Wolf Administration Outlines Measures Aimed at Safe, Improved Thanksgiving Travel

Wolf Administration Outlines Measures Aimed at Safe, Improved Thanksgiving
Travel

11/16/2017-HARRISBURG

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and Pennsylvania
State
Police (PSP) today outlined steps they are taking and highlighted tools
available to drivers to make travel as safe and efficient as possible for
the
upcoming Thanksgiving travel period.

Thanksgiving travelers are encouraged to visit the "Historic Holiday
Traffic"
page at www.511PA.com which allows users to see how traffic speeds on the
Wednesday before and Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2015 and 2016 compare to
traffic conditions during a typical, non-holiday week. Users can choose
their
region and view an hour-by-hour, color-coded visual of traffic speeds to
help
them decide the best times to travel during the holiday. 511PA also offers
real-time, traffic speed information for roughly 2,900 highway miles
throughout
PA.

"We continue to look for ways to put our tools to use for the public, and
to
take action where we can," PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards said. "I
encourage the public to check 511PA before any trip to help with their
travel
planning, especially during the holiday season."

PennDOT traffic management staff have analyzed this holiday data and
identified
locations and timeframes where congestion typically increases dramatically
during the holiday and will take steps to try to alleviate congestion and
improve safety. The department will also partner with police for increased,

strategic enforcement of speed and impaired driving laws. Travel data was
also
shared with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for distribution
to
9-1-1 centers so staff are aware of and can plan for peak travel times,
when
call volume could increase.

In the Harrisburg region, PennDOT identified consistent, increased
congestion
on the Sunday after the holiday near I-81 southbound at the I-78 split in
Lebanon County. To attempt to ease this congestion, the department will:

• Have a PSP trooper stationed in the regional traffic management center on

Sunday, November 26, for faster communications to field personnel for quick

incident and shoulder clearance;
• Use highway advisory radio messages and electronic message boards to
encourage travelers to reroute onto U.S. 22 westbound, which typically has
excess capacity;
• Use a traffic signals expert in its regional traffic management center to

manage U.S. 22's adaptive signal system to most effectively manage the
rerouted
traffic;
• Partner with PSP on concentrated traffic enforcement near this area and
to
actively clear disabled vehicles from the roadway; and
• Increase the hours that PennDOT's State Farm Safety Patrol will be on
duty
and patrolling this section of highway.

In the Philadelphia region, staff identified I-95 in Delaware County, I-76
(Schuylkill Expressway), and U.S. 202 and 422 near the King of Prussia Mall
and
the Philadelphia Premium Outlets as target areas. To assist with quick
incident
and shoulder clearance, the department will increase the hours that
PennDOT's
State Farm Safety Patrol will be on duty.

In the central region, congestion was identified at the I-80 Exit 161
(Bellefonte) in Centre County on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. PennDOT
will:

• Station maintenance staff within the I-80/I-99/Route 26 interchange in
Centre
County to manage traffic with a flagging operation during peak congestion;
• Proactively alert motorists of potential or actual delays using
travel-time
messages on electronic message signs;
• Activate electronic message signs to reroute I-80 westbound traffic to
Exit
173 (Lamar), use Route 64 south and return to I-99 southbound if necessary;
and
• Alert motorists of traffic conditions with highway advisory radio,
electronic
message signs and the 511PA service.

In the southwest region, traffic approaching the I-376 corridor east and
west
of the City of Pittsburgh on U.S. 19/Route 51, Route 28, U.S. 22, I-279,
and
I-79 will be alerted to I-376 conditions using electronic message boards.
In
addition:

• PSP will have an increased presence near the corridor to assist with
quick
incident and shoulder clearance;
• To facilitate anticipated traffic with the holiday and a Pittsburgh
College
football game on Friday, existing PennDOT State Farm Safety Patrols will be

supplemented by PennDOT tunnel maintenance staff on 16 miles of I-376; and
• PennDOT tunnel maintenance staff will patrol 16 miles of I-376 on
Saturday.

To further increase traffic-data availability for traffic management staff,

PennDOT has created a portal through which staff can receive prioritized
reports from Waze, a real-time crowdsourced navigation app through which
drivers share road conditions. As a member of the Waze Connected Citizens
Program, the department can receive incident or roadway concern alerts
faster
and respond more quickly if necessary.

PennDOT will also remove lane restrictions and suspend construction
projects
wherever possible through the holiday period. Motorists can see remaining
construction projects at www.511PA.com before they travel.

The public can use 511PA to check conditions on nearly 40,000 roadway miles
in
Pennsylvania. The service is free and available 24 hours a day, and
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. Information can also be
accessed by
calling 5-1-1 or by following regional Twitter alerts accessible on the
511PA
website.

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