Gov. Tom Wolf and PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards announced fifty-one projects to improve transportation alternatives are in line for $33 million in federal funds.
“These projects are important initiatives that enhance communities across Pennsylvania to create stronger economies and better infrastructure,” Wolf said. “Making these improvements will enhance pedestrian and bicycle facilities, improve access to public transportation, create safe routes to school, preserve historic transportation structures, provide environmental mitigation, create trails that serve a transportation purpose, and promote safety and mobility.”
A full list of projects is below. Some examples include:
• Sidewalk improvements in Somerset Borough's historic “Uptown District”;
• Creation of a pedestrian and bicycle trail under Route 263 in Warwick Township, Bucks County;
• Improvements for pedestrians and transit riders along Beaver Drive in DuBois, Clearfield County;
• Pedestrian improvements at Keystone College in Lackawanna County and Wilkes University in Luzerne County; and
• Enhancements to the city of Chester's Central Business District in Delaware County
“Supporting transportation alternatives in our communities is vital to a transportation system that works for all Pennsylvanians,” Richards said. “These investments complement our state multimodal funding to ensure we're making connections that improve citizens' quality of life no matter how they travel.”
Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, the 2012 federal transportation authorization act known as MAP-21, introduced fundamental changes to the administration of local programs, including those that had existed as separate programs in SAFETEA-LU, the previous authorization act. Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School, Scenic Byways and the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) are now consolidated into the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP)
PennDOT evaluated the applications and made selections based on such criteria as safety benefits, reasonableness of cost, readiness for implementation, statewide or regional significance, integration of land use and transportation decision making, collaboration with stakeholders, and leverage of other projects or funding.
Allegheny County
• Mount Oliver Borough — $745,714 for a streetscape project along Brownsville Road in Mt. Oliver that includes numerous improvements to the Business District, including new sidewalks, ADA curb ramps, sharrows, and a consistent streetscape design.
• Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh — $498,793 for lighting, sidewalk repair and traffic calming to encourage alternative modes and pedestrian safety in Homewood, a priority redevelopment area, which includes a neighborhood school, business district, and regional rapid transit.
• Swissvale Borough — $353,250 for pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements including crosswalks, ADA-compliant curb cuts, pedestrian signal upgrades and bicycle safe storm sewer grates along South Braddock Avenue between McClure Avenue and Woodstock Avenue.
Berks County
• Birdsboro Borough — $216,200 to replace sidewalks and construct ADA-compliant ramps at Birdsboro Elementary Center.
• Reading — $910,099 to create a trail segment for the Schuylkill River Trail through Reading from Reading Area Community College to Buttonwood Street, providing a safe, easily accessible, clearly marked and signed trail in the city of Reading.
Blair County
• Altoona — $460,000 for repair of deteriorated steps and decking on the 12th Street Pedestrian Bridge.
Bucks County
• Warwick Township — $500,000 to create a pedestrian/bicycle trail under Route 263 to allow visitors access to recreational and cultural amenities near Moland Park.
• New Britain Township — $375,000 for construction of the Neshaminy Greenway Trail (NGT) from Lenape Lane to Upper State Road. The trail will be an ADA compliant shared use path, and will complete a missing link in the NGT, providing a connection to the 202 Parkway Trail.
Butler County
• Slippery Rock Township — $138,000 to widen a paved shoulder and create a striped buffer with reflective markers separating the designated walking path from the cart way along Harmony Road.
• Zelienople Borough — $465,000 for comprehensive updates to the west side of Main Street between Beaver Street and Spring Street. Improvements will include new concrete sidewalks, curb/gutter, ADA ramps, and lighting.
Cambria County
• Adams Township — $145,735 to create a safe route through the Creslo neighborhood to an existing Forest Hills School Campus.
Centre County
• Patton Township — $1 million to construct a 10-ft. (3 m) -wide shared use path to link existing shared use paths, parks and residential neighborhoods.
