Allegheny County Airport will get a $512,500 state aviation grant to design and build new hangars, part of $10 million in state money going to projects at 10 airports across Pennsylvania, including three in Western Pennsylvania.

“As I outlined in my transportation proposal, a multimodal transportation system is essential to sustaining and growing our economy. These investments will enhance safety and improve facilities to ensure that regional needs are met while supporting jobs and the local economy,” Gov. Tom Corbett said in a news release.

The state has 133 public-use airports and heliports and 15 of them have scheduled commercial service. Other local recipients are the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport, $250,000 to construct hangars; and Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Westmoreland County, $612,500 to construct a public safety building.

Short-term lane and shoulder closures are possible on Interstate 79, the Parkway East and the Parkway West from 7 a.m. to noon on Saturday during guide rail repairs at the following: I-79 from Bridgeville (Exit 54) and the Parkway West (Exit 59); the Parkway West from Green Tree (Exit 67) to Carnegie (Exit 65); and the Parkway East from Bates Street/Oakland (Exit 73) to Churchill (Exit 79).

Also on the Parkway West, inspections will cause brief lane closures from 7:30 a.m. to noon Saturday and Sunday under the following schedule: On Saturday, outbound from Banksville Road to Green Tree; inbound from I-79 to Carnegie. On Sunday, inbound Green Tree to Banksville; inbound from I-79 to Carnegie.

A lane closure and traffic shift on inbound Banksville Road at the Parkway West likely will cause delays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday as crews work on an overhead sign structure. The right inbound lane will be closed from 10 a.m. to approximately 5 p.m. in the underpass area before Banksville Road merges with the Parkway West. Crews will be performing overhead sign structure work.

More closures are scheduled during movement of heavy industrial loads on Freeport Road between Ninth Street/C.L. Schmitt Bridge in East Deer and Conroy Way in Tarentum. This round will be from midnight Monday to 7 a.m. Tuesday and midnight Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday.

Lane closures are possible on Route 19 between Pine Creek Road and Thon Drive in McCandless from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. during core sampling for a future project. Flaggers will control traffic.

Water main construction will close Boyce Road from Lawn Shadow to Summit Ridge drives in South Fayette from 7 a.m. Feb. 27 through March 1. Traffic will detour via Washington Pike, Morganza Road, McMurray Road and Route 19.

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Two seasons of traffic restrictions are in store for drivers on Interstate 79 in Butler County, starting today. A $14 million project will improve the interchange at Exit 99, Route 422 in Muddycreek and includes replacement of two bridges and ramp and roadway reconstruction. The work that begins today will be construction of crossovers through the median. Short-term lane restrictions are possible from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays through early March while the crossovers are built. Starting next month, northbound traffic will cross to the southbound side, with single-lane traffic in both directions. That will allow replacement of the northbound bridge. The southbound bridge will be replaced next season, with the overall project scheduled for completion in fall 2014.

Footnote: Lane restrictions during bridge work a few miles south of this work zone caused major tie-ups, even on weekends, last year. Travelers on this stretch of highway will want to plan carefully.

Footnote 2: Traveling northbound on I-79 through Butler County over the weekend, I saw several stretches of severely deterioriated pavement, with dozens of patches of the top asphalt layer gone. Most of these were in the center along the seam between the passing and travel lanes and evasive action was fairly easy, but there’s obviously a quality-control issue here with the pavement. PennDOT District 10 spokeswoman Deborah Casadei said crews are working on repairs using more durable material than the typical winter cold patch, and hope to have things patched up by the end of the month.

Work to set new bridge beams for the 31st Street/Route 28 interchange continues through Saturday, which will cause temporary traffic stoppages of outbound traffic of up to 15 minutes from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Inbound traffic will not be affected.

Utility work will cause lane clousres on Greensburg Pike in North Versailles starting next Monday and continuing through April 1, the Allegheny County Public Works Department announced. Flaggers will be on the scene from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays. This is part of the ongoing bridge replacement project. Pedestrian note: sidewalks on the pike will be closed from Kline Avenue to Penn and Airbrake avenues in Turtle Creek, including the bridge sidewalks, until the project is completed this fall.

Periodic lane closures have begun on Reedsdale Street under Route 65 approaching the Fort Duquesne Bridge during inspection of an overhead ramp, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily through Tuesday.

Other odds and ends:

An impressive showing by the Port Authority after Sunday night’s Penguins game. Not only extra service on the T, but frequent announcements in the stations about when trains would arrive. A far cry from the indifference shown to event attendees in the past.

Among the Presidents’ Day closures: PennDOT driver license and photo centers, this coming Saturday and Monday. Many services are available 24/7 at www.dmv.state.pa.us.

