PennDOT Urges Drivers to Use Extra Caution During Winter Storm

PennDOT Urges Drivers to Use Extra Caution During Winter Storm

2/8/2017-KING OF PRUSSIA

With the season's first measurable winter storm predicted to strike
southeastern Pennsylvania tomorrow, the Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation (PennDOT) urges drivers to use extra caution and to expect
travel delays since the heaviest snow is expected to fall during the
morning
rush hours.

"We anticipate snow to fall heavily during the peak morning drive time and
motorists, if they must travel, should be prepared to encounter slower
travel
speeds and delays due to difficult driving conditions and poor visibility,"

said PennDOT District Executive Kenneth M. McClain.

For the upcoming winter storm, McClain said PennDOT will be deploy over 360

state and contractor trucks to plow state highways and keep them passable
in
the five-county Philadelphia region. He added that motorists can expect to
face
snow covered roads if snow falls at a rate of one-to-two inches an hour.

When traveling during a winter storm, motorists need to slow down, increase

their following distance and avoid distractions. Drivers also need to be
extra
cautious around operating snow-removal equipment. PennDOT advises
motorists to
stay at least six car lengths behind snow plows when they are operating and

they should never try to pass a plow truck.

PennDOT recommends that motorists carry an emergency kit including items
such
as non-perishable food, water, first-aid supplies, warm clothes, a blanket,

cell phone charger and a small snow shovel. Additionally, motorists should
tailor their kits to any specific needs that they or their families have.

PennDOT has more than 107,000 tons of salt stockpiled throughout the
five-county Philadelphia region. Crews will spread salt at the onset of the

storm to keep the pavement wet and help with initial melting. Additional
salt
will be spread as required during the course of the storm. To date, PennDOT
has
used 33,114 tons of salt this winter in the Philadelphia region.

In southeastern Pennsylvania, PennDOT maintains 3,557 linear miles and
11,106
snow-lane miles of state highway. A snow-lane is the distance of a road
multiplied by the number of travel lanes.

Assisting PennDOT in the region are 95 municipalities that entered into
winter
maintenance agreements, whereby local crews salt and plow specified state
roads
in each municipality. These municipal crews service 2,985 snow lane miles
of
state highway in the region.

For more winter driving tips and information on how PennDOT treats winter
storms, visit www.PennDOT.gov/winter.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles by
visiting
www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides

traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and
access
to more than 770 traffic cameras.

511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and
Android
devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts
accessible
on the 511PA website.

For more PennDOT information, visit www.penndot.gov. Follow local PennDOT
Information on Twitter at www.twitter.com/511PAPhilly, and follow the
department on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/pennsylvaniadepartmentoftransportation and Instagram at
www.instagram.com/pennsylvaniadot.

To view a complete list of District 6 News Releases: Click
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