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Venango County Aid Program

The Venango County Aid program is a competitive grant developed to assist local municipalities by allocating funding toward project requests, which are reviewed, ranked, and awarded on an annual basis and funded by the County's distribution from the Liquid Fuels Act 39 Fund. Eligible projects for these funds include construction, maintenance, and repair of roads and bridges, and the County has continued to fund municipal requests in the form of County Aid since the inception of the program in the early '90s.

The Venango County Commissioners are collecting applications for the 2026 County Aid Program to provide reimbursable grants to the municipalities within Venango County in an effort to more quickly fund eligible and necessary construction, maintenance, and repairs to local roads and bridges. The County has chosen to allocate $250,000 of County Liquid Fuels funds in the 2026 budget to be used for the County Aid Program. Applications are due September 25th, 2026. The applications will be reviewed by the committee in October and awards will be announced at the Commissioner Board Meeting in November. More information can be reviewed in the document materials below: 

National Bridge Inspection Program

The National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) were established by the federal government to ensure highway bridges on public roads throughout the United States are inspected according to basic safety standard. Program oversight responsibility is passed on to PennDOT who provides for the routine inspection of all locally-owned bridges on public roads over 20-feet in length. The VCRPC administers agreements with the municipalities to manage the inspection process through a joint-contract with the engineering firm STV, Incorporated and ensures compliance with all federal requirements. A portion of funds from PA Acts 44 (PA Turnpike Funds) and 89 (Gasoline Tax & Licensing Fees) helps to fund inspections and other associated costs for bridge projects. The municipalities of Venango County own a total of fifty-one (51) bridges, and the County owns nineteen (19) bridges, for a total of seventy (70) bridges mandated by the NBIS program.

Act 13 - At-Risk Bridge Program

Venango County collects an annual distribution–like many counties and municipalities in the Commonwealth– from Act 13: Unconventional Gas Well Impact Fee, of which the Marcellus Shale Legacy Fund is nested under. The County has chosen to allocate their portion of their Act 13 funds toward the At-Risk Bridge Program, which is a reimbursable grant administered by the County in coordination with PennDOT and the Northwest Regional Planning Commission. The At-Risk Bridge Program fund supports the replacement or rehabilitation of bridges which are at-risk, structurally deficient, or weight restricted based on load rating. Applications are collected year-round, reviewed in order once complete applications are received, and considered for funding based on available allocations. Although there were no projects funded in 2025, these funds roll-over in a capital reserve fund which may be drawn in later years.