Photo courtesy PennDOT
With winter weather around the corner, PennDOT, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission held a media briefing in Harrisburg to outline winter weather plans.
Winter is on its way and that means treacherous road conditions are too.
On Tuesday, PennDOT, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission held a media briefing in Harrisburg to outline winter weather plans.
According to a release, PennDOT has budgeted more than $197 million toward winter operations, including funds to deploy approximately 4,700 workers on the roads. It has stockpiled more than 700,000 tons of salt in anticipation of potential winter conditions.
“The safety of every Pennsylvanian is a top priority of the Shapiro Administration. We’ve been preparing for this winter since the last one ended,” PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said. “Across Pennsylvania, the team at PennDOT is hard at work fixing our roads, highways and bridges – making it easier and safer for Pennsylvania drivers while creating good paying jobs. Keeping our roads as safe as possible is a team effort, and we’d love to have people join our team.”
PennDOT urged motorists to slow down on snowy or icy roads, increase the distance between themselves and cars ahead of them and avoid distractions. THe department also urged avoiding unnecessary trips in inclement weather, changing travel plans if necessary and, if travel is unavoidable, ensuring you have supplies in case of an emergency.
Travel information and plow-truck locations are available at www.511PA.com.
General winter driving tips and further information on PennDOT winter operations are available at https://www.penndot.pa.gov/TravelInPA/Winter/Pages/default.aspx.
The event also highlighted the need for temporary equipment operators across the state to supplement full-time staff. The department hopes to employ more than 700 such operators and nearly 100 non-operator winter employees through the season. Requirements for the openings and application information are available at www.employment.pa.gov.