A Gateway to Revitalization
Transportation infrastructure improvement strategy for the Monaca Borough, Pennsylvania
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Project Summary
Community: Monaca, Pennsylvania
Technical Assistance: Strategic Action Plan
Former Use: Steel Mill, Railroads
Future Use: Support-Stream Industry Near a
New Petrochemical Plant
The Borough of Monaca, Pennsylvania primarily
manufactured steel and railroad infrastructure throughout
the industrial period. The industrial legacy resulted in
many abandoned brownfield sites that lie adjacent to the
Ohio River. Contamination at these sites can negatively
affect environmental and public health.
In 2013, the Borough and three surrounding partner
communities completed the Ohio River Area-Wide Plan
(AWP). This plan presented redevelopment approaches
for several brownfield sites. Shortly after the completion of
the AWP, however, Royal Dutch Shell acquired several
parcels for an ethane cracker plant. This unexpected
development (and major change in land use) prompted the
Borough to rethink its vision for the brownfield sites along
its downtown Pennsylvania Avenue corridor and Ohio
River waterfront.
The Community's Challenge
The Borough quickly needed to figure out how to preserve
the community's goals of improving the environmental
quality of the Ohio River while realizing the full potential of
the unexpected manufacturing and support-stream
development. Specifically, the Borough needed support to
advance transportation and safety improvements along
Pennsylvania Avenue and create a complete street
gateway that fosters economic revitalization.
EPA's Land Revitalization Technical Assistance
In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Land Revitalization Program provided contractor technical
assistance to develop a land use and transportation
improvement plan for the Monaca downtown corridor.
After coordinating stakeholder meetings and
understanding industrial development conditions, EPA
prepared a Transportation Infrastructure Improvements
Implementation Strategy. The Strategy offers specific
recommendations and cost estimates for implementing
transportation improvements, green infrastructure, and a
revised bike-pedestrian trail route through Monaca's
downtown area and along the Ohio River.
The technical assistance that EPA provided will prepare
Monaca to alter its main roadways for enhanced safety
and economic development, and to reuse its brownfield
sites in a manner compatible with expected regional
industrial development.
Vision for transportation and green infrastructure improvements at
the 17th Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue interchange.
For more information, contact Patricia Corbett, EPA
Region 3 Brownfields Program, at
corbett.patricia@epa.gov.
s>EPA
United States	Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization
Environmental Protection
Agency	560-F-19-005-E

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