HARRISBURG, Pa. — Governor Tom Wolf and PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards yesterday announced the approval of funding for 82 projects to improve transportation alternatives and enhance mobility and public accessibility across the commonwealth, including a major trail project in Jenks Township, Forest County.
“Building for the future includes improving access to a variety of transportation options and these investments will promote safety and mobility for communities across Pennsylvania,” Governor Wolf said.
The administration awarded $66.8 million through the Surface Transportation Block Grant program Set-Aside or Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside. The TA Set-Aside provides funding for projects and activities defined as transportation alternatives, including on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities, infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility, community improvement activities, and environmental mitigation, trails that serve a transportation purpose, and safe routes to school projects.
“Our citizens are taking advantage of an array of trails and improvements that enhance the state’s quality of life, and these new investments will build on our successes in making Pennsylvania an attractive place to live and work,” Richards added.
PennDOT evaluated the applications and made selections based on such criteria as safety benefits, the 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.
Following is a list of awards for the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Projects:
Allegheny
City of Pittsburgh
– $980,000 to enhance pedestrian safety and access by constructing sidewalks within critical gaps throughout the city.
– 464,011 to hire a full-time Safe Route to School coordinator to increase safe walking and bicycling opportunities for city students, purchase and distribute safety items (helmets, lights, reflectors) and expand the after-school bike program.
Bedford
Broad Top Township — $246,152 for construction of a two-mile extension to the existing H&BT Rail Trail from the Riddlesburg trailhead, north towards the Warriors Path State Park in Saxton.
Berks
Exeter Borough — $1,000,000 for improved pedestrian safety and access through the construction of continuous sidewalk, pedestrian lighting, and defined entrances and exits for business driveways along Perkiomen Avenue from East Neversink Road to 36th Street.
Topton Borough — $927,078 to construct a path through Topton’s park to connect the borough’s neighborhoods and business district to West Weis Street, closing sidewalk gaps and providing access to the elementary and intermediate/middle schools.
Blair
Antis Township — $875,780 for the construction of a hike/bike trail along the right-of-way of the former Logan Valley Streetcar Line.
Bucks
Solebury Township — $1,000,000 to build the next segment of the Route 202 Cross-County Trail within the Aquetong Park boundaries.
Doylestown Township — $985,000 for construction of a 0.8-mile trail along Shady Retreat and Burpee Roads that will connect several neighborhoods to the Doyle Elementary School, Lenape Middle School, and Central Bucks West High Schools.
Lower Makefield Township — $700,000 for 3,500 linear feet of 10’ multi-use trail that will connect the existing trail to several township facilities, parks, and schools.
Cambria
Adams Township — $936,100 for new sidewalks to create a safe route through the Creslo neighborhood to the Forest Hills school campus.
Mount Aloysius College — $666,026 to construct a sidewalk from the college to the Cresson Business District, as defined by the Cambria County Planning Commission as a high priority project in the Admiral Peary Corridor.
Carbon
Carbon County — $403,986 to connect the D&L Trail from the northern trailhead to the new pedestrian bridge south of the Carbon County Parking Lot with a safe delineated travel path along the Lehigh River.
Centre
Borough of State College — $935,000 to improve pedestrian safety through sidewalk improvements, pedestrian fencing, street lights, street furniture and landscape features for traffic calming.
Chester
Greater Valley Forge TMA — $111,000 for the interactive My School on the Move program that teaches middle school students traffic safety laws.
East Marlborough Township — $750,000 to improve safety for students, residents, and visitors accessing the Unionville-Chadds Ford Middle/High School campus with sidewalks, crosswalks, medians and roadway narrowing.
London Grove Township — $1,280,300 to construct approximately 2,500 feet of sidewalk and curb on the south side of State Road between Prospect Avenue/Wickerton Road (State Route 0841) and Schoolhouse Road, including striped crosswalks and ADA compliant curb ramps at three intersections.
Clinton
Clinton County — $1,087,197 to build a critical phase of the 11-mile Clinton County Rail Trail that connects five Clinton County municipalities to the Lycoming County border, and ultimately to the Jersey Shore trailhead of the Pine Creek Rail Trail.
