Westmoreland County to study Irwin turnpike interchange
By Chris Foreman TRIBUNE-REVIEW Friday, August 22, 2008 A Westmoreland County consultant’s study of the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange at Route 30 in North Huntingdon will explore whether an off-ramp should be connected with Pennsylvania Avenue. The Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. approved a $10,000 contract last week with URS Corp.’s Pittsburgh office to complete a traffic and safety study for the Irwin interchange of the turnpike. > More

Drilling service center planned in Hempfield
By Chris Foreman TRIBUNE-REVIEW Friday, August 15, 2008 Texas-based Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations is expanding into a Hempfield industrial park with a project expected to employ as many as 175 people within three to five years, Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. officials announced Thursday. County commissioners, acting as the WCIDC, approved a six-month option agreement with Baker Hughes to buy a 39-acre lot in the Westmoreland Technology Park for $1 million. > More

Rezoning requests rejected in Unity
By A.J. Panian TRIBUNE REVIEW Friday, August 15, 2008 Two rounds of applause rang out at Thursday’s Unity Township supervisors meeting, one for each motion to deny two proposals to rezone properties near Marguerite and White School roads along Route 30 from residential to commercial. About 30 residents from that area attended yesterday’s meeting, about half the number that attended a special hearing last month to voice their disapproval to the reclassification proposals for land owned by John G. > More

Ligonier Shade Tree Commission gets logo
By Emily Mullin TRIBUNE-REVIEW Friday, August 15, 2008 Ligonier officials revealed the borough’s new Shade Tree Commission logo Thursday and voted to change an ordinance that would raise parking fines. Borough officials also voted to hire two part-time police officers. The Shade Tree Commission awarded Livina Golden a $50 Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce gift certificate for the design of the commission’s new logo that will appear on the committee’s letterheads and shirts. > More

The unexpected growth of business along the Great Allegheny Passage
Rite of Passage Sunday, July 27, 2008 By Mary Kate Malone, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette WEST NEWTON -- From her hot dog stand, Barb Philipp, 41, can see the tops of Trailside Restaurant’s patio umbrellas, a renovated West Newton visitors center, and the simple crushed-stone trail of the Great Allegheny Passage, which made it all possible. This has been the busiest summer ever for her business, said Mrs. > More

Hoping to tap a gas bonanza
Rising prices lure natural gas drillers to vast, but deep Appalachian field Sunday, July 20, 2008 By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette On the outskirts of Kittanning along the Allegheny River, well drillers mixed a million gallons of water and 800,000 pounds of sand and pumped it at high pressure more than a mile underground. Their goal was to crack up a deep layer of black shale and release what they hope will be a natural gas bonanza. > More

North Huntingdon planner might get help
By A.J. Panian TRIBUNE REVIEW Friday, July 11, 2008 North Huntingdon commissioners opened talks Thursday about seeking the consulting services of a local engineering firm to help township planning director/engineer Andy Blenko with what he called a "full plate" of small-scale projects. "I’m drowning right now and my department could really use some help," Blenko said. Interim township Manager Michael Turley told the board Glenn Engineering & Associates Ltd. > More

State environment head resigns.
By Amy Worden INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Kathleen McGinty, who in her five years as secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection led Gov. Rendell’s ambitious agenda to enhance the environment, advance energy conservation initiatives and attract green businesses, is stepping down. In her resignation letter, obtained by The Inquirer, McGinty thanked Rendell for giving her "the privilege of serving his team," but offered no glimpse of future plans beyond taking a vacation with her family. > More

Suburban flight starts to hit home
By Craig Smith TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, July 3, 2008 When it took $45 to fill the gas tank in Eric Wallace’s Honda Civic, he knew his days of driving 40 miles each way to work couldn’t last. "I went home and said, ’We have to do something,’ " said Wallace, 36, of Arnold, who is looking to move closer to his job as director of information technology at a steel distribution and service center in Leetsdale. > More

Man's motorized bike saves money for him -- and Greensburg
By Bob Stiles TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, July 3, 2008 Matthew Basl was looking for a way to save on gasoline. "I’m a poor college student," said Basl, who will be a junior this fall at California University. "I got tired of the high gas prices and wanted a cheaper way to get to work and around work." The part-time maintenance worker for the Greensburg Recreation Department found the savings about three weeks ago. > More

Hybrid vehicles too hot to keep in stock
By Joe Napsha TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, July 3, 2008 Brian Pietrandrea is one of the lucky Western Pennsylvanians who bought his Toyota Prius hybrid before the price of gasoline jumped to $4 a gallon. "I bought it right before the backlog hit. There were six on the lot at the time," said Pietrandrea, 33, of Ross, who bought the fuel-efficient car powered by a gasoline engine and a supplemental electrical engine in March. > More

County on pace for record fatalities
By Patti Dobranski TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, July 3, 2008 The first half of 2008 has proved to be a deadly period for motorists in Westmoreland County. When a tree fell onto a vehicle Sunday on Greensburg-Mt. Pleasant Road in Unity, killing 37-year-old Ronald Bates of Greensburg, the number of traffic fatalities for the year reached 33, which is equal to the number of people who lost their lives on county roadways in 2007. > More

Leaders offer up big ideas
by Tom McGee Staff Writer July 3, 2008 Business leaders say Route 22 can benefit communities throughout Westmoreland County. Members of various economic groups shared their ideas for development along the highway at "Corridors of Opportunity," a forum held in Blairsville last week. John Cardwell, executive director of the Murrysville Economic and Community Development Corp., was one of four speakers at the event. > More

Greensburg student-housing law to be aired
By Bob Stiles TRIBUNE-REVIEW Wednesday, July 2, 2008 Greensburg Council expects to take public comment next week on a controversial student-housing ordinance before possibly voting on changes made to the city law. After a meeting Tuesday, Mayor Karl Eisaman said the public comment period during council’s regular meeting at 7 p.m. Monday will be used to solicit the opinions. Read more  > More

Land trust requests public suggestions
By The Tribune-Review Saturday, June 28, 2008 Board members of the new Westmoreland Land Trust will be speaking at a number of municipal meetings and other community venues throughout Westmoreland County during July to introduce the young land-preservation organization to the public and to solicit input. The land trust presentations are planned for the following locations, dates and times: • Wednesday, July 2, 7 p.m., Rostraver Municipal Building • Monday, July 7, 6 p.m., Greensburg City Hall • Tuesday, July 8, 7 p.m., Lower Burrell City Hall • Thursday, July 10, 7 p.m., Unity Municipal Buildi > More

Busy Route 22 sparks interest
Developers look to build in Murrysville area Pittsburgh Business Times - by Tim Schooley Beyond his Ferri’s Shur Save Grocery and Pharmacy parking lot where his father once kept a horse-hitching post, John Ferri can see where the new four-lane highway forks between the past and future. His view of the journey of his Murrysville community, which spans an increasingly busy stretch of Route 22, is split by ambivalence. > More

Cope Building project continues
By Bob Stiles TRIBUNE-REVIEW Wednesday, June 25, 2008 Developer John Felice received approval Tuesday to tear down the former Bugzy’s Bagels in Greensburg as part of a project involving the neighboring Cope Building. The approval came in a 7-0 vote by the city’s Historic and Architectural Review Board. Read more  > More

Tollgate Hill Road work slated to end in July
By The Tribune-Review Sunday, June 22, 2008 Completion of repairs on Tollgate Hill Road (SR 3026) in Hempfield is tentatively scheduled for the second week of July. The road is closed because of a slide. PennDOT officials said utility work is progressing, and when finished, road repairs will begin. Overhead utility lines are being raised to allow construction equipment to safely access the work zone. > More

Westmoreland transit receives $500,000 grant for hybrid bus
By Rich Cholodofsky TRIBUNE-REVIEW Saturday, June 21, 2008 The Westmoreland County Transit Authority this week received a $500,000 state grant to purchase a hybrid bus that will be used to shuttle passengers on overcrowded routes into Pittsburgh. The Westmoreland County agency was one of four in Pennsylvania that received money as part of a pilot program to test the use of fuel-efficient, low-emission vehicles than can run on both electric and diesel in mass transit systems. > More

Arnold-New Kensington merger gaining momentum
By Tom Yerace VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH Saturday, June 21, 2008 The idea of turning the cities of Arnold and New Kensington into one municipality may be gaining momentum. New Kensington Mayor Frank Link pitched the idea Thursday night at a Weed and Seed program community meeting. "I got a lot of good responses today," Link said Friday. "I had a lot of people e-mail me, saying, ’We ought to look into it, definitely.’ Read more  > More

Murrysville tables business zoning ordinance
By George Guido FOR THE VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH Thursday, June 19, 2008 After some 2-1/2 hours of emotional and sometimes volatile discussion, council tabled a proposed ordinance designed to create a 923-acre overlay zoning district. The district would have created a zoning area that mandates standards for commercial or business development. Some of those areas are now zoned residential and are basically located along Routes 22, 380 and 66. > More

Plans for New Kensington road project to be unveiled
By Rossilynne Skena VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH Wednesday, June 18, 2008 Final plans are being designed for the second and final phase of the Parnassus Triangle Project in New Kensington. Plans consist of widening Route 366 to four lanes between the intersections of Bridge and Seventh streets, replacing traffic signals at intersections on 366 Freeport/Bridge Street and Fourth Street and replacing the bridge over Little Pucketa Creek, south of the Seventh Street intersection. > More

County to use $96,000 in grant money to market homes
By Rich Cholodofsky TRIBUNE-REVIEW Saturday, June 14, 2008 With a lagging housing market and about three dozen new homes about to be on the market, Westmoreland County officials hired a little sales help. Commissioners this week agreed to pay more than $96,000 over the next three years to help market individual family homes to low-income residents. Read more  > More

