WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick is urging the U.S. Department of Transportation to approve a $50.9 million federal grant for a Butler County highway project that supporters say would ease freight bottlenecks, reduce crashes and complete a key transportation corridor in Western Pennsylvania.
McCormick sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy supporting Butler County’s application for funding through the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highways (INFRA) Grant Program.
The funding request would help finance the Mars Railroad Bridge West Project, the final 3.25-mile segment of the larger Gateway 228 corridor improvement project. According to the grant application, completing the project would establish a continuous transportation link between Interstate 79 and State Route 8.
Gateway 228 serves as both a commuter route and regional freight corridor but has experienced increasing congestion as development and population have grown in the area, according to McCormick’s letter.
The senator said improving the corridor would strengthen both the regional economy and transportation network.
“Reliable infrastructure is essential to keeping Pennsylvania’s economy moving,” McCormick said. “The Gateway 228 project will improve safety, reduce congestion, strengthen freight movement, and create new opportunities for growth in Butler County and across Western Pennsylvania.”
According to Butler County’s application, the completed corridor is expected to reduce crashes by an estimated 61% while improving freight movement, commuter travel and regional connectivity.
In his letter, McCormick wrote that the project would address longstanding traffic bottlenecks, transportation inefficiencies and safety concerns along the corridor while supporting future economic development.
“I strongly urge the Department of Transportation to give this application full and favorable consideration,” McCormick wrote in the letter to Duffy.
The INFRA Grant Program provides competitive federal funding for highway and freight infrastructure projects considered nationally or regionally significant. Butler County is seeking $50,911,500 to complete the Mars Railroad Bridge West Project.
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