement
In the wake of the pandemic’s upending of norms of public participation in government, 10 key local boards and commissions have very different procedures for giving citizens windows into their deliberations, and voice in their decisions.

Lucyna de Barbaro, of Squirrel Hill, attends only a few public meetings each year despite her concern for environmental and social justice issues.

“I never know how to find out about them,” de Barbaro said. She generally relies on organizations to prompt her to show up.

“Once you know through your network or through some organizing efforts that the meeting is happening, then everything is kind of easy, the information is out there, there is a way to sign up, rules are provided so that is not a problem,” she said. “The problem is knowing — even knowing — which organizations would take our input.”

Even with prompting, speaking up at a meeting can be “a little intimidating in the sense that if you don’t participate and observe the workings of the board, you actually do not know what type of input you can provide. … Will my comments matter?”

If you, too, want to have more of a say in the decisions of important agencies in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, here are five steps toward more effective engagement.

Step 1: Identify panels in which you have an interest

PublicSource provides Board Explorer, a tool for navigating some 60 of the most influential panels overseeing functions of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County governance.

The city lists its panels here.

The county provides a drop-down list of its panels here.

Step 2: Review the agenda — as soon as it becomes available

Agendas outline the business at hand and often allot a period for public comment. If comments are heard early in the meeting, you can more confidently plan a return to work or childcare pick-up. If placed at the end, as they are, for example, at Pittsburgh Regional Transit [PRT] meetings, you might need to make open-ended plans, as some meetings last hours.

Amendments to the Sunshine Act made in 2021 require that agencies post agendas 24 hours in advance. Some panels do better, posting agendas three to seven days prior to meetings. Others, though, come close to the 24-hour rule.

That might create difficulties for those who want to physically attend, but need to arrange medical transport, as it often takes more than 24 hours to reserve a ride, said Paul O’Hanlon, a disability advocate and a longtime advisory member of the City-County Task Force on Disabilities.

Step 3: Plan ahead if accessibility is an issue

Do you want to attend the meeting in-person or virtually? Check the meeting options and decide. Consider parking locations and the cost to park for the time you expect to be there. Travel via public transit may involve additional walk time. The transit stop nearest the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority [ALCOSAN] board meeting room, for instance, is roughly a 28-minute walk away.

All agencies told PublicSource they would do their best to accommodate reasonable requests for deaf and blind participants’ needs with advance notice. The URA noted challenges with a shortage of ASL interpreters. And while HACP has a Disability Compliance Officer, not all agencies do. For virtual or hybrid meetings, check that Zoom’s closed captions settings are automatically set to ‘on’ by the host.

Step 4: Hone your planned comments, usually to 3 minutes

Check on any limits or requirements needed to speak in advance. Many require prior registration. Can you fit everything you want to say into three minutes? Agencies may use lights, buzzers or verbal interruption with a gentle warning to cue the end of a participant’s time. It can help to write out what you want to say in advance, noting that three minutes is usually about one typed page, and practice with a few run-throughs out loud at varying speeds.

“The three-minute rule can be difficult for someone who needs a little time to think through what they want to say,” said O’Hanlon.

Written comments, including by email, are another way to give input in advance of a board action, but not all agency websites make it clear where comments can be sent. Some have web forms, while one accepts written comments only by postal mail. Pay attention to any deadlines for comment submission.

Step 5: If you’re scratching your head, ask

Maybe you’re looking for the agenda or minutes from many months ago, a video link or an address for the meeting. If you can’t find it online, locate agency contact info and ask. Just posing a question can prompt change. PublicSource’s inquiry about the budget of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, for instance, spurred that agency to rapidly post current information.

Don’t be discouraged if navigating a public meeting isn’t yet what you hoped it would be.

Chardaé Jones, the former mayor of Braddock, has been on both sides of the table. As a volunteer for organizations, she kept showing up at public meetings, seeing what her community needed and volunteering to do it until she ended up in office. “As mayor, I saw community engagement as essential because without it you don’t know how you’re doing as a person in office.”

The pandemic may have caused a seismic shift in the landscape of public meetings, but it also created opportunities for improvement.

