The head of the nonprofit Building Block of Natrona is lobbying for increased transit service that she said would provide residents of several Highlands communities with greater access to fresh food.

“Along the Allegheny River it’s mostly economically disadvantaged families with no access to transportation and no access to fresh food,” said Tricia Ritchie, president of the Building Block of Natrona. “People deserve the right to transportation and fresh food.”

The nonprofit is holding a series of community meetings to collect petition signatures to deliver to the Port Authority of Allegheny County to show there is support for increased transit service in the area.

Ritchie said her group wants Port Authority to extend its 1 Freeport Road bus route. It now ends at the park-and-ride lot under the Tarentum Bridge, but the group would like to see it continue northeast along the river before going up to the Sheldon Park housing complex in Harrison and then onto Highlands Mall, where residents would be able to shop for food at Walmart and reach other businesses, according to Ritchie.

About 50 people attended the nonprofit’s first community meeting last week at Sheldon Park. Three more meetings are planned, with the next one scheduled to run from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Central Presbyterian Church in Tarentum.

Ritchie said the group already has met its goal of collecting at least 500 signatures. The effort is being supported by the Highlands Partnership Network and a $1,100 grant from the Three Rivers Community Foundation.

The area previously had been served by the 5 Natrona route, according to Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph. The route was eliminated with others in 2011 after the federal government rejected a proposal to charge tolls on Interstate 80.

Brandolph said the authority has received the request for increased service in the Highlands area, but has not yet evaluated it.

“Demand for bus service is great throughout our entire county,” Brandolph said. “We have a process where residents who want bus service can provide suggestions. They’re welcome to go through that process.”

A form to request service is on Port Authority’s website, and all requests are treated the same, Brandolph said.

“It’s not a popularity contest,” he said.

If increased service were to be approved, Brandolph said it would be added no earlier than July 2021 during the authority’s 2021-22 fiscal year.

Ritchie is hoping for better.

“We are lobbying hard to be included in the July 1 fiscal budget,” she said. “We are hoping that the three productive meetings we’ve had with agency leaders as well as our grassroots efforts pay off with the extended line for our neighbors.”

Port Authority is hosting a series of meetings over the next few months to discuss upcoming projects and programs with residents.

The nearest to the Highlands area will be from 5 to 8 p.m. April 1 at the Springdale Veterans Association, 1151 Pittsburgh St.

“We are aware of these community meetings, and we plan on attending,” Ritchie said. “It does fit into our effort because we want to support the Port Authority’s attempts to make meaningful connections in the (Alle-Kiski) Valley while seeing how our proposal could dovetail into their plans for the region.”

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