U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made a stop in Pittsburgh last week to announce $142 million in federal funding for local infrastructure projects.
A segment of the secretary's speech centered on a portion of Interstate 376 that runs through Downtown Pittsburgh, more formally known as the 10th Street Bypass. The section of road sits close to the bank of the Monongahela River and forms a basin, so that it regularly floods whenever there’s heavy rain. Part of the funding will help build a new wall along the river to help prevent that flooding.
“I don’t have to tell you flooding, along this stretch of I-376 can go longer than 600 yards—six football fields end to end— causing detours, dangerous crashes and weaker infrastructure overall,” Buttigieg said. “It is long past time to upgrade the entire corridor to be more resilient against the climate crisis.”
The funding is part of the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021. In addition to building a new wall along the 10th Street Bypass, funding will be used in the Pittsburgh region to rehabilitate 10 bridges along the I-376 corridor, and build a ramp to connect the stretch of 376 known as the Parkway East with Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s Martin Luther King., Jr. East Busway.
Buttigieg was joined by Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, and members of Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation, including U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, and U.S. Reps. Chris Deluzio and Summer Lee.
“The funding isn’t just about roads and buses,” Lee said. “This is about people, it’s about jobs and it’s about the quality of life here in this region.” The Parkway East has been ranked as the fifth-most congested highway in the country, she noted, but “will have less traffic soon, fewer accidents and be much more efficient. The funding we’re celebrating today is a promise of change and a promise of time, time back that belongs to your family and to your loved ones.”
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Source: Penn Capital Star
