It was a triumphant gathering of partners Thursday afternoon, as the county commissioners announced that they received the large federal transportation infrastructure grant they applied for in July.

The commissioners, who produced the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant application in collaboration with a number of other entities, requested $24.3 million to realign and expand Route 228 in Middlesex Township between Route 8 and Quality Gardens.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Thursday that the county received $20 million, but the additional $4.3 million was raised through a lot of mad scrambling during the last weekend by the three county commissioners.

Commissioner Kim Geyer explained that the county was told last Friday that they would not receive the $20 million grant unless they could assure the transportation department that the rest of the money could be raised — by Monday at 3 p.m.

Geyer said the commissioners worked furiously all weekend, calling municipalities and other entities to scrape up the $4.3 million by the looming deadline.

For example, Joe Dubovi, the executive of the state Department of Transportation's District 10, was in the woods hunting when he got the call from the commissioners asking if the department could pledge any money toward the gap.

Geyer said in the end, the commissioners were able to gather pledge letters from four entities that filled the gap and secured the $20 million grant.

She said PennDOT District 10 and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission will pitch in $2 million each, Cranberry Township will give $500,000, and any additional funds that may be needed will come from a loan from the state Infrastructure Bank.

That loan would be leveraged with funds from the new $5 fee added onto vehicle registrations in Butler County, Geyer said.

The mood at the county government center was jubilant Thursday as U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd, joined the three commissioners; Mark Gordon, county director of economic development; Dick Hadley, Cranberry Township supervisor; and representatives from the SPC, PennDOT, and state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe's office, and others clapped one another on the back in light of their achievement.

A beaming Kelly extolled the collaboration of the entities involved in the grant application and the dogged determination of the commissioners in seeing the project through.

“This is an example of the way we are supposed to function,” Kelly said. “Local, state and federal people coming together for something that just makes sense.”

Kelly said Route 228 has a crash rate three times the state average, at 232 crashes and one fatality between 2013 and 2017.

He said 6,000 students from eight schools are transported on the highway each school day.

“We put our most precious commodity on a road that will be safer now,” Kelly said.

He said straightening and widening the section of road will also improve commerce, as trucks will no longer sit in traffic congestion and can carry their freight efficiently from Route 19 to Route 8.

Leslie Osche, commissioners chairman, said the actual beginning of the process to secure the funding came when the three commissioners committed to improving transportation infrastructure when they took office 3½ years ago.

She said being invited to the White House and discussing the county's issues with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao made her think maybe the county could be a contender for the funds.

“At that point, I looked around the room and we were the only commissioners from Pennsylvania,” Osche said.

Geyer summed up the thoughts of all the delighted officials who gathered to announce the $20 million grant Thursday.

“We appreciate the cooperation and collaboration of so many people involved in this project,” she said.

The grant is also to widen Freedom Road in Cranberry Township.

Construction on the project must be complete by 2025.