Look for the signs soon.

A pair of signs designating a portion of Route 30 from North Greengate Road to East Pittsburgh Street as the J. Edward “Hutch” Hutchinson Memorial Bypass should be going up no later than this fall.

State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, said the bill she introduced creating the designation has received final legislative approval and is headed for Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk for his signature. Highway signs commemorating the late fire chief should be going up this year, she said.

Hutchinson died April 15, 2018, at 96.

The longtime fire chief and community booster had been active in the fire service in Greensburg for 78 years and was fire chief for 63 years prior to his death. He was credited with launching the fire department’s blood hound team and a tactical rescue team and was the force behind the fire department’s work responding to disasters up and down the East Coast.

Ward noted Hutchinson steered various community projects, including the Aerobic Center, the Air Rescue East helicopter service, Mutual Aid Ambulance Service, the fitness center at Greensburg Salem High School and sports fields and various pavilions throughout Greensburg. He helped create the Westmoreland County 911 system in the 1970s and served for many years on Excela Westmoreland Hospital’s board of directors.

“Naming a road after Hutch is the least we can do to honor the great impact he made on our communities. Our area will benefit from his contributions for years to come,” Ward said.

Ward pitched the honor that received overwhelming support last winter.

The Route 30 Hutchinson Bypass joins the Route 66 Greensburg Bypass, a highway originally named for the fire chief’s brother, Amos K. Hutchinson, a late state lawmaker who lobbied for years to have the road.

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