WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators John Fetterman and Bob Casey, and Representative Summer Lee announced that Allegheny County will receive $2 million through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) grant program. The funding will support the Penn Avenue Cap Connector Project.
The Penn Avenue Cap Connector Project aims to connect economically-disadvantaged communities in Pittsburgh to public transit, grocery stores, services, and jobs. Specifically, the project will make the Penn Avenue-Shady Avenue Intersection a major gateway to the East Liberty Transit Station, and connect two neighborhoods—the East Liberty Business District and Bakery Square—across the void of a busway.
“This is a critical investment in communities in Pittsburgh that have been left behind,” said Senator Fetterman. “The Penn Avenue Cap Connector Project will help connect countless Pennsylvanians to economic opportunities, public transit options, and grocery stores that they have been cut off from for too long. I’m proud to be fighting for and delivering these federal dollars to invest into Pennsylvania communities.”
“This funding is a critical step towards righting a wrong that has stifled economic growth in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood and left residents cut off from transit and key economic opportunities,” said Senator Casey (D-PA). “I fought for this funding to put the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to work to reconnect these communities and help build a more livable and prosperous Pittsburgh.”
“I’m proud to announce our second Reconnecting Communities Pilot Grant – this time $2M for the Penn Avenue Cap Connector Project to connect families and small businesses in bakery square with the grocery stores, transit, and jobs in the East Liberty Business district” said Rep. Summer Lee. “By working with the Biden administration to build on the $1.4 million investment Sen. Casey and I delivered one year ago to reconnect Pittsburgh’s North Side and Chateau neighborhoods, we’re righting the wrongs of economic redlining that has forced Black, brown, working class and poor folks to live in food, hospital, and transportation deserts. I will continue fighting to make sure all of our families can stay in the communities they call home with access to all the resources and infrastructure necessary to thrive.”
Fetterman, Casey, and Lee secured this grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Reconnecting Communities Pilot grant program, created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Reconnecting Communities is the first-ever federal program dedicated to reconnecting communities that were previously cut off from economic opportunities and otherwise burdened by past transportation infrastructure decisions.