Seton Hill studio coming to Greensburg
By Bob Stiles TRIBUNE-REVIEW Friday, June 13, 2008 The long-vacant Troutman Annex building in Greensburg could have its first occupant soon. Seton Hill University officials are planning to locate their art department’s painting studio on about half of the first floor of the building on South Pennsylvania Avenue. University Provost Mary Ann Gawelek said that over the last three or four years, enrollment in the art department has grown. > More

Development eyed near Seton Hill center
By Bob Stiles TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, June 12, 2008 The Greensburg Community Development Corp. is looking at obtaining properties on College Avenue and West Otterman Street for a downtown development in sight of the Seton Hill University art center. Among the uses under consideration are a hotel/restaurant, conference center, office/retail space or apartments, said Steve Gifford, executive director of the development group. > More

Westmoreland museum plans expansion
By Richard Gazarik TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, June 12, 2008 Westmoreland Museum of American Art plans to embark on a major renovation to expand the organization’s cultural reach. Director Judith O’Toole said Wednesday that the board of trustees is formulating plans to add a wing with galleries for the museum’s current and future collections. Read more  > More

Developer sues North Huntingdon board
By Patti Dobranski TRIBUNE-REVIEW Wednesday, June 11, 2008 A North Huntingdon property owner who was denied a variance to reduce the parking requirement for a Route 30 commercial development has filed suit against the township’s zoning hearing board in Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court. Jonathon Stark, of White Oak, Allegheny County, a part-owner of Stark Investment Group, is appealing the board’s May 6 decision to deny a request to allow 48 parking spaces instead of the 53 needed to meet the zoning ordinance. > More

Landlord wants more of Greensburg opened to student housing
By Bob Stiles TRIBUNE-REVIEW Tuesday, June 10, 2008 A landlord suggested Monday to Greensburg Council that sections of the city that have numerous apartment buildings be opened up to college student housing. Dennis Fellers, who lost two zoning hearing board appeals on student housing issues earlier this year, spoke at council’s regular meeting last night. Read more  > More

Derry cautious on code enforcement job
By Jeff Himler BLAIRSVILLE DISPATCH Tuesday, June 10, 2008 Derry’s new code enforcement officer put in her first day of work Monday addressing instances of structures that have fallen into disrepair, properties that have become overgrown with weeds and other minor violations of borough regulations. By Monday evening, council members were questioning how long Lisa Peters, who is a part-time member of the borough police department, might be willing to remain in the additional eight-hour-per-week code enforcement position because of concerns about insurance coverage for the personal vehicle > More

Developer gauges interest in Unity hotel plans
By A.J. Panian TRIBUNE REVIEW Wednesday, June 4, 2008 A local development firm met with the Unity planning commission Tuesday to seek advice on preliminary plans to install a hotel and conference center and office complex on land it owns near Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. GES Family Partnership LP, headed by physician Stuart Glasser, plans to propose construction of the development on nearly 30 acres of land along the south side of Route 981 across from the airport. > More

North Huntingdon official says action needed on business park
By Patti Dobranski TRIBUNE-REVIEW Tuesday, June 3, 2008 Action may have stalled on the development of a new business park zoning district in North Huntingdon, but the positive feedback hasn’t stopped finding its way to the ears of Planning Director-Engineer Andy Blenko. Last night, Blenko asked the planning commission to get the ball rolling again on developing the district, which was first introduced in November. > More

Smart Growth recognizes excellence in Westmoreland County
Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County honored what executive director Alex Graziani called its "key implementers" at the 2008 awards dinner held Wednesday at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. "As a group, we are reluctant to give awards to planning projects. Just about every award tonight is about implementation," said Graziani to a crowd of about 150 business, political and community leaders. > More

Smart Growth, Penn State strengthen ties with move
Penn State Cooperative Extension and The Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County will expand their relationship when Smart Growth moves to the newly renovated, environmental friendly GreenForge building on Donohoe Road. The development group’s move from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg will take place July 1. The Extension office is headquartered in an adjacent building. Read more  > More

GreenForge reaches 100% occupancy, welcomes Smart Growth Partnership
On July 1, the Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County (SGPWC) is relocating its headquarters to the newly renovated GreenForge building located at 226 Donohoe Rd. in Greensburg. The SGPWC -- which has been based at University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg since 2001 -- has signed a three-year lease for 1,000-square-feet of space in a green complex that sits adjacent to a 90-acre park as well as to the Westmoreland Conservation District’s headquarters in a rehabilitated 19th-century barn. > More

Historic opportunities
The Young Preservationists have determined these projects constitute the 10 best preservation opportunities in Southwest Pennsylvania: • Blairsville Main Street/Elm Street District 1830s-1920s Read more Theme: Main streets  > More

An Economic Plan for the Commonwealth: Unleashing the Assets of Metropolitan Pennsylvania
March 31, 2008 -- In Pennsylvania, the next major presidential primary state, concerns about the economy loom large as global competition, economic restructuring, and an aging workforce threaten the state’s ability to prosper. A true economic agenda for the state must speak to the core assets of Pennsylvania’s economy and where these assets are located: the state’s many small and large metropolitan areas. > More

Developer awaits state OK on plan to improve Route 19
Sunday, March 30, 2008 By Crystal Ola A bare-bones proposal to create a transportation improvement district in July 2006 has been fleshed out somewhat and is once again a topic of discussion in South Strabane. Developer Gerald Cipriani, of Meadows Landing Associates, and engineer Mark Magalotti, of Trans Associates, attended the board of supervisors’ meeting Tuesday to outline their proposal to create an approximately 300-acre transportation improvement district along a portion of Route 19 in the vicinity of the former Curinga’s restaurant. > More

Rebounding Youghiogheny River named DCNR’s 'River of the Year'
DCNR Secretary Michael DiBerardinis recently named the Youghiogheny River as the commonwealth’s River of the Year for 2008. The designation recognizes the watershed’s shift from a threatened past to a promising recreational future and its role in Western Pennsylvania history. Read more  > More

The Greening of Vandergrift
A small town in Western Pennsylvania attracted global notice a century ago for its unusual birth and trendsetting features. Now, in partnership with Pitt, that same town -- which declined in the steel bust -- may once again become a model for innovation. Read more  > More

Developer to get Route 130 repair bill
By Patti Dobranski TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, March 13, 2008 PennDOT will bill a Monroeville developer almost $1 million to repair Route 130 in Trafford because its excavation work for a housing plan caused a landslide that closed the road, a PennDOT spokeswoman said. But an attorney for HET Construction Corp. said Wednesday the developer is challenging its responsibility for the slide and could have done the repairs for "a fraction" of what PennDOT is paying its contractor. > More

New Web site aims to inspire Pennsylvanians to conserve, protect, enjoy natural resources
Governor Edward G. Rendell recently announced the search for Pennsylvanians who make everyday efforts to conserve natural resources to share their stories and get inspiration from others through the new iConserve Pennsylvania initiative. “You can’t pick up a newspaper today or have a conversation with your neighbor that doesn’t touch on issues like the Earth’s climate warming, how energy bills are taking a toll on household budgets, or that kids don’t play outside anymore,” Governor Rendell said. > More

On the "Watch List": Route 30's master plan.
Tribue Review Greensburg Laurels & Lances It’s been a long road for Westmoreland’s Smart Growth Partnership. What a pity it would be if the plan, expected to be finalized in May, dies a quiet death in municipal offices. Our concern all along has been the increasing traffic along this primary east-west corridor. And with acres of undeveloped land along the thoroughfare -- most notably in Unity Township -- the continuation of scattershot, ill-planned development could turn today’s minor traffic headaches into nightmares. > More

Westmoreland Smart Growth plan will require hard work from local officials
By Richard Robbins TRIBUNE-REVIEW Saturday, March 1, 2008 They can write it, but will municipalities do anything to implement it? That overarching question dominated Friday’s meeting of Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County, as the nonprofit entered the final lap of writing a master plan for Route 30. Alexander J. Graziani, Smart Growth executive director, urged a roomful of municipal officials and others to "read, critique, help us" with the plan that should be finalized in May. > More

Route 30 Tops List Of Region's Deadliest Roads
Reporting   Jim Lokay JEANNETTE (KDKA) %AF Christopher’s Pizza has called Route 30 home for nearly a quarter of a century and every year more businesses are setting up shop there. "Irwin’s been developed and Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart, and new stuff is going up there, traffic’s gotten pretty heavy over the years," Pizza shop owner Chris Sylvana said. More than 45,000 cars pass by his place everyday and that means learning some new habits behind the wheel. > More

NEW RADIO REPORT BRINGS PRESSING LAND-USE ISSUES TO LIFE
A public radio project helps listeners understand the forces altering America’s landscape, and how individuals and communities are trying to wrest back control. February 28, 2008 Middlebury, VT -- A groundbreaking radio report examining the impacts of land policy on people and communities begins airing today on National Public Radio’s acclaimed afternoon news program All Things Considered . > More

Student designers highlight Vandergrift history in center
By Francine Garrone VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Kaylyn Farneth and her five teammates could hardly believe the project they worked so hard on was finally finished. The scaled-down model of a revitalized 134 Grant St. in Vandergrift sat next to the group of nervous teens Tuesday on a pew in First Evangelical Lutheran Church on Custer Avenue. Read more  > More

Rostraver Township Comprehensive Plan Update
The Planning Agency presented the Rostraver Township Draft Comprehensive Plan Update to the public on Thursday, February 21, 2008. To view the plan, click here  > More

