Mike Kelly

It was three years ago this month when my staff and I learned the amazing news: Butler County’s “Route 228 Corridor Improvement Project,” also known as Gateway 228, would be receiving a $25 million BUILD Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. We were overjoyed because we knew just how important this project would be for southern Butler County, which is one of the fastest-growing areas in the entire commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

What made that news even more significant: this was the second BUILD Grant my team and I helped to secure in two years. In 2018, we worked with then-U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and the Trump administration to bring home a $20 million BUILD Grant for Gateway 228. BUILD — Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development — Grants are highly competitive discretionary grants issued by the Department of Transportation for essential transportation and infrastructure projects across the country.

In total, that’s $45 million in federal funding that is coming back to Butler County and is being put to work for much-needed physical infrastructure upgrades.

Today, I’m amazed to see how quickly Gateway 228 is progressing. Like you, I can see the transformation taking place every time I travel that highway. In a world of bad news and growing concern over just how intrusive “big government” can be, I believe this funding and its final product are testaments to what “good government” can do when it works for the people it represents. We are seeing improvements right before our eyes.

Here is a quick reminder of where the Route 228 Corridor Improvement Project stands and what it will look like once it’s complete. The $277 million project spans from Freedom Road/Route 19 in Cranberry Township, through the bustling and rapidly developing Seven Fields and Mars areas, over to Route 8 in Middlesex Township and beyond.

Two major phases of Gateway 228 are ongoing. First, the $55.8 million Balls Bend Safety Improvement Project. This will widen and realign Route 228 through a dangerous 1.6-mile stretch of roadway. A short drive away is the Three Degree Road Safety Improvement Project. This $26.5 million will add new access roads, among other additions, to streamline traffic along the busy highway. Other additions featured in Gateway 228 include new turning lanes, side road improvements, signal replacements, new roundabouts and more.

Why does this matter? Between 2013 and 2017, Route 228 had a crash rate three times the state average, at 232 crashes and one fatality. Meanwhile, traffic on Route 228 is increasing every year. Projections estimate up to 52,000 vehicles will travel this highway every day within the next 10 years. In 2017, a study found traffic along Balls Bend specifically is expected to increase 20% over the next 20 years. These improvements aim to create safer, more efficient commutes that will benefit the entire county.

Once the government spends a hard-earned taxpayer dollar, it cannot be spent again. That’s why I use my experience from the private sector while in Washington to calculate the return on investment for taxpayers, and Gateway 228 will give Butler County a big-time boost. According to the county’s BUILD Grant application, Gateway 228 “will result in more than 2,300 direct, permanent jobs and over $84 million annually in local, state and federal taxes.”

Additionally, the application states the expansion “will increase efficient movement of goods for more than 11,600 businesses within a 3-mile buffer area that use Route 228 to ship more than $27.5 billion worth of commodities each year.”

When it comes to things like BUILD Grants, Washington wants to know that local communities have some skin in the game. Butler County has proven that it does. By securing the $45 million in BUILD grants — nearly one-sixth of Gateway 228’s total funding — we are investing in the future of Butler County and Western Pennsylvania for decades to come.

I know road construction isn’t always convenient. We see a lot of work across the area every year. But the good news is that the entire project, which is set to be complete by 2026, is reportedly ahead of schedule.

This is a great step toward improving safety, accessibility and efficiency along one of the most critical and heavily traveled highways in our region.

Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly represents Pennsylvania’s 16th Congressional District, which includes Butler County. He is the chairman of the Ways & Means Subcommittee on Tax.