Hempfield is eyeing sidewalk installation along sections of Mt. Pleasant Road to bolster pedestrian safety near the area’s neighborhoods, businesses, Pitt campus and future Weatherwood Park.

The first phase of a proposed project, which could start in 2027, would add 13,000 square feet of 6-foot-wide sidewalk along the county-owned road from Weatherwood Lane to Old Airport Road. The work would include curb ramps, flashing beacons and pedestrian signals.

The second phas would include installing a sidewalk along Mt. Pleasant Road, from Old Airport Road to Finoli Drive — the entrance to the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg campus.

Third phase would stretch from Weatherwood Lane to Thornton Avenue, and a fourth phase would add sidewalk along Pellis Road, from Mt. Pleasant Road to Hempfield’s Eastwood neighborhood, Siko said.

“The Mt. Pleasant Road corridor … has a specific need for those types of improvements,” Siko said, “connecting from the University of Pittsburgh all the way back into the Greensburg business district.”

Nine reportable vehicle crashes — those involving injuries or death, school buses or significant damage to a vehicle or property such as guide rails and signage — have taken place along Mt. Pleasant Road from Weatherwood Lane to Thornton Avenue between 2020 and 2024, Siko said.

The entirety of Mt. Pleasant Road has seen 58 total crashes from January 2020 to December 2024, according to PennDOT data. Minor injuries were sustained in 20 of the crashes, two resulted in serious injuries and one caused a death.

Tanner B. Van Woundenberg, 19, of Trafford died after crashing his motorcycle along the road in September 2021.

Audrey Fruehauf, 18, of Rector — a Pitt-Greensburg student — was seriously injured when she was struck by a car while crossing Mt. Pleasant Road near Finoli and University drives in November 2023.

Hempfield has considered installing sidewalk along the road since it acquired 43 acres of land from Excela in 2021 for its Weatherwood Park and Hempfield Municipal Complex, located along Route 30, Siko said.

But vehicle crashes also have contributed to the conversation.

“The accident that occurred at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg intersection there with one of the Pitt students certainly serves as a wake-up call for our community and for Westmoreland County, who owns this section of the roadway and maintains it,” Siko said.

“We need to be cognizant of the risks that are there for people who are using pedestrian mobility as a main means of travel from neighborhoods to civic sites throughout our community.”

Pitt-Greensburg is also on board with the project, according to spokesperson Susan Isola.

“The university would welcome a project that improves safety for pedestrians on Mt. Pleasant Road,” Isola said.

The township is applying for a Department of Community and Economic Development pedestrian improvement grant to finance the project’s nearly $1.7 million first phase.

Funding could be received by late next spring and construction could start in 2027, Siko said. The start date may be pushed to early 2028 if the township encounters hurdles with permitting and acquiring rights of way, he said.

There is no timeline yet for the other phases of the project, Siko said.

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