January 2008 Real Estate Sales Statistics from RealSTATs
January 2008-The slowest housing market in seven years February 21, 2008 - Pittsburgh - While average prices rose 8.7 percent across the region in January 2008 compared to January 2007, dollar activity dropped 11.3 percent and number of sales sunk 18.4 percent. Last month’s 1,694 sales translates into the slowest January on record since January 2001. Read more  > More

Arnold revitalization meeting tonight
By Liz Hayes VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH Wednesday, February 13, 2008 The Arnold Planning Commission is hoping an economic development presentation tonight can jumpstart the city on the path to revitalization. The commission was formed a few years ago to assist with the city’s plans for forming a light industrial district on Third and Fourth avenues adjoining New Kensington. Read more  > More

Route 22 proposal gets 2nd chance
By Stephanie Ritenbaugh FOR THE VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH Thursday, February 7, 2008 Manor Development Group II, which asked for a zoning change that would have allowed a large commercial development off Route 22, is challenging council’s rejection. In response, council voted 5-2 on Wednesday to form a special committee to work with the developer. Read more  > More

City's cafe culture gets $1M boost
By Ron DaParma TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, February 7, 2008 Downtown is about to get a taste of Paris. Under a plan to be formally announced next week by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership called "Paris to Pittsburgh," $1 million in funding from the nonprofit Colcom Foundation is being made available to encourage restaurants and retailers to expand their operations onto sidewalks -- similar to venues popular with tourists in the French capital. > More

North Huntingdon uncertain about group's Route 30 goals
By Patti Dobranski TRIBUNE-REVIEW Tuesday, February 5, 2008 North Huntingdon’s planning commission members expressed mixed emotions Monday about Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County’s pitch to adopt pieces of the group’s master plan for Route 30 corridor redevelopment. The plan’s goal is to engage the 14 municipalities along Route 30 from Somerset County to the Allegheny County line in the integration of land use, transportation and urban design to improve traffic flow along the corridor. > More

Call for Nominations 2008 Allegheny Energy / Smart Growth Awards
The Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County will be recognizing smart growth developments, plans and individuals/groups in Westmoreland County that have distinguished themselves by achieving the smart growth cause at its sixth Annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, May 28, 2008. Please submit all nominations by Friday, March 14, 2008 to:   University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg 166 Millstein Library 150 Finoli Drive Greensburg , PA   15601 See the attached nomination form .  For more information, please call 724-836-7048      > More

Greensburg playground upgrade may cut crime: residents
By Bob Stiles TRIBUNE-REVIEW Monday, January 14, 2008 Mike Olbeter said he believes an improved Coulter Playground in Greensburg will attract more children and discourage vandalism and other unwanted activity there. "It’s a good neighborhood, and a lot of kids are growing up there," Olbeter said. Read more  > More

Westmoreland County DRAFT Greenways Open Space Plan
Since 2006, Westmoreland County has been developing a greenways and open space network plan to incorporate into the County’s Comprehensive Plan .   The result of open public participation processes involving municipal partners and other stakeholders, the draft plan identify a greenway and open space network for the county and specific actions for plan implementation. “Greenways, whether they are trails designed for public use or linear conservation corridors that enhance wildlife habitat or help reduce pollution in our waterways, play a significant role in helping to build liv > More

Students to build heritage giants along Route 30
Giants soon will tower over Route 30. Students at some of the area’s career and technology centers will build roadside giants to help tell the story of the historic highway. The Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor last week landed a $49,340 grant from the Community Connections -- Pittsburgh 250 Initiative to enhance the 200-mile Lincoln Highway Roadside Museum stretching from North Huntingdon to Gettysburg. > More

Philips to buy Murrysville-based Respironics
Respironics Inc.’s board of directors has endorsed a $5.1 billion bid by Royal Philips Electronics NV to buy the Westmoreland County-based maker of medical breathing devices. Netherlands-based Philips this morning offered $66 per share for Respironics, or 24 percent above the company’s closing price of $53.11 yesterday. Read more  > More

Transit board authorizes study on commuter rail lines
Transit board authorizes study on commuter rail lines By Rich Cholodofsky TRIBUNE-REVIEW Friday, December 21, 2007 Westmoreland County transit officials expect to know in about a year whether they will be able to build commuter rail lines into Pittsburgh. Transit authority board members on Thursday authorized the hiring of HDR Engineer Inc. of Pittsburgh to perform a feasibility study that will determine whether rail lines that link Greensburg and the New Kensington area to Pittsburgh should be built. > More

Murrysville council opposes rezoning
Murrysville council voted against rezoning an area that would have allowed commercial development on residential land, a decision prompting applause from several people attending the meeting. Manor Development Group II asked the borough to rezone 50 acres of land near Route 22 and Berlin Farm Road. The developer hadn’t proposed specific businesses for the site, but many residents feared that big box retailers would move in. > More

American Planning Association Honors Pittsburgh Area’s “Project Region” with National Excellence Award
Pittsburgh, PA - The American Planning Association has announced that Project Region , developed by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, is the recipient of their 2008 national award for Public Outreach in the planning process.  The American Planning Association is the largest organization of its kind in the world with approximately 25,000 members working to advance best practices in urban and regional planning. > More

Westmoreland County Revitalizes Historic U.S. Route 30, Plans for the Next 30 Years
Since 2001, the Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County (SGPWC) has sought to guide growing communities in long-term land use planning.  SGPWC, a nonprofit organization based at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in partnership with the Penn State Cooperative Extension and others, provides education and technical assistance to older core communities undergoing revitalization, rural municipalities of Eastern Westmoreland County, and to the growing suburban communities of Western Westmoreland.  Read more  > More

Route 30 master plan moves forward
The rubber officially met the road Thursday on the U.S. Route 30 Master Plan. Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County began what executive director Alex Graziani termed "the most important chapter" of the plan -- finding realistic ways to turn design into development and make a 40-mile corridor "a safe, convenient and vibrant place to be in all 13 municipalities along the route." Read more  > More

Jeannette seeks $480,000 grant for revitalization
Jeannette will apply for a federal grant to help with the South Sixth Street revitalization project. Council approved seeking $480,000 in financial assistance under the Brownfields Economic Development Initiative, a competitive grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Read more  > More

'Complete streets' gain national voice
WASHINGTON -- The cause has simmered for years -- and we’ve all felt some of it: frustration with fast traffic that turns streets through our neighborhoods into corridors of fear. There is a resentment about narrow, rough or nonexistent sidewalks, a reluctance to have children cross high-speed roadways walking to school. Bicyclists take their lives in their hands when venturing onto major roads. > More

Westmoreland appoints 23 to first board of Land Trust
Westmoreland County commissioners this morning appointed 23 people to serve on the first-ever board of the new Westmoreland Land Trust. The board will work to preserve the integrity of land with scenic, recreational, environmental, historical or cultural value in the county. Board members, who will serve one- to three-year terms, will meet at the Westmoreland Conservation District’s headquarters on Donohoe Road, Hempfield. > More

Electronic signs debated in North Huntingdon
In response to concerns North Huntingdon commissioners raised about a proposed ordinance addressing electronic signs, Planning Director Andy Blenko reiterated his stance on strict regulations Monday night. Some commissioners thought Blenko’s recommendations on a message’s time sequencing and color usage were too restrictive. Last month, the board placed a six-month moratorium on new electronic signs last month to allow time to work on a proposed ordinance. > More

Housing plans concern Hempfield officials
Hempfield’s engineering consultant and township manager expressed some concern Wednesday night about the submitted plans for the proposed Wingreene Village residential development near the Sony Corp. campus. KDK Associates, a limited liability corporation with a Greensburg office, is planning a 106-unit development on a 38-acre tract off Route 119, across from a former warehouse for Montgomery Ward. > More

Diverse Butler County towns undertaking joint plan
Try saying "multiple municipal comprehensive planning code" five times fast. That’s not a problem among those in a coalition of five Butler County towns whose planners say the tongue twister could be a smart-growth savior. The five communities are as different from each other as big-box malls are from cow pastures. Read more  > More

Smart Growth director elected president of Pennsylvania Planning Association
Alexander J. Graziani, the executive director of the Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County, based at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, has been elected to a two-year term as president of the Pennsylvania Planning Association . The Pennsylvania Planning Association (PPA) is a chapter of the American Planning Association (APA). PPA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for professional planners and planning officials, as well as other organizations and individuals interested in planning. > More

Planners aim to enhance Ligonier
Local architectural designer Scott Lieb, who has worked in Denver and Chicago, thinks some zoning rules in those cities could apply to Ligonier. "For one thing, the required residential lot widths there are a minimum of 50 feet, and the required residential lot width here is a minimum of 60 feet," said Lieb, chairman of the borough’s planning commission. "This is a dense town and I’d like to do some things to maintain its unique character." Read more  > More

Putting the 'New' back in New Kensington
Like so many other former mill towns in Western Pennsylvania, New Kensington has struggled to reinvent itself since 1971, when Alcoa closed its original riverfront plant complex that once provided jobs, revenue and community identity. Population shrank nearly in half, from 26,000 in the early 1970s to about 14,000. Businesses moved to malls or suburban commercial strips. Buildings that housed them decayed. > More

Westmoreland Laurels & Lances
Friday, November 2, 2007 Laurel: To proactive traffic/development planning. A week-long program detailing the U.S. Route 30 Master Plan, hosted by the Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County, offered area residents a detailed look at the heavily traveled thoroughfare -- past, present and future -- and an opportunity for feedback. Skeptics who bemoan the highway’s state -- and see no hope for traffic remediation -- fail to consider the undeveloped acres that border Route 30 -- especially from Route 981 in Unity Township to the border of Hempfield. > More