Chester County
• Kennett Township — $700,000 for construction of the McFarland Sidewalk component of the township's Red Clay Greenway Trail initiative.
• Downingtown Borough — $916,600 to install a 10-ft.-wide multi-use trail along Woodbine Road and a 6-foot-wide sidewalk along a portion of Lincoln Highway.
Clearfield County
• DuBois — $700,000 to extend the walkway and provide bus pull off areas along Beaver Drive in the Industrial Park.
Crawford County
• Crawford County — $475,000 for comprehensive updates to Water Street between Second Street and Third Street, including crosswalks, sidewalks, lighting and ADA-compliant curb cuts and ramps.
• Meadville — $219,940 for repair of the footbridge crossing Mill Run, which is a popular route for school children and on the proposed Ernst Trail, closed in 2014 due to structural deficiencies and safety concerns.
Dauphin County
• Harrisburg — $1 million to replace 11,000 linear ft. (3,353 m) of damaged slab and steps along the Riverwalk in Riverfront Park.
Delaware County
• Chester — $913,488 for the Avenue of the States streetscape project, which includes sidewalk and streetscape improvements in Chester's Central Business District.
• Radnor Township — $1 million for construction of the Radnor TAP Trail, which will provide a 5-mi. (8 km) north/south circuit route through nearly all of the township to create a nearly continuous 7.6-mi. (12.23 km) on-road and off-road bicycle route.
Erie County
• Erie — $175,745 for concrete sidewalk and curb removal and reconstruction with associated streetscaping (landscaping and trees) along West 18th Street between Poplar and Liberty Streets.
Fayette County
• Redevelopment Authority of the city of Uniontown — $999,350 to replace sidewalks, add crosswalks, and create ADA-accessible ramps to improve safety and enhance the Historic District for both residents and visitors in the downtown.
Franklin County
• Green Township — $498,420 to construct continuous concrete curb and sidewalk on the east side of Route 1006 (Scotland Main Street) and place a continuous concrete curb along the west side of Scotland Main Street.
Lackawanna County
• Keystone College — $732,146 to develop two critical safe access pedestrian/bike trail connectors that fill gaps in a community trail system in Laplume Township. Improvements include two ADA-compliant trailheads with bike parking, crosswalks and a small bike share program.
Lancaster County
• Elizabethtown Borough — $400,000 to expand the existing pathway network at Elizabethtown Area School District and Elizabethtown College. Additionally, safety enhancements along the existing pedestrian and bicycle pathway network will include lighted crosswalks and pedestrian lighting.
• Lancaster — $962,378 to install a pedestrian bridge over the Conestoga River, reconfigure fencing on the existing bridge to accommodate bicyclists, and construct ADA accessible trail approaches to provide a connection between two open space areas.
• West Earl Township — $999,810 to replace curbs, install sidewalk and construct ADA curb ramps on East Main Street. Additionally, a flashing pedestrian signal will be constructed at an existing crosswalk at the intersection of West Main Street and Charles Place.
Lebanon County
• Lebanon County — $575,000 to construct the Lebanon Valley Rails-to-Trails (LVRT) bridge over Swatara Creek and a small section of LVRT in Union and Swatara townships.
Lehigh County
• Macungie Borough — $542,288 for traffic calming and safety improvements to Macungie's downtown gateway — encompassing one block of pedestrian lighting, trees and pavers (both sides) and one median island centered on Route 100.
• South Whitehall Township — $257,634 to continue the Jordan Creek Greenway — Section 50.
• Coopersburg Borough — $938,856 for traffic and pedestrian improvements to Station Avenue from Main Street to the Saucon Rail Trail, including crosswalks, curbs, sidewalk, accessibility improvements and pedestrian lighting. Additionally a Saucon Rail Trail extension will be constructed from Landis Street to Station Avenue.