“I don’t know of anybody that is perfect, but my experience is that most everybody, kind of, is willing to learn. In my experience, people make adjustments,” said O’Hanlon. “It is just an ongoing challenge.”

View the full article at publicsource.org

After more than eight years of limited funding, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission will have $1.7 billion available for regional roads and bridges over the next two years due to increased federal funding, the most since 2015-16.

At a public hearing Wednesday on how to spend the funds in Allegheny County, Dom D’Andrea, SPC’s director of transportation, outlined the expected financing. Overall, including funds for public transit and alternative projects such as trails, the agency expects to have $3.1 billion to allocate over the next two years.

Under federal regulations, the regional planning group sets transportation spending priorities for the 10-county region. It oversees a 25-year long-range plan and a series of four-year plans that must be updated every two years, and hearings are underway to develop the two-year plan that will be adopted next June.

D’Andrea said the region expects a funding increase of about 7% over the next two years, mostly federal funds from the Biden administration’s infrastructure program. That will return funding to the level of 2015-16, which D’Andrea said is a positive step but noted that inflation has eaten up much of the benefits from the increase.

In addition to flat federal funding in recent years, the state Department of Transportation decided in 2021 to shift $3.15 billion through 2028 from local roads across the state to interstate highways. Officials said they feared federal officials might pull federal funding if they didn’t make a special effort to improve conditions on the interstates.

The additional stimulus funds this year will help to replace that money.

For the new plan, about 43% of the funds will be earmarked for bridges and 23% for roads. D’Andrea said the region has cut the number of bridges in poor condition in half over the past 15 years, but they still account for about 10% of all bridges and another 62% are considered fair.

“Yes, we keep investing in bridges,” he said. “We have cut our poor bridges in half, but there’s more to do …. We’re still attacking the bridge issue.”

The Transportation Improvement Program also will include about $1.4 billion for transit and other programs. Ryan Gordon, SPC’s transportation manager, said the allocation of funds for other programs will be presented to the board for approval next month.

Those programs include congestion management and air quality, transportation alternatives such as bike lanes and trails, and a new carbon reduction program.

Wednesday’s hearing was one of a series that will be held in each county and Pittsburgh as the agency develops the priorities for the region. It will present a proposed spending plan in May and hold another series of hearings before the board votes on the plan in June.

Even once the plan is adopted, the agency will hold monthly meetings to make adjustments as some additional projects are ready for construction and others are slower to develop.

“It’s really a living, breathing document that changes all the time,” D’Andrea said.

The commission covers Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, Westmoreland counties and Pittsburgh.

View the full article at unionprogress.com

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

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

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

“After the initial discussion, PennDOT approached us about funding, as we qualified for TIP funds,” Vicites said of Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) funds through the state agency.

Vicites said PennDOT suggested those involved in the project do a wal- through in the city to identify the future project areas and how much money would be needed to complete the Uniontown portion.

“Once we figured it out, we submitted a funding request, and PennDOT awarded the funds,” Vicites said.

The completed section of the trail in Uniontown runs from South Union Township to Beeson Avenue in the city. The remaining portion, which follows the path of an abandoned railroad line, runs just under half a mile from Beeson to North Union Township.

The project is in the final design phase with Gibson Thomas Engineering in Lemont Furnace.

Clayton VanVerth, project manager with Gibson Thomas, said three railroad bridges will be paved and transformed for bicycles and pedestrians to cross.

“The bridges are structurally sound, already inspected, and we’ll look into putting on concrete decks and rails on them,” VanVerth said.

VanVerth added that once the design phase is completed, and after months of reviews and permitting – as the bike trail will cross two state roads – actual construction could begin sometime in 2025.

Gerke said an earlier agreement with the railroad company calls for the city to be responsible for removing the existing railroad tracks through the city belonging to Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad, which provided the city with $220,000 for the track removal.

Gerke is eager for the Uniontown portion to be completed.

“People have asked me about each phase, and then they are asking about the next phase,” Gerke said, adding that even in the colder months, he’s seen people walking on portions of the trail. “That’s our goal, to get the trail in the city and get people into the city. It’s a social and economic boom.”

Gerke said the commissioners have worked diligently on the project, and Vicites said it has been a team effort.