Route 30 planning nears end
Group invites public review of ideas in 4-year, $400,000 study of east-west corridor Thursday, November 01, 2007 By Michael A. Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The historical importance of Route 30, Westmoreland County’s primary east-west highway, cannot be overstated. From the time of the French and Indian War, it has played a significant role in economic growth locally and expansion westward. > More

Charrette focuses on routes 30, 981
What Route 30 is now, and what it will become years from now has been the subject of a weeklong collaboration between members of the public and municipal planners. The plan may never come to fruition, planners agree, but provides ideas for what could be the future of Westmoreland County ’s “ Main Street ” - Route 30. Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County sponsored the U.S. > More

Unity groups map ideas
Running his finger over an aerial map of Unity, Robert DiFulvio traced a path to the Victoria Highlands home he and his wife Barbara share. The chance to offer tips on what type of development should unfold near their home drew the DiFulvios to Monday’s public workshop kicking off the U.S. Route 30 Master Plan design session this week at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. Read more  > More

Charette enables residents and students to design the future of Route 30
By Dylan Nice / Editor-in-chief UPG students and the public are being offered the chance to shape the future development along Route 30 at a public workshop being held this week in Smith Hall. The weeklong charrette began Monday night and drew a crowd of about 100 residents. Attendees used maps and scissors to plot out the future of two pieces of land outside Latrobe set aside for experimental development. > More

Smart Growth Partnership Offers Free Five-Day Charette in Westmoreland County
’’People can be trusted to create good design for their community if you give them the tools and facts,’’ said Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County (SGPWC) Executive Director Alex Graziani, inviting area residents to the group’s free five-day charrette, October 22-26 at the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, on design of a 30-acre site off Routes 30 and 981 near Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, and hoping the event will become a model for public participation in local development planning along the county’s whole 40-mile Route 30 corridor. > More

Smart Growth looking for Rt. 30 Extreme Makeover
The process of reinventing Route 30 through Westmoreland County continues during a weeklong planning session next week designed to bring a lot of brainpower to the issue.   Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County will sponsor the US Route 30 Design Charrette beginning Monday, Oct. 22 and running through Friday, Oct. 26 at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg ’s Smith Hall on the Hempfield Township campus. > More

Panel to share, solicit views
Westmoreland County’s evolution along the Lincoln Highway Corridor will be studied next week at the U.S. Route 30 Master Plan Design Charrette. The charrette -- a collaborative session in which a group of designers drafts a solution to a design problem -- runs from Monday to Friday. It will be hosted by the Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. > More

Irwin Council urges timely traffic-impact study
The pending closure of Emil’s Way linking Route 30 and Center Highway in North Huntingdon has raised some serious concerns by officials in neighboring Irwin about the rerouting of trucks through borough streets. "If they block it off, we’re going to end up with more traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue. Most of those will be trucks from Irwin Builders," Council President Danyce Neal said Wednesday. > More

Ligonier Township eases commercial sign limits
Since Melissa Marasia opened Earth Lotus Yoga Studio in 2006 at the Ligonier Valley Mini Mall along Route 711, she’s wanted better exposure for the Ligonier Township business. "I have a pretty small sign in front of my business, and I think most people never notice it because it’s off the road and they’re zooming by and not looking to the side," said Marasia, who rents space in the complex from owner Bowles Co. > More

State to close North Huntingdon shortcut
It looks more like a rural, all-terrain vehicle course, yet hundreds of North Huntingdon motorists, commercial trucks and even emergency vehicles use the 50-foot-long Emil’s Way every day to gain quick access from Route 30 to Center Highway. This popular little byway at the foot of Jacktown Hill is causing more of a stir than the dust and potholes that make up its surface. Read more...    > More

Unity supervisors agree to zoning reclassification
In a move that may lead to more jobs in Unity, township supervisors voted Tuesday to allow a zoning classification change for an 11-acre parcel to facilitate the sale of a portion of the land to light-industry manufacturer Classic Industries Inc. Donald Tarosky, partner and legal counsel for property owner Colony of Unity LP, asked supervisors to change the land’s zoning classification from R-4, or apartment/residential, to B-3, or office commercial. > More

PennDOT reopens Barnes Lake Road
The long-awaited reopening of Barnes Lake Road in North Huntingdon will occur later today, according to PennDOT officials. Eight months after the road was closed from its intersection with Route 30 to allow for the construction of an entrance into the new Wal-Mart Supercenter Plaza, the once heavily-traveled road will reopen with its original route. Read more...  > More

Train station in Greensburg might be centerpiece of revitalization
A steering committee hoping to increase foot traffic in Greensburg met Thursday to discuss how best to beautify the area and attract more commerce and residents. The Transit Revitalization Investment District committee formed after this year’s receipt of a study grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. Read more...  > More

NEWS FROM PITT-GREENSBURG: Sharon Smith named to Smart Growth board
Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007   For Immediate Release Contact:  Wendy Mackall, Director of Media Relations,   724-836-7741,   mackall@pitt.edu   Smart Growth Partnership appoints Pitt-Greensburg president to board, names chairman The advisory board of the Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County has elected Jennings Womack as chairman and filled a vacant board seat with Dr. > More

Several paths urged to ease USA's congestion
Report: No one answer to $78B yearly price tag of traffic delays By Larry Copeland USA TODAY  ATLANTA -- When gas prices skyrocketed after Hurricane Katrina, Beverly Morgan sought a cheaper way to get to work. She found an alternative commute program that put her in a carpool and even paid her a bonus -- an incentive of up to $180 over three months to quit driving to work alone. Morgan, a computer software analyst, began carpooling with three other people on her 50-mile round-trip commute. > More

Traffic is not so bad here, study concludes
Driving around town may not be as bad as it sometimes seems, according to the latest study on traffic congestion. The Texas Transportation Institute released a report yesterday ranking Pittsburgh 37th in congestion among the nation’s 85 largest cities and 67th among all 437 urban areas. Read more  > More

Greensburg developers find horse-watering trough
When the new Rite Aid store opens at North Main Street and Cabin Hill Drive in Greensburg, a cornerstone of the pharmacy’s landscaping will be an almost century-old horse-watering trough. "No question, that trough is going to be part of the development," said Craig Rippole of ASC Development of Emsworth in Allegheny County. Read more  > More

Inspected area bridges found structurally sound
Five state-owned steel deck truss bridges in the area, similar to the one that collapsed in Minneapolis Aug. 1, have been inspected and found to be structurally sound. The in-depth inspections are currently under way on five other bridges in Allegheny County. Read more  > More

Alex Graziani named 2007 Government/Economic Development Entrepreneur winner
Government/Economic Development Alexander J. Graziani Executive Director Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County With a BA in political science, a master’s in public policy and management, and membership in the American Institute of Certified Financial planners - Graziani is well trained for his unusual job. He’s the director of a non-profit, non-governmental community group that deals with quality and growth issues - involving interaction with dozens of municipalities, planners, townships, developers, and local and state agencies. > More

State says $11 billion needed to fix bridges
PennDOT: 1 in 4 spans are outmoded Tuesday, August 28, 2007 By Ann Belser, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette State officials said yesterday the price tag to structurally update the 6,000 Pennsylvania bridges that are outmoded or in need of repair would be $11 billion. The cost estimate came as the state Department of Transportation yesterday released for the first time sufficiency and condition ratings for all state-maintained bridges. > More

Bridge trouble knows no boundaries
Allegheny County has more bridges than surrounding counties, but bridge decay knows no boundaries. Here’s a look at the number of bridges in neighboring counties that either need substantial repair work or are obsolete. Read more  > More

Solving Route 30
Anyone who sits in traffic along segments of Westmoreland County’s share of Route 30 can appreciate efforts to draft a master plan that will address congestion and future development along the busy thoroughfare. They’ll appreciate it even more if the plan leads somewhere other than the nearest municipal bookshelf. Credit the Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County for shepherding the plan and scheduling public sessions. > More

NEWS FLASH!
                                     News Flash!              Route 30 Corridor Proposed Vision Plan for the Year 2030                                         & > More

Big Mac Museum a cheesy tribute to a culinary icon
Cleveland has its Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to celebrate the likes of Mick Jagger and the Beatles. Washington has its Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum to highlight such milestones as man on the moon. North Huntingdon is honoring another type of human achievement by turning the words "two all beef patties special sauce cheese lettuce pickles onions on a seasame seed bun" into a tourist destination. > More

$500K grant to explore Pittsburgh-Westmoreland commuter line
Efforts to start commuter rail service from Westmoreland County into Pittsburgh keep chugging along as local transit officials this week received a $500,000 state grant to study whether the project is feasible. Officials announced Thursday they likely will hire a consultant later this year to determine whether there are enough potential riders to justify rail service as well as peg cost estimates for the project. > More

Complete streets program gives more room for pedestrians, cyclists
A growing number of states and local governments are rejecting a half-century of transportation practice and demanding that streets accommodate all types of travel, not just automobiles. The concept of "complete streets" -- with bike lanes, sidewalks and room for mass transit -- has attracted a diverse national alliance of supporters, including advocates for senior citizens and the disabled. Fourteen states, six counties, 10 regional governments and 52 cities have complete streets policies, according to the National Complete Streets Coalition. > More

Flight 93 development can complement surroundings
Somerset County’s rural beauty can likely be preserved alongside the plans of potential business developers along the Flight 93 National Memorial Travel Corridor. During the 9/11 terrorist attacks, United Flight 93 crashed into a scenic mountainside near Shanksville, killing 40 passengers and the four hijackers. Jim Klein, lead consultant for the travel-corridor study, said a final version of a draft prepared by Lardner/Klein Landscape Architects of Alexandria, Va., will soon be ready. > More

