West Providence Township has been awarded $2,051,960 from the Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) Local Access Road Program to construct an extension of Industrial Boulevard within the Everett Area Business Park. The new, 0.19-mile of roadway will extend from Industrial Boulevard to Armory Street and will provide a secondary access point for traffic, as well as provide access to additional acreage within the business park.
The project, Industrial Boulevard Extension, will improve the efficiency and safety for the business park traffic. Additionally, the improvements will provide a secondary access point into the park. The secondary access point will serve as an attraction tool for potential new businesses into the park, as it is projected that the expanded development opportunity will support 200-250 new jobs once the site is completely built out. Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13) had this to say about the project award:
“Improving access to the Everett Area Business Park with investments in this vital infrastructure will create economic growth opportunities in West Providence Township and across Bedford County. Supporting our local industries and workforce is key to our region’s economic success, and I thank the leaders of West Providence Township, Bette Slayton and her team at the Bedford County Development Association, and Brandon Peters of the Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commission for their dedicated work to secure support for this important project.”
The application was prepared by Zack Lee, the Regional Planner at Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commission, in coordination with West Providence Township, PennDOT District 9, and the Bedford County Development Association. Brandon Peters, Transportation Program Manager for Southern Alleghenies, said “this infrastructure project creates great opportunities for expansion in the Everett Area Business Park. We appreciate the ARC’s willingness to fund quality transportation and access projects in the Southern Alleghenies Region. We hope to continue to seek out opportunities for partnership with ARC on local access road projects.”
If you would like more information on the project, please contact Brandon Peters, Transportation Program Manager at SAP&DC at bpeters@sapdc.org.
For more about this program or other programs please visit www.sapdc.org.
About the Appalachian Regional Commission
The Appalachian Regional Commission (www.arc.gov) is an economic development agency of the federal government and 13 state governments focusing on 420 counties across the Appalachian Region. ARC’s mission is to innovate, partner, and invest to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in Appalachia to help the Region achieve socioeconomic parity with the nation.