“We’re one step closer in getting it done,” said Commissioner Dave Lohr. “This is another link to get this accomplished and get to the next level.”

“We’re so excited to see this money coming in,” said Commissioner Scott Dunn. “This will be a big plus for the Sheepskin Trail and the city of Uniontown. This satisfies everyone and builds our trail.”

“This is a huge win for the county and the city,” VanVerth said.

Vicites said they’re trying to have multiple sections of the trail being worked on simultaneously, and continue to seek more funding opportunities to finish the trail.

Once completed, the 34-mile Sheepskin Trail will run from Dunbar Township to Point Marion, passing through a number of communities, including Mount Braddock, Lemont Furnace, Uniontown, Hopwood, Fairchance, Smithfield, Outcrop, Gans, Lake Lynn and Point Marion.

The finished trail will link to the Great Allegheny Passage and the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail to the north, and the West Virginia Mon River Rail-Trail System to the south.

For more information on the Sheepskin Trail, visit sheepskintrail.org/.

View the full article at heraldstandard.com.

Residents probably have heard of the greenhouse effect, but there’s a better analogy to explain climate change, Lindsay Byron said Thursday.

“Think of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses as a heat-trapping blanket,” said Byron, environmental group manager for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

“As greenhouse gasses build up, they act like a blanket, trapping heat that would otherwise escape into space.

“This blanket effect is warming the planet’s atmosphere, disrupting the balance that keeps the climate stable.”

State environmental officials on Thursday held the last of five public engagement sessions, four in-person and one virtual, as it works to create a Priority Climate Action Plan, or PCAP, that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions statewide and mitigate further effects of climate change.

With $3 million in federal grants already captured by the commonwealth, and an additional $4.6 billion up for grabs in spring, officials stressed the need for residents to submit their ideas soon in order for projects to be funded.

“We don’t want to leave anyone out if there’s a community that intends to apply for implementation grants for greenhouse gas reduction measures,” Byron said. “So we need to have those measures in the priority Climate Action Plan.

“We are targeting outreach toward communities and residents living near industrial operations, local governments and the industrial sector.”

About 80 people, including residents and community activists, as well as environmental and sustainability officials and organizations from across the state, participated.

‘Practical, innovative path’

The state, as well as three of the commonwealth’s largest metropolitan areas, this year got an infusion of federal funding to fight climate change.

And the Lehigh Valley was among them.

DEP in April announced the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission had been awarded $1 million by opting into the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, part of the federal Inflation Reduction Act.

“We have a monumental opportunity to protect and improve our land, water and air,” LVPC Executive Director Becky Bradley said in a news release announcing the funding.

“We must ensure that the quality and availability of these resources is available now and into the future. Addressing our climate crisis is going to require the kind of planning and response that can only be accomplished through a multi-governmental partnership.

“It’s a practical, innovative path to the best possible outcomes.”

In addition to the LVPC, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission got funding through the program.

At the same time, the state received $3 million for climate planning.

Plans for action

Over the next two years, LVPC must create a PCAP focused on industrial decarbonization, as well as a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan.

Parallel to that effort, the state also must create a PCAP. The priority plan is due March 1 for both agencies.

By participating in the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, states also are eligible to apply for a $4.6 billion pool of competitive implementation grants, also established by the Inflation Reduction Act and administered by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“I’ll stress again — only measures included in the Priority Climate Action Plan will be eligible for phase two implementation grants. So, it’s really important that we consider community priorities early.”

“I’ll stress again — only measures included in the Priority Climate Action Plan will be eligible for phase two implementation grants,” Byron said during the public engagement session.

“So it’s really important that we consider community priorities early.”

At least 40% of the benefits from grants “must occur in low-income and disadvantaged communities as defined in the White House’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool.”

The Lehigh Valley’s three major cities – Allentown, Easton and Bethlehem – are all considered “disadvantaged,” according to the White House’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, described as “overburdened and underserved.”

The Valley’s three major cities — Allentown, Easton and Bethlehem — are all considered “disadvantaged,” according to the screening tool, described as “overburdened and underserved.”