Town pitch in for study of shared community center
Irwin added its financial support Wednesday for a $35,000 feasibility study that will determine whether the Norwin community should build a shared recreation center. The Regional Recreation Committee was formed in January and consists of 11 members from Irwin, North Irwin and North Huntingdon. The committee includes representatives of the Norwin School District and the Norwin AARP, who will assist with the proposed project. > More

The toll rises
Every five years or so I write to your paper to comment on the latest planning sessions, commissions, panels and study groups regarding Route 30 (" Route 30 congestion targeted in Westmoreland ," July 26 and PghTrib.com). Seeing the Norwin area going from semirural to urban-refugee sprawl explains all the problems -- too much traffic. In the 1970s Route 30 had the "death stretch" nickname, and the 1980s had the "Pray for me I drive Route 30" bumper stickers. > More

Proposed Route 30 complex needs tweaking
Developers of a proposed Walgreens Pharmacy and Starbucks retail complex along Route 30 in North Huntingdon will be making parking and building adjustments before township planners make a recommendation on the project. On Monday night, Planning Director Andy Blenko said he was concerned about how traffic would enter the development at the Lincoln Way intersection and move safely back out onto Route 30, because the businesses would share a parking area. > More

Free the cities!
Most Americans have the naive notion that their local city officials busy themselves fixing potholes, providing police and fire services, dealing with the occasional code violation and quietly running the parks and recreation service. But those who run city government have their own prerogatives and ideologies. Read more  > More

North Huntingdon road ripped out without permission may be rebuilt
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation may rebuild a 1,500-foot section of Barnes Lake Road in North Huntingdon that DeBartolo Development Co. apparently tore out without permission. A PennDOT official said DeBartolo would be expected to foot the bill. The section was torn out in January as part of the planned relocation of the road for the proposed Mills Pointe-Huntingdon Marketplace commercial plaza. > More

Party planners coming to Greensburg
The city won’t be featured on MTV’s "My Super Sweet 16," but Pittsburgh’s next birthday party is a $1 million affair. "Pittsburgh 250," an initiative working to ring in the Steel City’s 250th birthday next year, will hold a brainstorming session July 31 for Westmoreland County residents hoping to help the city celebrate. Read more  > More

Norwin Hills traffic backup relieved
Motorists accessing Norwin Avenue from Route 30 west in North Huntingdon are experiencing relief from traffic congestion now that PennDOT has extended the stacking lane at Norwin Hills Shopping Center. "This is definitely going to help," township Manager Kelly Wolfe said yesterday. "There is simply not enough room for the traffic." Read more  > More

Upgrades to Arnold Palmer, Rostraver airports completed
The Westmoreland County Airport Authority has completed two airport development projects at facilities in Rostraver and Unity townships. Final inspections have been completed for construction of a 300-foot runway safety area at Rostraver, and completion of four new aircraft hangars at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, near Latrobe. Read more  > More

Route 30 congestion targeted in Westmoreland
When Westmoreland County Commissioner Phil Light rode east on Route 30 from his childhood home in Edgewood in Allegheny County to his family’s farm in Cook Township, he said it never took too long. "Back then, you could make it from Edgewood to the Diamond in Ligonier in 45 minutes, and you didn’t even have to speed," said Light, 65, of the 50-mile trip. "I wouldn’t suggest trying that today." That’s because of what Light said is the stress level motorists encounter on Route 30 with the glut of traffic signals and vehicle congestion from decades of development along the > More

Bottleneck at Barnes Lake irks drivers
At age 86, Jack Clohessy has found the best way to cross the road may be with a bicycle. The Irwin man says he’s resorted to using two wheels instead of four to avoid the traffic backlog on Route 30 in North Huntingdon caused by the partial closing of Barnes Lake Road, part of the Wal-Mart Supercenter project. He’s been pedaling across the highway from his Eighth Street home to Norwin Hills Shopping Center since the detour began in January and has dragged on for six long months. > More

New Path to University Success: Community Ties
By: Neil Pierce 2007 Washington Post Writers Group Thirty-three armed robberies hit on or near the University of Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia campus in September 1996. Broken glass, trash, sometimes discarded drug paraphenernailia littered the streets. Dark, empty streets made students and staff feel jumpy. A month later, walking with his fiancee to his nearby apartment on Halloween night, Vladimir Sled, a 38-year old Russian emigre and Penn biochemist, got caught up in a scuffle with robbers. > More

Funding Opportunity
Dear Westmoreland Nonprofit Executives & Community Leaders, The Community Foundation of Westmoreland County is co-sponsoring the Community Connections / Pittsburgh 250 Westmoreland Community Brainstorms Initiative July 31st from 6-8p.m. Any assistance you / your team could offer too circulate the attached Community Connection releases / logos from the Sprout Fund for the upcoming brainstorming workshop and throughout this year would be very appreciated. > More

Businesses in Irwin get boost
There’s a doggie in the window at Rosedahl’s. It’s not for sale, thanks. Sweetie, a 4-year-old Maltese, spends some days at the appliance store on Main Street in Irwin, keeping company with Dale Rosendahl, a third-generation owner. The store’s been in town since 1927, and at its current location since the mid-1960s. Back in the day, they sold anything with a cord attached at what was called Rosendahl’s Electric -- can openers, floor-model hair driers, and refrigerators, surely. > More

Jeannette residents lament lack of street sweeping
Jeannette has a street sweeping problem, and city officials say they’ll work to correct it. In the wake of complaints by residents at Wednesday’s city council meeting, Councilman Robert M. Carter vowed something would be done about unkempt streets. Read more  > More

Study up on natural gas leases before drilling, regional residents told
Tom Wandrisco, of Hempfield, knew he needed to know more about leases involved in natural-gas drilling. He said he has five companies seeking to dri http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s%5F516911.html ll on his 117-acre cattle farm in Derry Township. "I wanted to get the latest information," Wandrisco said. "You have to be watchful." Read more  > More

Funds needed for project's 2nd phase in Irwin
With the first phase of Irwin’s $6 million storm and sanitary sewer separation project nearly 90 percent completed, council has turned its attention toward seeking funding for the second and final phases. Council members passed a resolution Wednesday to apply for PennVEST funding not to exceed $5 million to complete the project. Read more  > More

'No Passenger Left Behind' action soars at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport
It’s a problem Gabe Monzo wanted for some time and, now that it’s here, he has landed a solution. With June’s passenger departure totals rising to 1,349 under Northwest Airlines at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, the Unity facility turned passengers away on a number of outgoing flights because its 34-seat Saab aircraft were filled, said Monzo, the airport’s manager. Read More  > More

Business Soaring at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport
The Westmoreland County Airport Authority is hoping a new program called "no passengers left behind" will eventually increase flights out of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport; KDKA’s Mary Berecky reports. Click here to see the video  > More

3 Hempfield officials miss meeting
On the night Bob Davidson planned to publicly demand that three colleagues on the Hempfield Township Municipal Authority resign for allegedly misusing credit cards, the members failed to attend, forcing a cancellation of the meeting. "My intention was to come and request the resignations of Bob Regola, Brian Melenia and Kathy Hopkin," he said. Their absence forced authority manager Rege Ranella to cancel the session for lack of a quorum. > More

North Huntingdon to ponder office park district
The delayed progress of the Wal-Mart Supercenter along Route 30 in North Huntingdon near the Pennsylvania Turnpike has spurred discussion about creating an office park district to attract corporate development in that corridor. That uncertainty prompted Lincoln Hills Realty Associates to ask the planning commission to table a request to rezone 14.35 acres adjacent to the Holiday Inn Express, just off the Irwin interchange of the turnpike, from residential to a planned economic development district-1, or PEDD-1. > More

Ligonier Diamond safety questions linger
Sandra Hagan’s scarred right leg and lingering limp may remind Ligonier pedestrians of traffic dangers surrounding the borough’s Diamond, but she said PennDOT efforts to make the round-about intersection safer have been forgettable. "In my opinion, I don’t think there’s been many advances. It’s a beautiful area, but it’s still hazardous," said Hagan, who was struck July 9, 2005, by a pickup truck turning right from North Market Street onto West Main Street while she was working as a parking meter attendant. > More

Population shifts a drain and a strain to region
The population drain continues in the Pittsburgh region, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released this morning. Estimates of the July 1, 2006, population show about 70 percent of the region’s communities lost 2 percent or more of their residents since the July 2000 estimate. The losses have led to declining tax bases, faltering school systems and nearly bankrupt governments. Even in four areas of growth, officials are feeling a strain as the demand for services grows. > More

Greensburg Main Street project begins
Goodbye, damaged curbs and sidewalks. Hello, new pedestrian walkways. Efforts began Friday night to improve pedestrian travel and increase the beauty of Main Street in Greensburg as part of the Hometown Streets project. "It’s a pedestrian-enhancement project, but it’s also a beautification project," City Administrator Sue Trout said. Read more  > More

Palmer Nature Reserve plans event
Starting Saturday, the rolling greens of Latrobe Country Club won’t be the only sweeping vistas associated with a Palmer legacy. Named after the late wife of golfing legend, the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve, a 50-acre site that borders Route 30 and St. Vincent College in Unity, will hold a reception this weekend. The opening will honor "the people who made it happen," said Donald "Doc" Giffin, secretary/treasurer of the reserve’s board of trustees. > More

Greensburg Main Street project begins
Goodbye, damaged curbs and sidewalks. Hello, new pedestrian walkways. Efforts began Friday night to improve pedestrian travel and increase the beauty of Main Street in Greensburg as part of the Hometown Streets project. "It’s a pedestrian-enhancement project, but it is also a beautification projec," City Administrator Sue Trout said. The $568,000 project is a joint effort of PennDOT and the city, which contributed $106,000 to do the first phase of the work, according to city officials. > More

