A plan for road and bridge projects in Butler County has been proposed and will be voted on by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission later this month.

And though the plan doesn’t guarantee the projects will happen, it is a place to start.

The hold up? Unsurprisingly, it’s funding.The plan doesn’t guarantee funding.

And, of course, when funding is secured, a project shoots to the top of the list. If the dollars are there, then a project can happen.

But it starts with the plan. So to be included in the plan is ultimately still key to a project’s success.

Included in a four-year regional transportation improvement plan proposal are projects in Butler, Summit Township, Adams Township, Buffalo Township and Clinton Township.

The most expensive Butler County project in the plan comes in at a cost of $36.3 million. This project would feature the replacement of the Karns Crossing Bridge that carries Route 68 between Butler and Summit townships.

Another noteworthy project is the reconstruction of the intersection of Route 228, Mars Valencia Road and Three Degree Road n Adams Township, which comes at a cost of $19.4 million.

An improvement project in Buffalo Township will cost $15.2 million, and another project that spans both Clinton and Buffalo townships and will cost $8.8 million is in the plan.

Some work on a four-lane section of Route 422 from Benbrook Road to the Route 356 interchange in Butler Township comes at $7.2 million, and it’ll be $6.5 million to replace traffic signals and add turning lanes on Route 68 between Stevenson Road and Meridian Road/Benbrook Road in Connoquenessing and Butler townships.

Of course, we’d like to see all of these projects completed, but surely inflation won’t help us in that regard.

We are grateful, however, that these projects are on the list of ones to be considered across the 10 counties in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s 2023-2026 Transportation Improvement Plan.

Yes, we still need funding, but it starts with a plan. So kudos for getting these projects looked at on a regional level.

— TL