Politics & Government

MTA, Airport Authority Seek TIGER Grant

Local officials hope to use the grant money for Thorn Run interchange and airport-area improvements.

The Moon Transportation Authority has partnered with Allegheny County Airport Authority to apply for more than $15 million in federal funding for area transportation projects. 

MTA president Mark Scappe said members of the transportation authority last week met with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to request funding for to the Thorn Run interchange. 

Scappe said the stalled project, which is projected to cost $5.6 million to complete, received federal grant funding in 2010 and 2011 that was later eliminated. 

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Plans for the redesigned interchange aim to alleviate traffic congestion and safety concerns along the intersection. The authority is seeking $3.45 million in federal funding for the project. 

"The project has been in the same place for the last three or four years,"Scappe  said. "It's designed, and we're ready to move forward as soon as the funds become available." 

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This year Scappe and officials from the airport authority have applied for $15 million in discretionary funding from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation

Scappe said if awarded the grant will fund Thorn Run Interchange improvements and improvements to Port Vue Drive that would include adding additional access to a planned township . The airport authority would use the remainder of the funding for other transportation improvements. 

Scappe said local officials met with Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair; Rep. Mark Critz, D-Johnstown; Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless; and the staff of Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton; and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Zionsville; to discuss funding for the project. 

Scappe said the MTA could learn its status with the grant as early as mid-summer. 

"It gets frustrating, and it gets even more frustrating when you're doing all the steps right and you have everything in order and it gets pulled back," Scappe said of the stalled interchange project. "The tentative timeline [for knowing whether the grant money is awarded] is mid-summer—but they can always change their minds." 

Scappe said improvements to the interchange remain the transportation authority's largest singular focus. 

"It's been No. 1 for a few years now," Scappe said. "Our project is ready to go. We could move right into bidding and getting it constructed. A lot of others applying [for the grant] wait to get the money and then start the planning process. We're ready now."


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