Carnegie Borough gets green light for federal funding
Carnegie Borough is one of 32 municipalities statewide and the only in Southwestern Pennsylvania to receive federal funding for improved traffic safety, Gov. Tom Wolf announced at the start of this year.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will distribute $15 million in Automated Red-Light Enforcement (ARLE) funding, including $10,422 to install radar feedback signs along Forsythe Road in Carnegie.
“It’s the main artery to get to the parkway from the South Hills. People just speed up there,” said Mayor Stacie Riley, adding that roughly half of all traffic stops in December were along Forsythe. “We had an accident that occurred on Forsythe Road in the spring of 2021. We have been doing targeted enforcement and traffic calming strategy since then.”
Riley said radar feedback signs are currently set up along the road, which runs past Carnegie Park and Forsythe Mini Golf. The grant will be used to replace the Forsythe Road radar signs, allowing the police department to set up radar signs in different parts of the borough.
“We’re just trying to be proactive,” said Riley.
Traffic flow is integral to a community’s safety, and Riley is excited that Carnegie Borough received ARLE funding for the Forsythe Road project.
Pennsylvania’s ARLE program provides communities statewide with funding to install automated stoplights and radar signs at locations where red-light running or speeding has proven an issue, based on collected data. Funding for the program comes from red-light violation fines at 36 intersections in Philadelphia, according to the governor’s office.
“This program helps communities across the state make important investments in traffic flow and safety,” Wolf said. “These improvements complement the many road, bridge and multimodal projects happening in Pennsylvania.”
Municipalities submitted 151 applications totaling $46 million in requests, and projects were selected by an eight-member committee based on criteria including safety benefits, effectiveness, cost, local and regional impact.
Riley is proud that Carnegie is among those selected for funding this year.
“It’s been a mission, I feel like, of mine and the department to make that roadway (Forsythe) safe. It’s heavily traveled. It’s been kind of a challenge that we want to get out in front of. Any bit of money is crucial to a small community like ours,” Riley said. “Any amount of resources helps when you’re a small community that is trying to use technology … to keep your residents safe.”