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County Health and Public Works Departments Join Allegheny Alerts

Allegheny County is making it easier to avoid road construction and get vaccinations now that its notification program has expanded to the Public Works and Health departments.

Allegheny Alerts is a program that will call, text, or email people who sign up about the four departments involved. The program began in April with the Parks Department and the Kane Regional Centers.

“Now you can get alerts regarding road closures or emergencies that might be happening with our county roads. If you want to get some information about what’s going on in the health department wither it be with vaccinations, with food, with our Live Well Allegheny Program,” said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.

The program has 1,300 subscribers.

The Parks Department usually sends out information about events in the nine county parks, such as free concerts and festivals, and the Kane Regional Centers send out holiday event information, and special events people can attend when visiting loved ones at the nursing homes. Now that Public Works and the Health Departments are a part of the notification service, subscribers can find out even more about the county.

“If you don’t want those alerts, you don’t have to get them. If you find that they’re not useful to you, you can discontinue getting them, but it’s just trying to provide more information to people in a way that people get their information these days,” said Fitzgerald.

There are no more plans to expand the program at this time according to Fitzgerald.

Jess was accepted as a WESA fellow in the news department in January 2014. The Erie, PA native attends Duquesne University where she has a double major--broadcast journalism and political science. Following her anticipated graduation in May 2015, she plans to enter law school or begin a career in broadcast journalism.