Lessons in economy: Renovating old schools
Rather than renovate the schools it has, the Lower Merion Township School District will build two high schools and demolish the old ones. Last month, the school board approved construction bids for a $102.9 million dollar high school to replace its 1958 Harriton High School. This fall, the board is expected to approve bids for an even more expensive high school to replace Lower Merion High School, parts of which date back to 1932. > More

Route 30 Draft Vision Plan & Summary Report
Please go to the Route 30 Master Plan Web site to download and view the Draft Vision Plan and Summary Report.  Please use the comment form to submit and comments to us. > More

Pittsburgh region a hub of Main Street retail trend
Developers working on Pittsburgh-area projects worth tens of millions of dollars are going to town -- from suburban projects trying to re-create town centers to urban projects trying to revamp what’s already there. From the 800,000-square-foot Southpointe Town Center in Washington County meant to capture the ambiance of Main Street, with stores, offices and residential spaces to the development of the seven-story Armstrong Cork factory in the Strip District as a place to live, the trend is toward more distinctive architecture and layering shopping with workplaces and homes. > More

Wal Mart on hold in North Huntingdon awaiting state OK
Issues and concerns have stopped site preparation for the proposed Mills Pointe shopping plaza, which will include a 200,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Superstore, and an adjacent Huntingdon Marketplace retail center. Work was suspended more than two months ago when Sewickley-based Sipple Development Inc. owner Doug Sipple moved his grading equipment from the site. Mr. Sipple would not comment. He referred inquiries to DeBartolo Development offices in Tampa, Fla. > More

MarRose Estates in Hempfield built on piles of waste
Joe and Ann Tokar, of Hempfield, never thought the pricey housing development being built next to their home would turn out to be a dump. But that’s just what the Tokars discovered after mountains of discarded shoes and clothing, plastic, diapers, broken glass, bottles, newspapers, cans, tires and tree trunks were unearthed last August during excavation of MarRose Estates, a development of $300,000 homes in Fort Allen. > More

Wal-Mart site work in North Huntingdon stopped
Construction has been halted at the Wal-Mart Supercenter site along Route 30 in North Huntingdon. There are conflicting reports about why the project has been stopped. Wal-Mart said it is waiting for a permit to be issued by the state to allow construction of a new access road, a company spokesman said. Read more  > More

Strategic Development Area to Create 300 New Jobs, Preserve 3,700
The Westmoreland County Commissioners - Tom Bayla, Tom Ceraso and Phil Light - at their June 7 public meeting approved the designation of a Strategic Development Area and complimenting grant agreement that will allow for the addition of more than 300 jobs at the Westinghouse Waltz Mills facility in Sewickley and Hempfield Townships. The Westmoreland County location, in competition with areas from several states, was chosen by Westinghouse for a major expansion of business. > More

Jeannette ordinance declared invalid
A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday ruled a 2005 Jeannette ordinance that allowed city officials to withhold occupancy permits for structures owned by tax-delinquent property owners was invalid. A three-judge panel of the state’s Commonwealth Court issued an 18-page order that upheld a lower-court decision authored last year by Westmoreland County Judge William J. Ober. Read More  > More

Unity council OKs pact to finish water work
Eighty-nine Unity households will receive water and fire protection services via state and Westmoreland County grants, township supervisors said Thursday. Supervisors voted unanimously yesterday to approve a $444,444 contract for completion of the Baggaley water-line extension project with low bidder D.T. Construction Inc., of Dunbar, Fayette County. The contract is contingent upon the anticipated approval of $400,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding through the county and an additional $200,000 from the state. > More

Old Hanna's Town gets $1 million boost
It took 30 years of planning and two years of fund raising, but a long-anticipated education center for Old Hanna’s Town historic site in Hempfield may soon be a reality. Last week, Lisa Hayes, execuative director of Westmoreland County Historical Society, accepted a check for $1 million from county commissioners to help fund the new center, to be built on grounds of what was once Westmoreland’s county seat. > More

Latrobe council OKs streetlights
Latrobe council voted Monday to approve the installation of five new streetlights on Lloyd Avenue. The Colonial Post Top Lights will be installed and maintained by Allegheny Power for about $3,400 and an undisclosed monthly electrical fee to be paid by the city, said city Solicitor James E. Kelley Jr. Read more  > More

Greensburg Rite Aid plans get final approval
Greensburg City Council approved final plans Monday night for a Rite Aid pharmacy along North Main Street. After about six months of preparation and planning, representatives from Greensburg Commercial Properties and Atwell-Hicks Development Consultants presented three sets of design illustrations and answered questions in front of council members, who then voted unanimously for the building plans. > More

Whose rules? Gas drilling in court's hands
Michelle Mullen has spent the past year fighting to keep Huntley & Huntley Inc. of Monroeville from putting a gas well across the street from her Oakmont home. "This would completely disrupt our neighborhood. It would turn (a residential) district into a commercial district," the Woodlawn Avenue resident said. Read more  > More

Mt. Pleasant eager to soak up the success of rain gardens
Mt. Pleasant Borough may soon go down a revolutionary path involving ... rainwater. The borough has asked the state for $70,000 to install rain gardens -- flower garden-like creations designed to take rainwater off streets and parking lots and put it where nature intended, in the ground. Read more  > More

Aging of the Baby Boom: A Community Blueprint for Action
What will the aging of the Baby Boom generation mean for America’s communities? Will the folks whose sheet numbers and market mastery who brought us endless subdivisions, monster malls, and lief in the SUV lane, want to keep sprawling out in the ample swath of golden years that modern medicane seems to promise them? Or will many want to return to the more walkable, accessible town and neighborhood settings of yesteryear? > More

N. Huntingdon braces for more traffic woes
 When Wal-Mart opens next year in North Huntingdon, traffic on congested Route 30 and Barnes Lake Road will grow worse, two township officials told a planning panel Tuesday. Officials warn that Route 30 and Barnes Lake Road will be unable to handle the flow. The volume of traffic far exceeds the capacity of both roads. Engineer Andrew Blenko said the township’s comprehensive plan projects that the store will add 20,193 weekday trips and 23,767 weekend day trips to Route 30 and Barnes Lake Road. > More

Decade Later, skate park breaks new ground
Eleven golden shovels and a large backhoe marked the groundbreaking for the Peach Plaza Skate Park at Twin Lakes Park on Tuesday morning. More than 80 people - officials in suits and skateboard enthusiasts in shorts - attended the ceremony for the $825,000 park, which should open in October. But it’s taken years for Westmoreland County to go from conceptual ideas of what to do with the 64 acres of land to putting those shovels in the ground. > More

Trafford joins with nonprofit in revitalization effort
Trafford Council agreed Tuesday to join forces with a local nonprofit development group to jump start the borough’s revitalization effort through a Westmoreland County regional partnership. Hallie Chatfield, regional coordinator of the Westmoreland County Redevelopment Authority, outlined for council a plan to join with four other communities to share grant writing, a portion of a $30,000 annual facade restoration grant and a part-time regional coordinator to develop a five-year plan, based on a $1 per capita formula. > More

2007 Top Ten Best Historic Preservation Opportunities
Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh named West Overton Museums in Westmoreland County one of the 2007 Top Ten Best Historic Preservation Opportunities in the Pittsburgh Area For more information, go to their web site  or download the pdf file  > More

Legislator has Plan C for toll roads
State Rep. Joe Markosek proposes a new agency to oversee turnpike, other toll highways. First there was Gov. Ed Rendell’s plan to lease the 530-mile Pennsylvania Turnpike to a private operator, which might pay as much as $18 billion for the right to operate the cash-generating toll road for up to 99 years. In response, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, which has run the toll road since it opened 67 years ago, countered with a plan that would not only preserve its existence and power but could extend its control to other roads, like Interstate 80, which would be given toll status. > More

Walgreens to replace Westmoreland fixture
Walgreens to replace Westmoreland fixture A Westmoreland County landmark, Chesterfield’s Restaurant & Lounge, located on Route 30 in North Huntingdon, is being sold to Walnut Capital Development, a Pittsburgh development group. Walnut Capital plans to develop a 14,465 square-foot Walgreens Drug Store and Starbuck’s coffee shop on the 2.6-acre site, according to papers filed with the North Huntingdon Planning & Zoning office. > More

Water skier isn't creating nuisance, Westmoreland judge rules
A nationally ranked amateur water skier will be permitted to practice his sport on a lake at the heart of an upscale housing development in Hempfield and Unity, a Westmoreland County judge has ruled. Neighbors at Lago de Vita contended water skiing on the lake was a nuisance that violated the development’s covenants prohibiting the operation of any motorized vehicle on the water. Read more  > More

Westmoreland Country - Chesterfield's to be razed
The landmark Chesterfield’s Restaurant along Route 30 in North Huntingdon has a date with a wrecking ball. Formerly the Ben Gross Supper Club popular in the 1960’s, Chersterfields’s has been a fixture in the Norwin Area for almost a quarter-century, until now. Read more  > More

Ron Weimer honored for service to Latrobe
Latrobe Bulletin By Steve Russin Friday, May 25, 2007 Ron Weimer of Spring Street in Latrobe is well-known for his efforts to enhance the community, and Thursday evening his work was highlighted by the Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County. At the 2007 Annual Smart Growth Awards Dinner hosted by the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Weimer was recognized for his work on the Lloyd Avenue project and other Latrobe area projects. > More

Smart Growth Awards presented in Hempfield
A serious automobile wreck last spring could only hold back Ronald W. Weimer so long from his passion for volunteering in Latrobe. "After it happened, people were telling me they thought I was going to die," Weimer, 71, said. His car hydroplaned during a rainstorm on Route 30 in Somerset County and struck trees. Read More    > More