Applications for implementation grants are due April 1, Byron said. They expect federal officials to notify grantees in July, and award funds in October.

After an introduction and explanation on how the grant process works, participants were organized into virtual break-out rooms, each with about two dozen participants with two DEP staff members to facilitate a discussion.

Officials first asked residents how climate change affects them, and several noted the health impacts of climate change, as well as extreme weather events threatening infrastructure.

“There are two major concerns,” Joseph Murray said. “Air pollution is causing a high rate of asthma in our community, in children especially, in Reading and along the major highways.

“The second is flooding caused by heavy, stalled rainstorms that destroyed Antietam Middle High School in Lower Alsace Township.”

A July storm, which flooded parts of Berks County, also caused more than $7.5 million worth of damage in Northampton County.

A month before, Canadian wildfire smoke inundated the Valley, choking its residents. This year, Allentown was designated the asthma capital of the United States.

Cynthia Paukovitch of Nazareth noted the proliferation of warehouses in the Valley, causing an influx of diesel trucking that can exacerbate emissions as well as health conditions.

“There just doesn’t seem to be enough regulation or ordinances,” Paukovitch said.

“Maybe we haven’t kept up with the influx of the warehouse impact, but there doesn’t seem to be enough protection to say health-wise, this is not healthy for us to be this close and this inundated with diesel trucking.”

“The key thing thinking about this, the CPRG, is that the goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So any kind of plan is fair game if it helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Colleen Unroe, a William And Hannah Penn fellow with the DEP who focuses on helping connect clean energy resources to environmental justice communities.
As the meeting progressed, ideas began to flow forward — including municipalities switching from gas to electric lawnmowers.

“That’s actually not an example that we’ve heard thus far,” said Colleen Unroe, a William And Hannah Penn fellow with the DEP who focuses on helping connect clean energy resources to environmental justice communities.

“So if a community wanted to pursue that, that would be great.”

Other ideas included creating more bike trails, improving public transit and increasing education and engagement with residents to make everyday decisions that reduce emissions.

“The key thing thinking about this, the CPRG, is that the goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Unroe said. “So any kind of plan is fair game if it helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

View the full story at lehighvalleynews.com.

“’The bathtub’ is not just an obstacle to overcome, it’s a warning sign,” Buttigieg said. “It’s a warning sign that it is long past time to upgrade the entire corridor to be more resilient against the climate crisis.”

The grant includes additional funding to reduce traffic, prevent landslides and avert accidents along I-376, which Buttigieg said carries 44,000 drivers per day.

“I-376 Parkway East Corridor is one of the oldest urban interstates in the U.S. and, frankly, it’s showing its age,” he said. “It is badly congested for about 12 hours every day.”

The funding comes from a $5 billion new Department of Transportation initiative called “The Mega Program” that was created through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to fund especially complicated projects. The Pittsburgh-area project is one of 11 across the country to receive funding this round. More than 100 communities applied for the grants.

Buttigieg’s trip to Pittsburgh also included a morning stop at Carnegie Mellon University where he spoke with students studying in Safety 21, a CMU-based collaboration with five other universities funded by the Department of Transportation that is devoted to transportation safety issues. He answered questions about a range of issues, including the impact of autonomous vehicles, equity in bridge construction and new safety regulations at Boeing.

The federal grant also includes money for five electric buses and improvements for passengers along the MLK Jr. East Busway, including a mile of sidewalks that will connect transit stops to communities.

“And to anybody who thinks things like sidewalks or bike infrastructure is just ornamental or nice to have, I want to stress they are an investment in safety as we combat the crisis of roadway deaths in this country,” Buttigieg said. Earlier in the day at CMU, Buttigieg emphasized how even a 1% decrease in road fatalities across the country would be the equivalent of preventing one or two Boeing 737s from crashing.

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee said she used to live on the street in Swissvale along the MLK Jr. East Busway where Buttigieg spoke Friday. Lee said the new investments would prevent accidents, deter traffic and save workers’ time.

“Every moment counts for a workforce who has to calculate with specificity how much time it’s going to take them to get to work and to commute every day,” she said.

View the full article at wesa.fm.

