Uniontown residents will soon see safer intersections along the Sheepskin Trail corridor after the City Council approved a request for a $1,028,038 Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Multimodal Grant on Thursday. The grant, tied to the Sheepskin Trail project, will fund the reconfiguration of four traffic lights to better accommodate foot and non‑motorized traffic while also improving vehicle flow, Mayor Bill Gerke said.
“We’re not including foot/bike traffic now, so after we reconfigure those, it’ll make it easier and safer for foot/bike traffic, and of course automotive traffic as well,” Gerke explained. One of the lights slated for repair has been out of service for an extended period and sits in front of the city fire station at the corner of East Penn Street and North Beeson Avenue. Gerke called that particular fix “very costly,” underscoring the need for the grant’s funding.
According to a PennDOT website dedicated to the Sheepskin Trail work, the signal upgrades are a prerequisite for a planned, separated multi‑use trail that will run parallel to the Beeson Avenue corridor. The separate trail segment will be constructed by other groups once the traffic‑signal improvements are completed.
The city previously pursued the same improvements through a federal grant, but the new state grant follows a similar structure and is expected to move more quickly. “This is about the same structure as the previous grant we had applied for,” Gerke noted, adding that the state grant “seems to work a little better for us.”
PennDOT is expected to notify Uniontown of the grant award sometime after the start of 2027. When the funding is confirmed, the city plans to begin repairs on the fire‑station light and the three additional signals along Beeson Avenue. “Whenever it’s awarded, which should be sometime in 2027, that is when we could move forward with the light repairs,” Gerke said.
Local commuters, cyclists, and trail users stand to benefit from reduced wait times and enhanced safety at these intersections, a development that aligns with Uniontown’s broader goals of promoting active transportation and supporting economic growth along the trail corridor.
What’s next: Uniontown officials will await PennDOT’s award decision after early 2027. Once confirmed, the city will schedule the signal‑reconfiguration work, with construction expected to begin later that year.
Sources: heraldstandard.com