City of Lock Haven — $1,000,000 for sidewalks, curbing, trees and ADA-compliant handicap ramps along three blocks of East Church Street from Bellefonte Avenue to North Jay Street.
Renovo Borough — $40,000 to further study and potentially design sidewalks, ADA curb ramps, crosswalks and curbing along 3rd, 4th, 5th, 11th and 12th Streets.
Columbia
Town of Bloomsburg — $1,113,350 to repair deteriorated sidewalks, construct new sidewalks and install new street lighting on State Routes 11 and 487 from 7th Street to 3rd Street.
Crawford
Pymatuning State Park — $958,461 to improve and extend the Pymatuning State Park Spillway Rail Trail nearly four miles, resulting in safe visitor access to park visitor centers, schools, and connection with the PA Route 6 and Bicycle PA Route Y near Linesville.
Delaware
Media Borough — $400,000 for a stormwater parkette to reduce flooding in north Media through collection and infiltration of stormwater, making streets and sidewalks safer and improving the local water quality.
Concord Township — $1,163,000 for construction of Phase 1A of the multimodal Octoraro Trail in Concord and Chadds Ford Townships from State Route 202 to Temple Road.
Chadds Ford Township — $1,000,000 for development of a multi-modal trail extending from the Township Municipal Complex on the south side of U.S. Route 1 to the Village of Chadds Ford at South Creek Road and Station Way Road/North Creek Road.
Erie
City of Erie
– $1,000,000 for updated signing, pavement markings, traffic control devices, and sidewalk improvements that will enhance the safety of student walking routes in the city of Erie.
– $250,000 to add bike lanes, crosswalks, and a way-finding signage system throughout the city’s trail network.
Borough of Edinboro — $429,480 to install a multi-modal pathway along the east side of State Route 699 to provide a safe space for pedestrians, users of wheelchairs, and bicyclists.
Forest
Jenks Township — $1,196,169 to construct a six-mile segment of trail and a trail hub that will serve cyclists, snowmobiles and equestrians. The project will provide a link to several trails, including the North Country Trail, Knox to Kane Trail, and the Allegheny National Forest trail system.
Franklin
Borough of Waynesboro — $475,000 for streetlight, sidewalk, curb, and crosswalk improvements along Main Street and Walnut Street in downtown Waynesboro to improve pedestrian safety in high crash areas.
Indiana
Indiana University of Pennsylvania — $56,647 to purchase materials to educate and encourage children in kindergarten through the eighth grade to safely walk or bicycle to school.
Indiana Borough — $355,880 to install 2,500 feet of five-foot-wide sidewalks, 30 ADA accessible ramps and crosswalks, and appropriate signage within a two-block area surrounding the Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary School.
Indiana County — $310,495 for trail surface, base and drainage improvements to the Hoodlebug Trail from Saylor Park to north of Homer City.
Lackawanna
Keystone College — $917,815 to provide pedestrians and bicyclists a safe route to travel along College Road and a connection to the seven miles of public trails in the area of the college campus.
Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority — $200,000 to construct a 0.9-mile paved trail from Parker Street in Scranton to Boulevard Avenue in Dickson City, closing a major gap of the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail. This funding supplements an $800,000 TA Set-Aside award from the Lackawanna and Luzerne Transportation Study MPO.
Scranton — $1,000,000 to connect the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail to the Steamtown National Historic Site and the city of Scranton with a pedestrian bridge.
Dickson City — $991,110 for streetscaping, safety improvements, and a bike path connecting to the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail.
Lancaster
Manor Township — $3,000,000 to rehabilitate the Safe Harbor Trestle Bridge, built in 1905, to a functional state to accommodate bicycle and pedestrian traffic and connect two currently separate sections of the Enola Low-Grade Rail Trail.
Lawrence
Shenango Township — $920,000 to construct a dedicated trail lane for North Country Trail users along Sankey Hill Road.
Lebanon
Lebanon School District — $742,000 to construct new pedestrian/bicycle paths, sidewalks, signage, ADA curb ramps, crosswalks, lighting and school crossing improvements near Northwest Elementary School.
Lebanon County — $964,000 to construct a multi-use trail in the City of Lebanon from 16th Street at the west end of the John E. Wengert Memorial Park to 22nd Street at the eastern end of Gloninger Woods Park in North Cornwall Township.