As the executive director of the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corp., Tracey Evans has cultivated a keen eye for deferred maintenance.

In her long-distressed community, Evans notes concrete falling off a railroad trestle that was originally built in 1916 as just one example of infrastructure long in need of an upgrade.

“I do think those kinds of things are overdue. They’re over 100 years old,” she said, adding, “a lot of the infrastructure is aging and needs to be replaced.”

After decades in which infrastructure investment has fallen behind in the U.S., most recently evidenced by the news that the 2022 collapse of Pittsburgh’s Fern Hollow Bridge could have been avoided with proper maintenance, some new jolts of federal funding appear to demonstrate new priority for infrastructure upgrades.

In back-to-back months, federal officials announced the Pittsburgh region is set to receive upwards of $275 million to complete various infrastructure projects.

The first came in early December when the region’s congressional delegation announced $142.3 million for what it called the Eastern Pittsburgh Multimodal Corridor project, a multipronged plan to bring upgrades to the Parkway East and the companion East Busway. According to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, the improvements are expected to add 2,500 jobs and around $255 million to the region’s economy.

Then, in late January, the Pittsburgh area received another funding announcement, this time totaling $132 million dedicated to bridge repairs and renovations. The funding is for three strategically important spans: The Fort Duquesne Bridge (a $60 million allocation), the West End Bridge ($47 million) and the McKees Rocks Bridge ($25 million).

Rich Fitzgerald, the new executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, has a unique perspective on the influx of infrastructure funding.

After serving three terms as Allegheny County executive, managing funding for plenty of infrastructure projects, Fitzgerald now leads the federally designated metropolitan planning organization that works to plan and prioritize state and federal transportation funding in a 10-county region.

He noted the outsized funding established by the federal government through the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is expected to allocate $1.2 trillion nationwide over 10 years; the Inflation Reduction Act, with a $891 billion allocation; and the $53 billion CHIPS and Science Act, intended to spur American semiconductor manufacturing. And while this money will be spread out nationwide over many projects and programs, not all infrastructure related, combined the three acts represent a near unprecedented gusher of public investment.

“Those three pieces of legislation have brought in more money than I can remember during my 25-year government career,” Fitzgerald said. “Hopefully, we’ll be a region that’s improved our travel times, improved our access and made our roads and bridges safe. Any time you can improve access, you do improve the economic climate and desirability.”

Such a large influx of funding to be allocated in the years to come will join other infrastructure investment already underway in western Pennsylvania.

That includes a $2 billion-plus Clean Water Plan by Alcosan, establishing a new network of underground tunnels along the three rivers, and the $291 million PRTX Bus Rapid Transit project under construction by Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) from downtown through Uptown and Oakland, along with many other projects in the works throughout the region.

Earlier this year at its annual meeting, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development outlined plans for the year, citing taking full advantage of federal funding as one of its main goals.

Matt Smith, chief growth officer for the Conference, told the Business Times how important such investments can be in helping to grow the economy in the region.

“I think it’s particularly important in the transportation and infrastructure space because of our pursuit of helping companies here in southwestern Pennsylvania,” he said.

He added a “strong transportation and infrastructure system” is typically one of the first subjects the Conference is asked about by companies considering the region or ones deciding whether to grow here.

“Funding from Washington in the transportation and infrastructure space is particularly important,” he added, calling it a multiplier in its economic impact.

He expects the eastern corridor funding in particular will prove to increase the economic prospects of the neighboring communities and improve the quality of life.

Smith said the two recent federal outlays will be followed by others, given the scale and the scope of the three federal bills passed, especially noting the funding opportunities of the Inflation Reduction Act.

“We see future federal opportunities that are going to far outweigh the opportunities we’ve had over the last generation,” he said.

To be sure, the roll out of the funding in terms of projects will take years.

Nicole Haney, a community relations coordinator for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which allocates the federal funds, said the three bridge projects are being planned out and will need to be carefully coordinated.

“We will be considering the construction timelines for West End, McKees Rocks and Fort Duquesne as they are all intertwined and will be crucial to maintaining traffic while working on each individual bridge,” she said via email. “At this time, we are several years away from physical construction, but this recent funding ensures we can continue to advance the design of all three bridges.”