Urban planning expert urges leaders to make local neighborhoods walkable
An urban planning expert urged local leaders Friday to adopt "smart growth" principles as they map out a strategy for the region’s future. "There are a lot regions in this country and around the world where people have started to realize that things such as transportation and housing need to be planned in a very deliberate way," said David Chen, founder and executive director of Smart Growth America, based in Washington. > More

Lamp Theatre excites interest
Old movie house will open as cultural venue in October. Westmoreland Cultural Trust Director Michael Langer fields inquiries everyday about the old Lamp Theater in Irwin. The historic 69-year-old Main Street movie house is nearing the end of the first phase of renevations on its way to re-emerging as a multi-use cultural venue in late October. "A lot of folks see this work that’s going on. I ger phonw calls everyday from independent production groups. > More

Transportation: End finally in sight for Route 22 project
After decades of accident survivors, elected officials and residents campaigning to transform Route 22 through Westmoreland County from a "killer highway," the end appears in sight. A public meeting will be held tomorrow in Derry Township to display plans for the last two construction projects that, when finished several years from now, will bring an end to more than $250 million worth of widening and safety improvements. > More

Why gas bonanza is no boon to landowners
BLAIRSVILLE -- The biggest methane producers on Bill McConnell’s 380-acre farm north of Black Lick Creek in Indiana County aren’t the 30 or so beef cattle roaming around its spring-greening slopes. Not anymore. Not since 2003 when seven coalbed methane wells were drilled into his pastures and their "horse head" pumpjacks began their metallic, 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week, clanging, thumping and pumping. > More

Slow but sure, bike trail nears completion
John Surma, the chairman of U.S. Steel, first heard of the Great Allegheny Passage trail plan when he was biking along the Potomac River in 1983. Mr. Surma, a Pittsburgh native, asked a bicyclist how far the trail ran. He was told the path covered about 20 miles, and then the stranger said the words Mr. Surma recalled yesterday: "Some day it’s going to go all the way to Pittsburgh." Read More  > More

Legislator wants to reinstate Derry as railroad hub
During the years prior to World War II, Derry Borough served as home to a bustling rail hub, where upwards of 800 individuals were employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad to keep steam-powered trains rumbling throughout the countryside. State Rep. Joseph A Petrarca of Vandergrift (Dem.--55th District) hinted at the possibility that Derry could run as a railroading center in the forseeable future, during his keynote speech at the Derry Area Business and Professional Association’s 24th annual spring banquet helf April 19 in the Derry Area Middle School cafeteria. > More

Hempfield names 7 to police study panel
Hempfield Township supervisors named seven more residents to a committee that will study the community’s policing needs. Appointed last night were Jeffrey G. Colello, of Stone Bridge Drive, Curtis Hahn, of Landis Avenue, James Makosey, of Tillbrook Road, Jeffery Todd Mayo, of Ridgewood Drive, Sue Ann Reagan, of Schwartz Lane, William F. Rudolph, of Dartmouth Drive, and Alyce Faye Stewart, of Deerfield Drive. > More

A place to run
Developer touts eco-friendly storm water drainage system Land developer Joe Hart stood on a high, windswept hill Friday and told a group of engineers, fellow developers, conservation experts and some curious onlookers that the development planned for this 48-acre site in North Huntingdon was going to be different from most. Only 23 acres will be disturbed. There will be no curbs. And none of those "ugly ponds" for storm runoff, surrounded by chain link fences, will be built. > More

2007 Cool Space Awards
CSA07: Nominations Due April 20 th !   The 2007 Cool Space Awards were designed to recognize unique and innovative commercial spaces in the southwestern Pennsylvania region.  Please join Cool Space Locator in celebrating revitalization and adaptive reuse by nominating your favorite cool space or person that makes cool space happen.  For more information, or to nominate online go to  www.coolspacelocator.com or call 412.683.5790, or click on the attached file  > More

Turnpike access plans to go on display
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is working on plans for E-ZPass-only connections between the turnpike and PennDOT roads in the New Stanton area. Some designs have been developed and studies undertaken for the Turnpike Access Project for the Greater New Stanton Area. Read More  > More

Hempfield supervisors clog Middletown sewer proposal
Hempfield Township supervisors took action Monday to slow the progress of a controversial sewer project, but they acknowledged they can’t stop it entirely. Supervisors unanimously rejected approval of a planning module that the township municipal authority needs to proceed with a proposed project on Middletown Road. Read More  > More

Studies Identify Trouble Ahead for Pennsylvania’s Communities Statewide
Three new studies are sounding a warning bell for Pennsylvania municipalities and the state as a whole: without major changes in the structures and laws that govern municipalities and the way they are financed, and unless communities are empowered to work more closely together, their fiscal and physical integrity is at grave risk and the state’s economy will continue to struggle in the coming decades.  Read more  > More

Population drain continues in region
Allegheny County and most of the metropolitan region show continued trends of modest population loss, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. The bureau reported yesterday that the county’s population was estimated at 1,223,411 as of July 1, 2006, a drop of 9,625 from the year before and 58,255 from the last formal census head count in 2000. Read more  > More

Strict rules primed Cranberry to grow
In selecting Cranberry, on Butler County’s southern edge, as the site for its expansion, local leaders say Westinghouse Electric Co. validated the careful planning that transformed a once-sleepy community into a destination for well-heeled young families. The nuclear engineering firm announced Tuesday it will leave the building constructed for it 36 years ago on Monroeville’s Northern Pike in favor of new digs in the Cranberry Woods Office Park, across from the Pittsburgh Marriott North. > More

Westinghouse picks Cranberry
Westinghouse Electric Co., on a hiring spree fueled by renewed enthusiasm for nuclear energy, announced Tuesday it will relocate its nearly 2,000 Monroeville-area employees to Cranberry by the end of the decade. One of the world’s leading firms that designs, builds and maintains nuclear power plants, Westinghouse said it chose Cranberry Woods Office Park over its Northern Pike headquarters because there is more room for future growth at the Butler County location. > More

Pa. land owners powerless in drilling deals
Like the 22,000 linear feet of eroding access roads marring his 400-acre Indiana County farmland, Bill McConnell’s four-year ordeal with coal bed methane well drillers wears on him each day. "Every principle of ownership and property rights that I have has been violated," said McConnell, 53, of Blacklick Township. "Every day I drive up my driveway, I see those wells and it’s a slap in my face, and I’m not getting any money for it, either." Read More  > More

Many topics covered at Murrysville meeting
Murrysville needs couples without children and commercial development -- and it’s getting both, according to a community official. John Cardwell, director of the Murrysville Community and Economic Development Corp., said as much to members of the Franklin Regional School Board and Murrysville Council at their annual joint meeting Wednesday night. Officials of each group gave briefings on the status of the school district and municipality, particularly the financial outlook for each. > More

Hempfield to study police possibilities
Hempfield Township is forming a committee to study its policing needs. The committee will consist of approximately 10 people, said Kim Ward, supervisor chairwoman. It will look at the township’s crime statistics and review various policing scenarios. Ward said the panel’s task will be to determine whether any changes are needed to meet the community’s policing needs. She wants any recommendations to be made before the state Legislature devises its own rules for townships that currently rely on state police. > More

Unity Twp. OKs new building rules
Residential developers in Unity Township face more regulations based on two ordinances unanimously adopted Thursday by the board of supervisors. The first requires a dedication of land for recreational purposes, such as playgrounds, in each established residential lot, regardless of size, or a payment-per-lot of $1,000 in lieu of such dedications. The payments will go toward installation of such facilities where appropriate. > More

Westmoreland Co. officials create position to oversee maps
With a multi-layered digital mapping system ready to go online in the next several months, Westmoreland County commissioners on Thursday carved out a new department to oversee the program. County officials yesterday created the Geographical Information Systems Department by appointing a planning office worker to a new $45,000-a-year position to manage the implementation of the computerized digital maps. > More

North Huntingdon commission checks development plans
North Huntingdon planning commission got a lesson in site plans Monday night. The first plan offered for Westminster Estates, an 83-lot subdivision along Mickanin Road, was haggled over by the board and Planning Director Andy Blenko last month and for 40 minutes last night. At issue were two requested variances for grading and for the width of the road, as well as sidewalk location and the possible loss of trees. > More

Smart Growth working to map future of Route 30
In addition to a home for its resident students, Pitt Greensburg is home to Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County, a community based, private non-profit organization. Located in Millstein Library, Smart Growth is guided by the principle that communities need to make good decisions for their futures. As it’s name implies, its major focus is growth and exactly when, where and how it should take place. > More

Extreme makeover: City edition
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- When the steel industry collapsed, a vacuum took over. It turned mills into rusty skeletons and working-class neighborhoods that served them into graveyards. As jobs disappeared and the Mahoning River Valley flooded with blighted homes and boarded-up shops, the emptiness triggered a migration that sliced Youngstown’s population in half in a generation. Today, the city that once produced more steel than almost anyone outside Pittsburgh is a shell of its former self, a ghost town that looks like many of the 170,002 people living there in 1930 decided one morning to pack > More

Development of Route 30 corridor aired
Joyce Stevey recalls when the spaces surrounding Greengate Mall along Route 30 in Hempfield Township were plush fields and woodlands, as opposed to the expanding cluster of retail and commercial businesses today. "I never thought that we would see what we see up there," said Stevey, 61, a lifetime township resident. "What really bothers me now is seeing everything they’re adding to Route 30 in that area. > More

