PennDOT highlighting its winter season preparedness and public safety tips across the five-county Philadelphia region with the cold season about seven weeks away officially.
“Our crews are prepared to deliver the best possible service no matter what the weather brings to our region” said PennDOT District 6‘s Senior Assistant District Executive of Maintenance Thomas Rogal. “Our top priority every day is public safety, especially during inclement weather, which is why planning for the winter season occurs throughout the year.”
District 6 is responsible for over 10,000 snow-lane miles on state highways in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties. When winter weather hits, PennDOT’s primary focus is on interstates, expressways, and higher-traffic roads and will continue to keep all routes passable. During larger storms, lower-traffic roadways may take longer to address but PennDOT will continue to plow roads until the storm ends and roads are cleared.
PennDOT continues to ask for the public’s help in keeping themselves and snowplow drivers safe by slowing down, increasing their following distance, avoiding distractions, and staying off the road during winter storms.
“We ask for motorists help in keeping us all safe, said Rogal. “We want our employees working to clear the roadways and the public to get home safely to their friends and families. Patience during a winter event is essential.”
Last winter in Pennsylvania, preliminary data shows that there were 151 crashes statewide resulting in three fatalities and 55 injuries on snowy, slushy, or ice-covered roadways where aggressive-driving behaviors such as speeding or making careless lane changes were factors.
With over $18 million budgeted for this winter’s regional operations, the District 6 fleet consists of 182 state-owned snow trucks and 263 private contractor trucks and has over 110,000 tons of salt on hand. The number of contractor trucks and materials used for each event is determined by the severity of each storm.
Assisting PennDOT this winter in the Philadelphia region are 92 municipalities that entered into winter maintenance agreements covering more than 3,500 snow lane miles, whereby local crews salt and plow specified state roads in each municipality.