For Wilkinsburg, the new east corridor funding is expected to bring nearby improvements to the busway at the same time that the community is working with PRT on a plan to relocate the community’s busway stop.

The early proposal to move the station is one Evans expects can benefit the community’s recently restored train station, which is seeking a tenant or two, and dovetail with plans to develop more than 200 apartments in the vicinity.

Adam Brandolph, spokesman for PRT, said the new federal funding for the east corridor will become part of the PRT’s ongoing list of projects.

“We have a lot of capital projects going on … to ensure what we have today will remain in good condition,” he said.

Offering a sense of the ongoing scale of the need, Brandolph said PRT invests in the range of $100 million in capital projects every year but still has a backlog of $1 billion in budgeted projects.

“The East Busway, despite being 40 years old, is in relatively good shape,” he said. “We do put quite a bit of money into the maintenance of the busway on a fairly regular basis.”

Chris Sandvig, founder and executive director of Mobilify Southwestern Pennsylvania, a nonprofit that advocates for less car-dependent transportation choices, said he expects the federal investment will enable big improvements for the East Busway.

“What this money means for transit in the eastern suburbs is there’s not a direct connection from the parkway to the busway,” he said, explaining how the shoulder of the Parkway East will be “reengineered so it’s essentially a bus rapid transit lane.”

“It opens up an opportunity to leverage rapid transit along a corridor that is already congested where the people are,” he added.

Other areas where new infrastructure investment is being targeted are eager for the additional economic support.

Craig Rippole, president of Trinity Commercial Development, expects the invested upgrades in the McKees Rocks Bridge will further improve a vital connection to a growing mass of new logistics and infrastructure development along the riverfront communities it spans over.

“The access that the bridge offers helps to differentiate McKees Rocks and Stowe Township from other communities and is ideal for logistics and transportation,” he said.

Another project where infrastructure funding could make a huge difference to the surrounding communities is at the West End Bridge and on each of its sides along the Ohio River.

Riverlife, the local nonprofit institution that champions the city’s riverfronts, is working to thread in an important infrastructure addition.

Working with $2 million in trail development funding from Allegheny County, Riverlife has hired Kansas City-based design firm El Dorado to devise proposals to build new bike-and-pedestrian ramps on each end of the West End Bridge, which Riverlife President and CEO Matthew Galluzzo points out is set to turn 100 years old in 2032.

“Our move is to move in lock step with Alcosan’s Clean Water Plan and PennDOT’s project,” he said, with Alcosan’s tunneling project set for locations on each side of the bridge.

Daniel Renner, an architect based in the Portland, Oregon, office of El Dorado, provided an overview of the conceptual approaches for the new public amenities the firm is designing on each side of the bridge during a February community Zoom meeting of the Manchester Citizens Corp.

The north side of the bridge is proposed as a spiraling ramp with an overlook, a public plaza and a picnic area. On the other side amid the tangle of highways in and around the West End, the concept proposal calls for a more elongated ramp along with an elevated trail.

“A large part of this project is to really allow closer connection to the river,” Renner said.

Galluzzo noted the West End Bridge represents the biggest gap in the city’s 15-mile riverfront trail loop, a project that hopes to draw in hikers and cyclists with a route expected to offer stunning views of the city.

It’s a project, he noted, that also is seeking to better connect neighborhoods on each side of the bridge that have experienced disinvestment over the years.

“Our job is to leverage those investments to make sure the benefits accrue to the public,” he said.

He added the goal is to have El Dorado’s design and the work of other consultants 90% completed by the end of the year, expecting substantial fundraising will need to take place to be able to build the new ramp structures.

David Heaton, president and CEO of The Buncher Co., owns Gateway View Plaza, one of the biggest properties close to the south end of the West End Bridge.

It’s a property that could benefit from easier access on and off the bridge. Heaton acknowledged considering new plans for the building, which totals more than 400,000 square feet on six acres, blending both industrial warehouse use and office.

“The ground floor is strong, but the upper deck is expensive to maintain and a Class B office that is out of favor,” he said.