Lehigh
Borough of Coopersburg — $1,000,000 for pedestrian and bicycling improvements to North Main Street and West State Street, including pedestrian crosswalks, curb, sidewalk, ADA improvements, pedestrian lighting, and sharrows.
Lehigh County
– $838,188 for construction of a trail to close a 1.45-mile trail gap along the D&L Trail from the Lehigh and Northampton County line to Hanover Township’s Canal Park on the old canal tow path.
– $74,100 to perform complete structural and aesthetic rehabilitation of Geiger’s Covered Bridge over the Jordan Creek, a single span wooden bridge built in 1860. This funding supplements a $325,900 TA Set-Aside award from the Lehigh Valley MPO.
Allentown — $1,000,000 for construction of a shared use path from the city of Allentown’s Jordan Basin Park, through the 51-acre Jordan Creek Park, through Whitehall, and halting on the western end of the 476-acre Jordan Creek Parkway.
Luzerne
Wilkes University — $1,156,616 for pedestrian safety enhancements on South Franklin Street and West South Street, including replacement of damaged sidewalks, curb replacement, construction of concrete crosswalks, and the installation of pedestrian lighting. This funding supplements a $360,000 TA Set-Aside award from the Lackawanna Luzerne Transportation Study MPO.
Pittston — $999,897 for sidewalk, curb, and drainage improvements along North Main Street in the city of Pittston.
Lycoming
Loyalsock Township — $682,000 to construct a paved greenway to connect Bruce Henry Park and its surrounding residential areas in Loyalsock Township to the existing Susquehanna Bikeway and Riverwalk.
River Valley Transit (Williamsport) — $1,000,000 to construct the Willow Street Green Infrastructure Pathway Project in the city of Williamsport, providing an improved transportation route for pedestrians and cyclists.
McKean
Bradford — $969,150 for improvements to Main Street, including replacement of curbs and sidewalks, pedestrian crossing improvements, traffic calming, bike lanes, ADA compliant curb ramps, updated lighting, street trees, and bicycle racks.
Mount Jewett Borough — $980,504 for new sidewalks, drainage improvements, ADA compliant curb ramps and lighting along Main Street/Route 6 in the Central Business District.
Mercer
Greenville Borough — $748,600 to construct sidewalks, retaining walls, and drainage improvements along Alan Avenue to provide a safe pedestrian connection between Thiel College and the Borough Park. This funding supplements a $240,000 TA Set-Aside award from the Shenango Valley Transportation Study MPO.
Springfield Township — $574,920 for the second phase of a multimodal trail along State Route 208 connecting multiple land uses, including the municipal building, future township park, the airport, and numerous hotels and commercial developments.
Mifflin
Mifflin County — $834,610 for a streetscape project that includes new sidewalks, curbing, trees and pedestrian lighting to improve pedestrian access.
Monroe
Tobyhanna Township — $550,000 to enhance walking and bicycling opportunities along Route 940 with a wider, improved shoulder and safer crossings in a developing corridor in the Poconos.
Montgomery
Borough of Hatboro — $739,704 for construction of a six-foot-wide asphalt walking path, ADA curb ramps, five-foot-wide concrete sidewalk, and stormwater drainage in the vicinity of Crooked Billet Elementary.
The Partnership TMA — $51,000 to enhance awareness of bike helmet safety through local partnerships and participation in community events to distribute free bike helmets and provide free bicycle helmet fittings.
Towamencin Township — $846,000 to construct approximately 4,000 linear feet of a new 10-foot-wide pedestrian/bicycle trail from Trumbauer Road to Valley View Way along the Towamencin Creek.
Upper Dublin Township — $750,000 to install new five-foot sidewalks along Limekiln Pike between Dreshertown Plaza and Jarrettown Elementary, including new curb and drainage improvements.
Lower Salford Township — $505,000 for installation of sidewalks, curbs, and ADA curb ramps along Harleysville Pike and Park Avenue to connect two major shopping centers, a township park, residential neighborhoods, and a shared-use path system.
