Building Connections Infrastructure money making a regional impact

Oct. 21—Bridges have been repaired, roads rebuilt, rivers and brownfields cleared, and airport runways bolstered in Cambria and Somerset counties over the past few years with more than $44 million from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

As of August, about $10.2 billion has been allocated for 289 projects in Pennsylvania.

Between fiscal years 2022 and 2023, dozens of projects have been completed or nearly completed in Cambria and Somerset counties.

The varied infrastructure works have been coordinated through state departments for transportation, environmental protection and the Army Corps of Engineers. However, a majority of projects are state Department of Transportation projects.

"This funding is hugely important," Cambria County Controller Ed Cernic Jr. said. "There's no way the county could have anywhere near the amount of money here that needs to go into these projects. Even with our American Rescue (Plan) funds, we couldn't have done it."

The BIL funding is separate from American Rescue Plan, or ARP, funds.

"It's always good to see that our congressmen and senators and legislators worked to bring this money in because, like I said, it takes care of needed projects," Cernic said.

The projects have also brought work to construction and asphalt companies in the region, as well as improving conditions for economic growth in the future.

In Johnstown, a city devastated by floods multiple times in its history, the Army Corps of Engineers has completed projects for flood protection.

Work in 2022 was done in the upper portion of the Stonycreek River, starting near the Route 403/Central Avenue bridge in the city's Moxham section and ending downstream at the Hickory Street bridge in Hornerstown.

The project has removed 1,000 cubic yards of sediment along a mile of the channel and five acres of vegetation from within the channel, as well as vegetation inside weep holes and concrete channel-bank expansion joints. The work also involved cleaning and resealing joints in the channel banks, the Army Corps of Engineers said in an email.

Those efforts improve the original flood-protection project in Johnstown that was built in the 1930s after the St. Patrick's Day flood of 1936. It has prevented more than $836 million in flood damages since its construction, not adjusted to inflation, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.

In Cresson Borough, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is clearing a brownfield of remnants of a former gas station.

"That's a great thing for the environment," Cernic said. "On Route 22, there was a gas station abandoned many years ago and never cleaned up. Without this funding, it may never have been cleaned up."

Across the county, miles and miles of state roads have been made safer.

Among Cambria's largest road projects nearly completed with BIL funding is the resurfacing of state Route 271 from Woodmont Road to Bedford Street and from the Little Conemaugh River to William Penn Avenue in East Conemaugh, Franklin, Southmont and Westmont boroughs, East Taylor and Upper Yoder townships, and the city of Johnstown.

The project includes bituminous milling and overlay, pavement base repair, guide rail upgrades, signing upgrades, pavement marking replacement, and tree trimming. A large drainage pipe will be rehabilitated and include inlet and outfall repairs. Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant curb ramps are also part of the project, according to PennDOT.

In Somerset County, BIL dollars are helping the county extend its liquid fuels funds to take care of many of the county's 62 bridges, said county President Commissioner Gerald Walker.

"Anytime you see any of those bridge projects, whether it is rehabilitation or replacement, that is taking care of our infrastructure that has been in place for a many years," he said.

The projects completed with BIL funding will have a long-term economic impact, Walker said.

"Anytime you invest in infrastructure and you increase the ability to move produce, people, whatever, it is definitely an economic driver for the area," he said.

Walker said federal funding has traditionally been available to defray the cost of county projects in the past, but not at the level of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

"I do believe it is a once-in-a-great-while opportunity to further our list of priorities especially on our infrastructure projects," he said. "We have a lot of infrastructure to keep up with and make safer. This opportunity definitely helps us move projects forward as compared to sitting and waiting for dollars to come along."