He admits the firm has considered converting the office to apartments but didn’t yet find it to be economically feasible. However, greater pedestrian access to the West End Bridge could make a case for re-examining the addition of a residential component.

While still unsure of the best plan, he offers a key asset to the property.

“Once you get up there, the views are incredible,” he said.

Securing funds for bridges, as well as to increase access to busways, is very much a big-picture goal for the region, but Sandvig said big federal budget allocations need to better connect to a more comprehensive approach to the region’s transportation and infrastructure needs.

“The political gravitas of western Pennsylvania in Washington has helped us to be successful for quite some time getting money for these big projects,” he said.

Using the work being done on the Eastern Pittsburgh Multimodal Corridor, which includes plenty of bridges that will need repairs as well as updates to the East Busway, as an example of progress for the region, Sanvig hopes the projects represent a changing mindset.

“These sorts of projects help us to shine a light on what’s possible with transit in different ways,” he said.

View the full article at bizjournals.com.

Over the next two years, Pittsburgh is ready to move ahead with a $32 million traffic management system to improve traffic flow on six busy corridors.

That system, which will allow signals to be changed as needed based on traffic flow and provide a quicker response to traffic accidents, highlights a series of city projects included in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s Transportation Improvement Program. SPC had a public hearing Friday on projects in Pittsburgh, one of 11 hearings it will have before approving the regional transportation plan June 24.

Jeff Skalican, deputy director of the city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, said during the hearing the city has advertised for someone to manage its proposed traffic management center. The center and series of corridors known as “spines” are scheduled to get $29.3 million over the next two years.

After the meeting, Skalican said he is “really excited” that the city will hire the traffic center manager in the next couple of months. The manager will help to oversee development of the center itself in the 412 Building on the Boulevard of the Allies, Downtown, where employees will monitor a series of cameras focused on more than 200 intersections across the city.

The project is an outgrowth of the city’s bid in 2016 to win a one-time Smart Cities Challenge by the U.S. Department of Transportation to use technology to address a transportation issue. The city lost the challenge to Columbus, Ohio, but federal officials were impressed with the city’s proposal and awarded a $12 million grant to help move it forward.

Over the years, the city has cobbled together a series of state and federal grants to finally move ahead with the concept. Skalican said the city hasn’t settled on which corridors will move ahead first, but two should be ready in the next two years and the other four in SPC’s next two-year funding cycle.

The corridors scheduled for smart signals, which also could allow Pittsburgh Regional Transit buses to have priority at intersections, are Bigelow Boulevard, Second Avenue, Centre Avenue, Penn Avenue, Route 51 and West Liberty Avenue. They also will be installed along Forbes and Fifth avenues, where PRT is building its University Line that will have dedicated lanes for buses between Downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland.

The city also has three bridge projects scheduled for construction funding over the next two years: the Swinburne Bridge over Saline Street in lower Oakland ($12.3 million); the 28th Street Bridge over the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway in Polish Hill ($10 million); and the South Negley Avenue Bridge in Shadyside ($6.45 million). Skalican said Swinburne is scheduled for replacement in 2026 and 28th Street for major rehabilitation in 2027, but South Negley hasn’t been scheduled while the city works out details with Norfolk Southern Railroad, which has tracks pass under the structure.

Nine other city bridges have funds earmarked for design work for future replacement or rehabilitation projects.

The Transportation Improvement Program also includes funds for other city projects such as the Allegheny River Green Boulevard bike trail; reconfiguring the traffic pattern on Liberty Avenue through the Strip District to improve safety; and improving traffic on Brownsville Road in the South Hills, Beaver Avenue on the North Side and Penn Avenue in the East End.

The city received heavy criticism after the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge in January 2022 for not having pushed at SPC for funding to upgrade a series of poorly rated bridges. That has changed under the administration of Mayor Ed Gainey, which took office three weeks before the collapse and has made a concerted effort to be more involved in the agency that vets federal funding for transportation projects.

“We’ll have more projects on the TIP than ever before,” Skalican said. “We have seven or eight for construction funding now where we used to have only one or two.”

Overall, SPC expects to spend $1.7 billion on transportation projects over the next two years, up about 7% from the current plan. About 43% of that will be spent on bridges and 22% on roads across the 10-county area.