Schwenksville Borough — $681,442 to construct sidewalks, curbs, ADA curb ramps, and traffic calming features adjacent to other recent transportation investments and with connections to the Perkiomen Trail, Meadow Park, and Schwenksville Elementary.
Whitpain Township — $641,552 for construction of a 0.7-mile key portion of the Whitpain Trail network.
Montour
Borough of Danville — $620,629 for construction of one mile of paved pedestrian and bicycle trail atop the Hospital Run and the Upper Susquehanna levees as part of the North Branch Canal Trail system.
Northampton
Hellertown Borough — $792,427 to improve six unsignalized intersections on Main Street with pedestrian activated crossing lights, ADA curb ramps, and stamped crosswalks to increase pedestrian safety. This funding supplements a $200,000 TA Set-Aside award from the Lehigh Valley MPO.
Philadelphia
City of Philadelphia
– $1,000,000 to construct six sidewalk segments for needed pedestrian improvements and prepare sites for Direct Bus stations.
– $1,000,000 to modify the intersection at Broad and Locust Streets to replicate the current construction on Broad and Chestnut and Walnut Streets, improving ADA accessibility, safety, and the aesthetics of the public realm.
– $995,000 to establish a school slow zone at Cramp Elementary consisting of traffic calming interventions to reduce vehicular speeds, promote safety, and advance the city’s commitment to Vision Zero.
– $300,000 for installation of a traffic signal, pedestrian countdown timers, line striping, and sidewalks along a curb extension created by the Philadelphia Water Department’s proposed rain garden in an underutilized section of the cartway.
– $432,000 to construct curb bump-outs, pedestrian refuge islands, and expanded sidewalks to improve and increase pedestrian movement across Race Street and into Franklin Square.
– $1,000,000 to rehabilitate a severely deteriorated portion of the Manayunk Canal in Philadelphia, preserving an important historic transportation structure and mitigating potential safety issues.
– $700,000 to increase pedestrian safety on North Broad Street with the installation of medians from West Girard Avenue to Cecil B. Moore Avenue, addressing a location listed on the City’s High Injury Network and PennDOT’s 2015 Statewide High Crash Location List. This funding supplements a $300,000 TA Set-Aside award from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission MPO.
– $997,000 to improve the existing sidewalk and intersections for pedestrians and bicyclists from the Navy Yard to Hartranft Street in South Philadelphia via a multiuse side path along South Broad Street.
City Avenue Special Services District — $986,715 for installation of new pedestrian lighting from 52nd Street to Lapsley Lane in the city of Philadelphia and Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County
Drexel University — $1,000,000 to support the goals of Philadelphia’s Vision Zero policy by creating one mid-block crosswalk and improve a second crossing on public streets connecting Drexel University’s campus in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia.
Interstate Land Management Corporation — $1,000,000 to repair and replace damaged sidewalks with heavy pedestrian traffic under I-95.
Somerset
Redevelopment Authority of Somerset County — $1,200,000 for Phase II-A of the Berlin Revitalization Project, including sidewalks, curbs, streetscapes along a portion of the September 11th National Memorial Trail.
Susquehanna
Lanesboro Borough — $1,358,920 for improvements, including drainage, resurfacing, and access control, along a 5.5-mile section of the D&H Rail Trail from Brandt to the New York border.
Tioga
Tioga County — $1,500,000 to extend the Pine Creek Rail Trail three miles to the west of Wellsboro, thereby closing a trail gap, promoting tourism, and increasing economic activity.
Union
Borough of Lewisburg — $1,000,000 to restore Bull Run’s natural floodplain, daylight stormwater and extend the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail to Bucknell University.
Venango
Venango County — $1,000,000 for construction of a multi-use trail along the Route 8/US 62 corridor in coordination with a PennDOT safety project.
City of Franklin — $966,760 to rehabilitate and install new lighting, sidewalk, curbing and driveway aprons in downtown Franklin.
Westmoreland
Derry Township Municipal Authority — $1,000,000 to construct a trail that will extend from Keystone State Park in Derry Township to the New Alexandria Borough Municipal Park.
York
City of York — $487,839 for a two-way cycle track on King Street that will include pavement markings, delineators, signage and signal work. This funding supplements a $198,704 TA Set-Aside award from the York MPO.