Gov. Tom Corbett’s transportation proposal would put an end to those little registration stickers that are pasted on license plates. That would end the need to mail registration cards, which means drivers could register and print out the documents online. Secretary Barry Schoch said police don’t need to see the stickers to know if you’re up to date; their onboard computers have that information. Change-averse drivers would still be able to register by mail, he said. As previously reported, the governor’s plan would switch from annual to biennial registrations. You’d only have to tend to this chore every two years, paying $72 for a two-year registration instead of $36 for one year. Driver’s license renewals would be stretched out from the current four years to six years, also with no change to the pricing level.

Pennsylvania leadership of the American Society of Civil Engineers released this statement today in support of the governor's plan:

Governor Corbett’s proposed transportation plan is vital for Pennsylvania’s future. We must invest in our infrastructure now to not only repair our deteriorating roads and bridges, but build the foundation for Pennsylvania families and businesses to thrive in a global economy.

Pennsylvania’s number of structurally deficient and functionally obsolete bridges still rates as the worst in the United States, and the poor ride quality of our highways and capacity-related congestion is costing the average Pennsylvania motorist hundreds of dollars each year in the form of additional maintenance and fuel costs. Our state’s current infrastructure is simply not meeting the needs of Pennsylvanians, and it is hurting our quality of life as well as our wallets.

ASCE appreciates the Governor’s transportation funding proposal as a positive step towards meeting PA’s transportation infrastructure needs.  It will serve to maintain the safety of the traveling public, create tens of thousands of much-needed jobs, make Pennsylvania the state of choice for expanding businesses, and ensure the overall quality of life of our children and future generations.

Mr. Corbett has sent PennDOT crews and equipment to Connecticut to help its residents dig out from the weekend blizzard.

"Our neighbors in Connecticut are struggling with closed roads, power outages and dwindling supplies of perishable goods -- when the call came in for help, we quickly responded,” Mr. Corbett said in a release. “I’m proud of our employees who will be working long hours and spending time away from their own families to help others in need.”

PennDOT crews from Somerset and Tioga counties left Saturday and crews from Montour and Columbia counties left Sunday. The state sent three massive snow blowers, three tractor trailers (to haul the snow blowers), three crew cab trucks, several equipment operators, several foremen and a mechanic. Those crews are working to clear roads in parts of Hartford, Farmington and Meriden, Conn. The crews expect to return later this week.

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There’s a certain brilliance to Gov. Tom Corbett’s transportation funding proposal, which would raise $5.4 billion in new revenue with something that is technically not a tax increase even though it walks, swims and quacks like one. On top of that, the governor’s plan to uncap the Oil Company Franchise Tax defies any precise forecast of what it will wind up costing drivers. That will depend on how gasoline prices fluctuate and how much added cost gasoline wholesalers will swallow rather than passing it along to the driving public.

None of that is going to stop us from offering an assessment of the impact, though. If a furry critter from the backwoods of Pennsylvania can get away with telling us spring is just around the corner while it’s snowing sideways, we can make a semi-educated guess as to what Mr. Corbett’s plan will cost a typical driver.

Warning: There will be math.

The tax on gasoline at the wholesale level is 153.5 mills but it is only applied to $1.25 per gallon of the actual price. (Wouldn’t it be nice if, say, the sales tax on a new car only applied to the first $5,000 of the purchase price?) Uncapping the OCFT would apply the tax to the full “average wholesale price,” which is calculated by the state Revenue Department based on last year’s prices, announced in December, and stays in effect for the entire following calendar year. This year’s magic number is $3.114 per gallon.

Mr. Corbett proposes lifting only one-third of the cap this year, and the rest in 2015 and 2017. For now, the cap is protecting $1.864 per gallon from taxation; tearing out a third of this tax shelter would subject another 62.1 cents of the wholesale price to the tax. That means 9.6 cents per gallon more (in this game, the rules say we always round up to the nearest tenth of a cent).

For a typical driver (12,000 miles in a 24 mpg vehicle), this translates into a $48 annual increase — but only if the wholesalers pass the full cost on. Some experts think they will absorb at least some of the increase, or maybe even raise prices someplace else (I vote Ohio) to recover the money.

But wait! More math is needed! The governor also wants to roll back the tax paid by drivers at the pump, currently 12 cents per gallon, by a penny. That knocks $5 off the annual impact on Average Motorist, bringing it down to $43.

That’s $43 toward better roads and bridges, solvent transit systems and improvements to rail, airports and trails. That’s less than the cost of a couple cases of beer or 15 minutes in front of a slot machine. And bear in mind, that’s the worst-case scenario.

