Dear KTFC member or friend:
According to initial reports, there appeared to be no life-threatening injuries when a Pittsburgh bridge collapsed around 7 this morning.
Ten people reported minor injuries, and three were hospitalized. Three or four vehicles, including a Port Authority bus, were on the bridge at the time.
The bridge is near Frick Park, Pittsburgh’s largest regional park, which stretches from Point Breeze down to the Monongahela River. The bridge is on one of the main arteries in and out of the city.
The collapse occurred just hours before President Biden was scheduled to visit the city and speak about infrastructure, among other matters. Most readers of this newsletter would probably agree that we really don’t require any more illustrations of the need to address our transportation infrastructure problems.
Our thoughts are with those who were injured, traumatized or inconvenienced by this event.
Be of Good Cheer,
— The Wolff
TRANSPORTATION ISSUE UPDATE
- Here is an initial account of the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh on a day when President Biden planned to visit the city and discuss infrastructure.
- The Pennsylvania Senate’s Transportation Committee advanced a bill by state Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Richland, that would give a green light to enable research institutions and many companies to test and deploy Highly Automated Vehicles.
- With $87 million in new Appalachian Development Highway System dollars flowing into Pennsylvania over the next five years, state transportation officials plan to focus it on finishing three corridors – U.S. Route 219 in Somerset County, an Interstate 99 connection and the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway.
- NBC10 is conducting a survey that looks at the current state of affairs on SEPTA.
- State Sen. Marty Flynn was appointed as Democratic chair of the Pennsylvania Senate Transportation Committee.
- The $857 million allocation for the Montgomery Locks and Dam, located near Monaca, Pa., represents nearly a third of all the money Congress set aside for inland waterways in its 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill.
- The state Department of Environmental Protection announced that more than $2.7 million in Alternative Fuel Incentive Grants will go to 18 cleaner fuel transportation projects.