Governor Wolf Announces New Winter Travel Tool for Public, Administration Outlines Winter Preparations

Governor Wolf Announces New Winter Travel Tool for Public, Administration
Outlines Winter Preparations

10/19/2017-NORRISTOWN

With the winter season approaching, Governor Tom Wolf today announced that
a
new online tool is available to inform the public of Pennsylvania
Department of
Transportation (PennDOT) operations this winter. He made the announcement
in
conjunction with a news conference that PennDOT Secretary Leslie S.
Richards
held today outlining the agency's plans for winter services, and sharing
job
opportunities and driver preparation tips.

"Public safety is our principal mission, which drives our team's
preparation
for the winter season," Governor Wolf said. "Not only are PennDOT's staff,
equipment and materials ready to go, but we also have yet another tool for
the
public to make winter travel decisions."

New this winter, the public can view a color-coded map of when each of the
nearly 40,000 miles of state-maintained roadway was last plowed by visiting
the
www.511PA.com plow trucks section. The information is the latest
enhancement
made possible by PennDOT's Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) technology,
which
uses units in each of the more than 2,200 department-owned and rented plow
trucks to send a cellular signal showing truck locations.

The AVL program, started in 2014, is part of Governor Tom Wolf's GO-TIME
initiative that leverages inter-agency coordination and collaboration to
maximize efficiency, modernize state government operations, and provide the

highest quality services.

During the news conference at the PennDOT maintenance facility in
Norristown,
Montgomery County, Richards noted that PennDOT is actively seeking
approximately 480 temporary equipment operators statewide for the winter
season
to supplement the department's full-time staff. Details on minimum
requirements, such as possession of a CDL, as well as application
information,
are available at www.employment.pa.gov. Through the same website, job
seekers
can apply for seven other types of non-operator, winter positions such as
diesel and construction equipment mechanics, welders, clerks and more.

In discussing PennDOT's readiness for the season ahead, Richards said that
the
department has compiled its information about winter services and
winter-driving resources for motorists at www.penndot.gov/winter. The site
also
has a complete winter guide with detailed information about winter services
in
each of PennDOT's 11 engineering districts.

The 40,000 miles for which PennDOT is responsible translates into 96,000
snow-lane miles -- enough miles to circle the globe nearly four times. A
snow-lane is calculated as the miles of road multiplied by the number of
lanes,
which means a one-mile section of four-lane roadway would equal four
snow-lane
miles.

The department maintains roughly the same number of miles maintained by the

state in New York, New Jersey and all of the New England states combined.

With $220 million budgeted for this winter's statewide operations, PennDOT
deploys about 4,800 on-the-road workers, has more than 652,000 tons of salt
on
hand across the state and will take salt deliveries throughout the winter.

"Carrying out our winter mission is a massive undertaking for our team, and

it's critical that the public do their part to keep our roads as safe as
possible," Richards said. "Drivers should keep safety top of mind in their
travel decisions, and give our operators and other motorists plenty of room

during inclement weather."

When winter weather hits, PennDOT's primary focus is on interstates and
expressways, and equipment may be redirected to those routes during
significant
winter events. The more traffic a roadway has, the more attention it will
receive from plows, so motorists may find deeper accumulations on
less-traveled
routes and should adjust their driving for those conditions.

If motorists encounter snow or ice-covered roads, they should slow down,
increase their following distance and avoid distractions. Last winter in
Pennsylvania, preliminary data shows that there were 252 crashes resulting
in
129 injuries on snowy, slushy or ice-covered roadways where
aggressive-driving
behaviors such as speeding or making careless lane changes were factors.

In addition to planning for traffic impacts, Richards noted that vehicle
preparation is critical to safe winter travel. Tires should be checked
often
for the correct level of air pressure and adequate tire-tread depth to
perform
on ice and snow. A quick way to check tread depth is to insert a penny in
the
tread groove with Lincoln's head upside down. If you can see the entire
head,
the tires are worn and traction will suffer. If you live in an area prone
to
heavy snow, drivers may want to consider using dedicated snow tires or
carrying
a set of tire chains. At a minimum, all-season tires should be rated for
use in
mud and snow.

Once vehicles are travel-ready, drivers should be prepared for winter or
vehicle emergencies especially if long-distance travel is planned. PennDOT
urges motorists to carry an emergency kit. An emergency kit should include
items such as non-perishable food, water, first-aid supplies, warm clothes,
a
blanket, cell phone charger and a small snow shovel. However, motorists
should
tailor their kits to any specific needs that they or their families may
have.
Consider adding such items as baby supplies, extra medication, pet
supplies, or
even children's games.

In addition to viewing plow information, motorists can use www.511PA.com to

check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded
winter conditions on 2,900 miles. 511PA, which is free and available 24
hours a
day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed
information, and access to more than 850 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.

To view a complete list of District 6 News Releases: Click
http://www.penndot.gov/RegionalOffices/district-6/Pages/allnews.aspx

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