What will happen in 2015 and 2017 when the rest of the cap would be removed? It’s not even worth hazarding a guess. Pump prices have fluctuated by 60 cents just in the past year. If you know what the price of gas will be in 2015 and 2017, I’ll start listening to your spring weather forecasts and tune out the groundhog.

Feel free to print this out and keep it handy for the next time someone screams bloody murder about the cost of the governor’s plan. We learned this week that traffic congestion is costing each of us $800 a year in wasted time and fuel, and bad roads another $373 in repair costs. The governor’s plan looks like a bargain.

AAA East Central has announced an advertising campaign in support of increased transportation funding, noting that it was founded in 1902 to lobby for adequate roads.

“Pennsylvania’s transportation network has grown considerably since then but today, the state’s roads and bridges are in poor condition due to decades of underinvestment and deferred maintenance,” the announcement said. Forty-three percent of major roads are in poor or just fair condition and 42 percent of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

More from AAA:

Road and bridge repairs and improvements are funded in Pennsylvania primarily through taxes on gasoline but because of increasing vehicle fuel efficiency and other factors, Pennsylvania now collects less fuel tax revenue per mile traveled than at any time in the past. A 2010 transportation study determined that Pennsylvania must invest an additional $3.5 billion annually in the state’s transportation system. The funding gap will nearly double by 2020 if not addressed.

“Deficient road and bridge conditions are a serious safety and economic issue,” said Brian Newbacher of AAA East Central. “Poor road conditions are a significant factor in over half of traffic fatalities. Also, driving on bad roads costs Pennsylvania drivers $3.2 billion a year -- an average of $373 per driver -- in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs.”

Pennsylvania AAA Clubs are launching a statewide public service outdoor advertising campaign to call attention to the state’s crumbling roads and unsafe bridges.

It wasn’t surprising that Democrats, sensing the governor is on thin ice politically, would attack his budget proposal. Here’s House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody:

He offered a gimmick on transportation funding -- lifting the cap on one tax while lowering another. But the net effect of that is to raise less -- far less -- than what is needed to address the state’s broken highways, deficient bridges, and aging transit systems.

For two years, the governor has paid lip service to the need to fund transportation. For the last couple of months, he has been promising a comprehensive, bold plan. What we got today is not anywhere close to adequate.  It’s hard to believe that this is the best he can do, but apparently it is. He had a chance to lead on transportation, but he did not do it.

Now it’s time to ditch the rhetoric and get to the bargaining table. Transportation is too vital to get jammed up in partisan politics.

Inspection of the ramp from the 10th Street Bypass to the outbound upper deck of the Fort Duquesne Bridge will cause a traffic shift from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday.

Pittsburgh Councilman William Peduto just announced on Twitter that the Highland Bridge connecting Shadyside and East Liberty will close for repairs in early March and stay closed into November.

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We’ll start today with a bit of good news: Pennsylvania’s was one of five state transportation departments recognized with partnership awards from the Keep America Beautiful organization.

“To reduce roadside litter and illegal dumping, KAB state affiliates must develop effective public-private partnerships,” said Keep America Beautiful president and CEO Matt McKenna in a statement. “Our State Department of Transportation Partner Awards represents the fine work that state DOTs achieve with their respective KAB state affiliate partners.”

“Keeping Pennsylvania beautiful is so important to our citizens and our communities, and that is obvious by the number of volunteers who get involved,” said PennDOT Secretary Barry Schoch in a statement. “It’s a great cause that reduces roadside litter and illegal dumping, while reducing costs to do so.”

Shoppers beware! The Amity Street railroad crossing at The Waterfront will be closed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The right lane on Chateau Street in the area of the Route 65 Marshall Avenue interchange has been closed long-term as part of the continuing reconstruction of the interchange. It will be closed around-the-clock between Adams Street and Beaver Avenue through late September to allow crews to rehabilitate overhead bridges.

Inspection of sign structures will cause inbound lane closures on Banksville Road near the Parkway West from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and on the ramp from the outbound Parkway West to Interstate 79 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Short-term lane closures are possible on Washington Road between Connor and Gilkeson roads and Ordale Boulevard in Mt. Lebanon from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays through Feb. 22 as crews do research for a future project.

Overnight lane closures are possible in both directions on the Parkway West from the split at Business Loop 376 to Pittsburgh International Airport starting at 10 p.m. daily through Feb. 15. Drilling and research is underway for a future project.

Freeport Road will be closed from Ninth Street and the C.L. Schmitt Bridge in East Deer to Conroy Way in Tarentum from midnight today to 7 a.m. Tuesday and from midnight Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday as Fagioli Inc. moves oversized loads through the area.

Drainage work that has closed a portion of Peebles Road in McCandless since late November will continue through Feb. 15. Completion of the work has been delayed by bad weather, PennDOT said.

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