Penn Township wants better info on bridge plan
Penn Township officials feel they need to be better informed about the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s plans for the turnpike bridge replacement project. Commissioners unanimously authorized solicitor Les Mlakar and Township Manager Bruce Light Wednesday to send a letter to the turnpike commission asking that the township be provided any preliminary studies concerning the bridge and informed about any environmental impact studies undertaken and how the project will affect roads at or near the Turnpike. > More

Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County is fortunate to have a community that cares about its future, specifically about its growing future. Whether it’s preserving rural landscapes, revitalizing towns and cities, or reclaiming suburbs, Westmoreland County is in the right hands of community leaders led by the Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County (SGPWC). The SGPWC is a community-based private non-profit that strives to encourage the kind of growth that improves quality of life for both residents and businesses, but also ensures vibrant, high quality growth for future generations in Westmoreland C > More

Taking a page from Mount Pleasant
It’s just 49.3 miles from the Mt. Lebanon business district on Washington Road to the business district in Mount Pleasant Borough, Westmoreland County. At first blush, it might appear as if the towns have nothing in common: Mount Pleasant has 4,728 people in 1.1 square miles. Mt. Lebanon has 33,017 people in 6 square miles. The majority of Mount Pleasant’s residents haven’t been to college, while 61 percent of Mt. > More

Pa. towns need way to merge, says state report
It soon could be easier for struggling boroughs to merge with their neighbors or even to dissolve themselves. In a report released yesterday, State Planning Board members said existing law provides too little guidance on government mergers and does not allow municipalities to revert to unincorporated status. "Some municipalities in this commonwealth are in very serious financial trouble with huge deficits and problems with infrastructure, but it’s been impossible to dissolve or merge into an adjacent municipality," said board member Ron Bailey, who is a land use planner in Chester County > More

Commission backs state gas tax increase
The head of Western Pennsylvania’s top highway planning agency Thursday backed a state recommendation to increase the gasoline tax by 11.5 cents. Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission Chairman J. Bracken Burns endorsed the hefty gas tax increase recommended by Gov. Ed Rendell’s Transportation Funding and Reform Commission. "If we have the worst problem in America, we should pay the most money to make that problem go away," Burns said. > More

Rendell's bus takes public for taxing ride
Time again for another edition of "What a Difference a Year Makes!" Today’s contestant: Ed Rendell. Thanks for playing, governor. Now then, step into this column’s patented time-travel capsule. It won’t hurt, I promise, although the potential side effects include lingering dry mouth and persistent itching. We’re going back to Nov. 19, 2005, when you wearily but jubilantly announced the Port Authority of Allegheny County had reached a tentative labor agreement with its bus and trolley operators. > More

The transit report: The highwaymen
Here we go again: A "blue-ribbon" panel is charged with fixing something that particularly ails us. The report conveniently is released right after the election to lessen the impact on the fortunes of the politician who charged the panel. The report calls for all manner of economy-killing tax increases to address the critical problem. Read More  > More

State eyes gas tax increase
Motorists and public transit riders reacted with anger and skepticism to sweeping state tax increases proposed Monday to pay for deteriorating highways and bridges and to bail out cash-strapped transit systems. The plan to raise gas taxes by 11.5 cents a gallon, the realty transfer tax by almost 1 percent and driver registration and license fees by an average of about $15 a vehicle is "lousy," said Chuck Tessmer, of Ross, an occasional bus rider. > More

Transportation report calls for increased gas tax, fees
Repairing Pennsylvania’s deficient bridges and highways, and properly providing financial support for mass transit will come with a price. That price was unveiled Monday. And it may be too steep a price for lawmakers, let alone consumers. The Transportation Funding and Reform Commission released the findings of a 16-month study that includes recommendations to increase various fees and taxes to raise $900 million for highway and bridge repairs and $760 million in public transit. > More

TRANSPORTATION FUNDING AND REFORM COMMISSION PROPOSES SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS STATE’S CRITICAL NEEDS FOR HIGHWAYS, BRIDGES AND PUBLIC TRANSIT
HARRISBURG -- The bipartisan Transportation Funding and Reform Commission issued a final report today, offering a funding solution to pay for critical improvements to Pennsylvania’s highways and bridges and for public transit which provides 413 million rides a year across the state. Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler, P.E., who chaired the commission, said, “Not only is the commission proposing a solution to ensure Pennsylvanians have a better transportation system, but it also is recommending management and financial practices for the Department of Transportation and tran > More

State should stop subsidizing sprawl to revitalize towns
BY THOMAS HYLTON Major league gambling has arrived in Pennsylvania. Casino licenses to five racetracks were awarded last month, and nine other licenses will soon be awarded throughout the state -- all in the name of tax relief. For all the hoopla, however, even the most optimistic revenue projections equal just 2 percent of the state’s operating budget. And the big payoff -- up to $1 billion for school district property tax relief -- only amounts to $200 for the average homeowner. > More

Vandergrift Improvement Program (VIP)
Volunteers are needed to help the VIP plan and publicize special events such as Light-Up Night and a Fine Arts Festival, conduct surveys, and help with the weekly Farmer’s Market. Whatever your interest or skills, the VIP needs you. Contact Shaun (412) 471-5808 or shaun@phlf.org or the VIP office (724) 567-5286 to volunteer. For more information go to www.officialvandergrift.com  > More

A really smart way to grow
Joel Kotkin saw a lot more of Pennsylvania’s empty countryside than he wanted to last week. But his 250-mile car ride from Wilkes-Barre to the Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County’s conference near Greensburg on Wednesday morning was not a waste of time. Kotkin learned firsthand how big, beautiful and unpeopled the Keystone State is. And he realized that Pennsylvania could probably use about 5 million more residents. > More

Activists speak out for 'treasured spots'
Greensburg business owner Angela J. Rose-O’Brien would like Twin Lakes Park to be more accessible. Mary Clymer wants a beautification program around her downtown Greensburg home. Kim Miller simply hopes areas of rural beauty like those near his New Alexandria farm are left as is. Those three and many others were called to list their "treasured spots" in Westmoreland County at Wednesday’s sixth annual Smart Growth Summit at St. > More

Local officials to attend summit
More than 100 community members will converge today (Wednesday) to discuss the Route 30 corridor at the sixth annual Smart Growth summit in Greensburg. "I’m excited about getting the ball rolling for Route 30," said Alex Graziani, executive director of Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County. "This project is more about getting people’s input. We’re not going to be like, ’We’re the experts and this is how we’ll do it.’ It’s more of letting people tell us what they think will help us make good choices." To help participants form ideas abou > More

Bushy Run Battlefield protected
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a resolution yesterday authorizing the state and its Historical and Museum Commission to accept a donation of 34 acres of land around Bushy Run Battlefield in Penn Township. The bill will protect and preserve the land as part of the historic battlefield and protect it from any future or encroaching development. The site, situated alongside Route 933, is considered a pivotal battleground during a 1763 clash between Native Americans and the British during the French and Indian War. > More

High bid forces delay of Route 30 project
A PennDOT project designed primarily to widen and enhance the intersection of routes 30 and 981 in Unity Township has hit a roadblock. The estimated $13 million project was scheduled to begin in July and last until spring. In June, it was postponed to September to accommodate Route 30 traffic to and from Pittsburgh Steelers training camp at St. Vincent College. Read more  > More

Latrobe nearing bid for revitalization grant
By month’s end, Latrobe city officials may apply for a $90,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Main Street program, Rosie Wolford, chairwoman of the Latrobe Community Revitalization Committee, reported this week. Before that time, the committee needs written verification of all monetary pledges from all community individuals, agencies and foundations contributing to the state-required match of the Main Street money. > More

Officials meet to discuss junction of Mount Pleasant Road, Route 30
As director of transportation for Hempfield Area School District, Pat Carnicella does not perceive the intersection of Route 30 and Mount Pleasant Road to be a daily danger for his school bus drivers, mostly because most drivers give buses a pretty wide berth. But as someone who lives less than a mile from the interchange on Mount Pleasant Road, Mr. Carnicella, 51, has had lengthy and detailed conversations with family members about how to navigate the area safely. > More

Route 30 and Mount Pleasant Road interchange studied
Top highway officials yesterday toured the troublesome intersection of U.S. Route 30 and Mount Pleasant Road in Hempfield, the site of 21 accidents since 2003. Federal Highway Administration official Rick Capka was invited to visit by U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, who was contacted by local residents with traffic and safety concerns about the interchange. It has nine separate entrances and exits within 400 feet, and is surrounded by development. > More

Dangerous intersection could cost 'large dollars'
Screeching tires burn Monsignor Raymond Riffle’s ears every day. The pastor at Our Lady of Grace Church along Mt. Pleasant Road near the Route 30 interchange in Hempfield Township lives and works at what’s become one of the most dangerous intersections in the region. "I’ve called 911 probably five times in my whole life. Three of those times were after I came here," Riffle said. He was among about 50 people to attend a town hall meeting on the intersection on Monday hosted by U.S. > More

Murphy Brings Top Highway Official to Westmoreland
Washington, Sep 18 - With recent development throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania, the region’s transportation needs are rapidly changing. Congressman Tim Murphy (PA-18) invited Federal Highway Administrator Rick Capka and Federal Highway Administration (FHA) Pennsylvania Division Administrator James Cheatham to Hempfield Township today to tour the intersection of Mt. Pleasant Road and Route 30, and meet with officials and residents. > More

Irwin acts on storm sewer plan
A reluctant Irwin Council agreed Wednesday night to borrow $768,000 toward the first phase of a state and federally mandated storm and sanitary sewer separation project that will last at least five years and cost about $6 million. The first phase of the three-phase project carries an estimated $1.6 million price tag and will last about a year, according to solicitor Alan Berk. Council last night adopted an ordinance authorizing a $76