New Station Square T Station, Pittsburgh Public Steps Upgrades Coming

PITTSBURGH, PA — Pittsburgh's public steps will see a major enhancement and the T station at Station Square will receive a complete makeover as part of last week's passage of the $1.7 trillion federal spending bill for the 2023 fiscal year.

Those projects were among the 92 receiving a total of $111.5 million across the state, Sen. Bob Casey's office announced.

Pittsburgh, which has more public steps than any city in the nation, will get $7 million to restore multiple different high-use sets of steps across the city. The project also involves the installation of bicycle runnels next to these steps to make it easier for cyclists to move through the city.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit will receive $5 million to create a safer, more accessible and more welcoming Station Square Station that incorporates better connections between transit modes.

Among other Allegheny County projects receiving funding:

• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: $4 million to assist with new construction, repairs, and upgrades on water supply projects in small communities across Southwestern and South Central Pennsylvania.

• The Mansmann Foundation: $1.1 million to enable the Entrepreneurs Forever program to expand its peer-to-peer entrepreneurship program for small businesses making under $1 million to 300 local small businesses in 25 counties.

• Voices for Independence: $150,000 to allow the organization to offer classes in cooking, financial literacy, and grocery planning to people in need.

• City of Pittsburgh: $2 million to rehabilitate the House of Manna building, which has fallen into disrepair. This project will bring the building into good condition to accommodate human service providers, community educators and healthy food options for local residents.

• Carnegie Library Homestead: $750,000 to significantly rehabilitate the library's historic 1,047-seat Music Hall and make it fully ADA compliant.

• Hill Community Development Corporation: $2 million for the New Granada Square redevelopment project in Pittsburgh’s historic Hill District.

• Manchester Bidwell Corporation: $400,000 for the Bidwell Training Center to implement a unique, urban agriculture training program tailored to meet industry needs in the Pittsburgh region.

• Primary Care Health Services Inc: $2.2 million for a new facility for a Federally Qualified Health Center in Homewood.

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh: $105,000 to support the recruitment, training, and matching of LGBTQ+ adult volunteer mentors with LGBTQ+ youth through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh’s Big Siblings Program.

• Carlow University: $300,000 to enable Carlow University to begin a pilot program to transition college-age students out of the foster care system into post-secondary education. The program will provide critical wraparound services, including mental health support, year-round housing, and health care.

• City of Clairton: $750,000 to renovate a building to create a new community center.

• Army Corps of Engineers: $2 million to support a critical sewer overflow component of Allegheny County Sanitary Authority's Clean Water Plan. The project will help seriously reduce the overflows of diluted, untreated wastewater into the region's waterways.

• Scott Township: $999,999 to improve deficiencies in Scott’s sanitary sewer system, which will reduce the overflow of untreated sewage into the environment.