Butler County wants to reduce truck traffic through Butler and hopes a traffic study can help do that.

The county commissioners Wednesday accepted a $435,000 grant for a study aimed at finding solutions to reducing truck traffic on Route 8, which is the city’s Main Street.

Most of the cost, 80 percent, is federally funded. The state pays 20 percent.

Although no county dollars are involved, Commissioner Bill McCarrier questioned why the study would cost that much.

Joel MacKay of county planning said there is a lot involved.

“It’s a big project,” MacKay said.

The first step is for county planning to select an engineering firm to do it. MacKay said the county will take requests for proposals from firms and hopefully select one by the end of the year. Firms must meet state qualifications.

“The study will look for innovative solutions to relieve congestion for truck traffic,” MacKay said. “It will see if anything can be done to alleviate the problem.”

The concern in the city is for north-south truck traffic on Route 8.

MacKay did not say what type of solutions may result from the study, which could take a year to do.

“That’s what the study is for,” he said.

The study is administered through a state Department of Transportation program that aims to reduce truck traffic in congested corridors across the state.

MacKay said the county planning department views the program as a way to improve traffic flow in the city.

“It’s a problem,” MacKay said of truck congestion in the city. “And it’s only going to get worse.”

City officials have not been involved in the project, but MacKay said the city and Butler Township will be involved once the study begins.

City councilman Richard Schontz, who oversees the city streets department, said truck traffic is a concern in the city.

“Main Street is part of Route 8 so it is to be expected,” Schontz said. “But we would like to see less trucks going through the city.”

Schontz said the city last month finished a traffic light synchronization project that was set to improve overall traffic flow in the city.

That SINC-UP project was part of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s regional traffic signal project and was paid for through a $420,000 grant.

Chelynne Curci, the Main Street manager for Butler Downtown, said reduced truck traffic could be beneficial for downtown.

“I could see it cutting down on a lot of noise,” she said. “That would be an improvement.”

Curci said she has noticed more truck traffic in the area due to developments and the Marcellus Shale industry.

MacKay said the county applied for the grant more than a year ago, and was selected in March to get it.