SPC’s Local Technical Assistance Program’s mission is to share transportation knowledge, improve road maintenance and safety skills, and put research and new technology into practice at the local level. This is accomplished through free training and technical assistance.

Trainings are offered either as half-day or full-day courses. Workshop topics include: Winter Maintenance, Roadside Vegetation, etc.  Customized workshops can be provided at the request of a municipality or a group of municipalities.

Last month, SPC Transportation Planner Leann Chaney presented “Planning for Active Transportation in Southwestern Pennsylvania”.

The webinar provided an overview of SPC’s recently adopted active transportation plan and companion, web-based toolkit known as the Active Transportation Resource Center. The Active Transportation Resource Center is a central clearinghouse for the latest information on active transportation. Resources include information on programs that support biking and walking, potential funding opportunities, design guidelines, and more.

“Planning for Active Transportation in Southwestern Pennsylvania” was the first webinar in the Penn State Extension Winter/Spring 2020 Land-Use Webinar Series that runs through May. The series informs municipal elected and appointed officials, planners, landowners, farmers, and community organizations about land-use issues and decisions in their communities.

The 2019 Annual Report encompasses SPC’s accomplishments throughout the year and provides insight into our many programs, departments, and services. Download a copy of the full report and be sure to watch the 2019 Annual Report highlight video on our YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and click the ‘bell’ icon to stay notified when new content is published!

As the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Southwestern Pennsylvania, SPC, in collaboration with its member planning partners, will direct the use of billions in state and federal transportation funding through 2045. Adopted in June 2019, the long range plan – SmartMoves for a Changing Region – provides a robust policy framework that envisions a world-class, safe and well maintained, integrated transportation system that provides mobility for all, enables resilient communities and supports a globally competitive economy.

SPC has assembled a comprehensive GIS database that encompasses the 10 counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania, including the City of Pittsburgh. This open data site provides tools to assist with transportation, planning, and economic development projects. Explore the site to download our data and view samples of how we utilize GIS here at SPC!

GIS Open Data Site

Transportation Performance Management is a strategic approach to transportation investments that uses transportation system data to inform investment and policy decisions that meet national performance goals.

SPC has long utilized a comprehensive planning and programming process with a focus on collaboration between PennDOT, US DOT, and planning partners at the county and regional levels. We utilize this process in our ongoing planning effort to implement Transportation Performance Management and Performance-Based Planning and Programming.

Transportation Performance Management Site

This month’s SPC Newsletter has been released!

View a web version via the link below and sign up to receive future Newsletters.

SPC’s monthly e-newsletter is provided as a service to all SPC members. Please send any comments or suggestions to  SPCNews@spcregion.org

Full Web Version

Highlights include:

SPC Launches Redesigned Website

To stay connected on social media, please follow us on Twitter & Facebook and consider subscribing to our YouTube channel, clicking the ‘bell’ icon to stay notified when new video content is posted.

Final Report for SR 885/2nd Ave Multimodal Corridor Study Released

The overall study corridor spans approximately five miles and includes connections to Oakland via SR 885/Bates Street between Second Avenue and the Boulevard of the Allies.
Download Report

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications for the Farm Vitality Grant Program. This program provides reimbursement grants for a variety of business planning services. $1 million is available and all farmers and prospective farmers are eligible!

Learn more at agriculture.pa.gov

If you have any questions about the program please contact our Business Finance Assistance Manager, Ed Nemeth, by email at enemeth@spcregion.org.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) initiated this planning study to explore existing multimodal transportation needs, future trends, and potential improvement strategies along the State Route (SR) 885 and Second Avenue corridor in the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County. Specifically, the study corridor spans Second Avenue from the 10th Street Bridge in the Bluff neighborhood, south through South Oakland, Greenfield, and Hazelwood, to a southern terminus at its intersection with SR 837 in Hays. The overall study corridor spans approximately five miles and includes connections to Oakland via SR 885/Bates Street between Second Avenue and the Boulevard of the Allies.

View the full report (PDF 11.4MB)

Learn more at post-gazette.com.

With the official 2020 Census count starting in just four months, new population estimates for Pittsburgh and Allegheny County indicate that the official count may show the region truly has turned a corner.

Figures from the Census Bureau’s 2018 American Community Survey released Thursday show that for the first time in more than half a century, the city and county both could have relatively stable populations in the next official census in 2020.

The survey’s estimate – a weighted figure based on survey results over the five prior years – was that the city’s population in 2018 was 303,587, just slightly less than the 305,704 the city had in the official 2010 Census. And the county estimate for 2018 was 1,225,561, which would be slightly above the 1,223,066 in 2010.

Neither of the projected figures may sound dramatic. But after Allegheny County lost population in each of the past five official census going back to 1970 and the city lost people in each of the prior six going back to 1960, a stable count would be reason for a party.

Lawrence County Commissioner Steve Craig has briefcases, folders and other office items stacked inside of his office door, free to any taker who wants them.

Craig is cleaning out his office in anticipation of his last day of work Jan. 3, 2020, which is also his 66th birthday. Having served the county 31 years, first as a planner and planning director and later as an elected commissioner for 16 years, he opted to not seek re-election this year.

He’s ready to be done with it all, he said.

Craig, who typically sports a casual and relaxed professional look, began his career as a planner for a consulting firm, then as a project planner in the governor’s office in the Virgin Islands in Charles County, St. Croix. He also worked for a company that did re-use planning for old school buildings.

He joined the Lawrence County planning staff in 1981.

“Tony Mottle hired me,” he said. Mottle was the director of planning then, and when Mottle left to take a state government job in 1985, Craig advanced into his position.