The commission covers Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland counties and Pittsburgh.

Dom D’Andrea, SPC’s director of transportation, said about $860 million will be spent on 280 bridge projects and $437 million on roads. The region has reduced the number of bridges in poor condition from more than 20% to about 13%, but D’Andrea said, “There’s still more to do,” especially with bridges owned by smaller municipalities.

The agency has remaining hearings on the TIP in eight counties over the next three weeks, beginning with Westmoreland County at 1 p.m. Monday at the county courthouse. Go to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission website for the full schedule.

View the full article at unionprogress.com.

In Southwestern Pennsylvania, we’re standing on the edge of a transformative decade for transportation. The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) is more than just a planning body. We are a collective force uniting 10 counties — Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland — and the City of Pittsburgh, all with a shared mission of improving connectivity, fostering economic growth and building a resilient future for all residents. Our work today will help set the foundation for a transportation system that truly meets the needs of our communities as we move through the challenges and opportunities of the next decade.

Our region’s needs are diverse and evolving. From bustling urban centers to remote rural areas, each community we serve has unique needs. That’s why our approach prioritizes a transportation network that offers reliable, safe and efficient access to work, school, health care and recreation for all Southwestern Pennsylvanians. By balancing investments in traditional infrastructure — such as roads, bridges and public transit systems — with innovative approaches to mobility, we can build a future-ready network that keeps our communities and economy moving forward.

As we look ahead, our vision extends beyond just moving people. We see a future where transportation planning and economic development go hand in hand, supporting job creation, attracting new businesses and enhancing the quality of life across our region. A robust transportation system not only boosts the economy by connecting workers to jobs and goods to markets, but also creates opportunities in areas where growth has historically been limited. Our efforts are focused on bridging these gaps, ensuring that communities across Southwestern Pennsylvania can benefit from increased accessibility and economic resilience.

Our Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), Smart Moves for a Changing Region, serves as a roadmap for the next 25 years, articulating a clear vision that ties transportation improvements to economic development and quality of life goals. With this plan, we outline key investments in infrastructure, prioritizing projects that enhance connectivity, improve safety and support sustainable growth.

We are committed to integrating innovations like expanded public transit options, electric vehicle infrastructure and modernized traffic management systems — all designed to reduce congestion, minimize environmental impact and strengthen the region’s appeal to businesses and residents alike.

The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is the actionable component of our long-range vision, translating priorities from our LRTP into reality through a four-year investment plan. The TIP allocates funding for specific projects, from road and bridge maintenance to transit expansions and bike-friendly pathways. By focusing on high-impact, shovel-ready projects, we can address the pressing infrastructure needs of today while laying the groundwork for a robust, future-ready transportation system. With close collaboration between local governments and community organizations, the TIP ensures that our investments directly benefit the people and businesses of Southwestern Pennsylvania, creating immediate value while building a foundation for the future.

At SPC, we envision a Southwestern Pennsylvania where transportation serves as a bridge to a brighter future for everyone. In collaboration with local governments, businesses and communities, we’re shaping a network that not only meets today’s needs, but anticipates tomorrow’s challenges. Over the next 10 years, we are committed to building a transportation system that reflects the strength, diversity and resilience of our region—making it a place where all can thrive. Together, we will pave the way toward a sustainable, prosperous and connected future for Southwestern Pennsylvania.

View the full story at nextpittsburgh.com.

Five years after the Green Building Alliance surveyed Pittsburgh area commuters about how they get to work, the answers have changed substantially, with more people using several ways each week, working or starting from home and using bikes or ride-share options.

“One of the largest takes is people commuting differently from day to day,” said Isaac Smith, data and performance director for the alliance. “They may drive two days a week, work from home one day and then take a bike. There’s a level of flexibility that’s growing in the workforce.”

The alliance — a group of more than 500 Downtown Pittsburgh building operators aiming for a 50% reduction in energy use, water consumption and transportation emissions by 2030 — released the results of last fall’s survey of more than 20,081 commuters during a Strip District event Thursday. It also announced it already reached its 2020 goal of a 20% reduction in those areas.

Read the full article at post-gazette.com