• Allentown — $297,274 for pedestrian safety improvements at a high-volume intersection adjacent to the Allentown School District's new public high school and adjacent to the “Connecting our Community” MLK Parkway Trail, which connects the downtown to the city's western park resources.
Luzerne County
• Wilkes University — $1 million for pedestrian and streetscape improvements on South Franklin Street and South Main Street in the city of Wilkes-Barre.
Lycoming County
• Williamsport — $798,500 for phase four of the Williamsport Pathway to Health Project – a multi-phased streetscape and safety improvement project in the city of Williamsport.
• Loyalsock Township — $765,000 to construct two pedestrian bridges/trail segments to connect the Recreation Center and Park/Pool Complex and the Junior/Senior High School with Bruce Henry Park and surrounding residential areas.
Mifflin County
• Mifflin County — $608,000 for new trees, sidewalks with adjoining pavers, curbing, ADA-compliant curb ramps, and pedestrian level lighting to improve pedestrian access and safety.
Montgomery County
• Abington Township — $450,000 to construct a 3.26-mi. (5.25 km) on-road and off-road trail across the northern tier of the township.
• Cheltenham Township — $700,000 to construct a 1-mi. (1.6 km) segment of phase three of the Tookany Creek Trail, which starts at Harrison Avenue and ends at New Second Street and includes a 135-ft. (41 m)-long pedestrian/bicycle bridge over Tookany Creek.
• Limerick Township — $970,000 to construct Limerick TAP Trail, a 2.57-mi. (4.12 km) long off-road trail that will connect to existing trails and create a 4.1-mi. (6.6 km) east-west network across the township.
Northumberland County
• Sunbury — $640,000 for renovations to Chestnut Street to improve pedestrian safety on Truck Route 61 in the city of Sunbury. Improvements include replacing sidewalks, curbs, and ADA curb ramps.
Philadelphia County
• Philadelphia — $984,692 to enable the strategic and sustainable expansion of Indego, Philadelphia's newest public transportation system, by deploying 16 new Indego bike share stations in high-demand locations.
• Philadelphia — $1 million to construct a .6 mi. (.96 km), 12-ft. (3.7 m)-wide trail with landscaping and site amenities along the Delaware River between Magee Avenue and Princeton Avenue. The project is part of the East Coast Greenway.
• Philadelphia — $600,000 to remove slip ramps for eastbound and westbound Baltimore Avenue, which is the school crossing guard location for Avery D Harrington School. The project will also include green infrastructure with a subsurface stormwater retention system, signal upgrades and bump-outs.
• Philadelphia — $250,000 to convert over 17 lane miles into protected bicycle facilities by adding flexible delineator posts, a vertical element proven to better visually and clearly separate vehicle and bicycle space in the right of way.
Pike County
• Milford Borough – $514,674 to install imprinted concrete sidewalks and pedestrian lighting.
Somerset County
• Somerset Borough — $428,928 to replace sidewalk sections within the historic “Uptown District” of Somerset Borough.
Susquehanna County
• Lanesboro Borough — $578,200 to replace deteriorated sidewalks along North Main Street in the borough and construct sidewalks along Tannery and Depot Streets adjacent to the Historic Starrucca Viaduct.
Washington County
• Charleroi Borough — $975,000 to address deficiencies in stormwater above and under Route 88 in combination with a PennDOT betterment project.
Westmoreland County
• Westmoreland County — $1 million to construct 3.4 mi. (5.5 km) of rail trail along the former Turtle Creek Industrial Railroad corridor, now owned by Westmoreland County, in the municipalities of Murrysville and Export Borough.
Wyoming County
• Nicolson Borough — $630,000 to renovate and replace sidewalks, curbing, ADA ramps, and street lighting within a two block section of the downtown business district.
York County
• York County Rail Trail Authority — $883,800 for construction of a pedestrian/cycling bridge and ramps over the Codorus Creek at Emig Road as part of Northern Extension of Heritage Rail Trail County Park.
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