Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Director Randy Padfield, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll, and Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission CEO Mark Compton held a media briefing to outline plans for winter services, highlight job opportunities, and discuss how Pennsylvanians can prepare for the season.
“Winter weather in Pennsylvania can be unpredictable and state agencies are ready for it, but the public also plays an important role in safety on the roads during inclement weather and we want them to be prepared as well,” said Padfield. “Checking the forecast and road conditions before heading out, having multiple ways to get weather alerts and having basic supplies in your vehicle can make a difference in getting to your destination safely.”
Padfield said basic necessities like nonperishable food, water, warm clothing and blankets, phone chargers, snow scrapers and brushes, and specialized items such as medication or supplies for children and pets should be kept in vehicles throughout the winter travel season. More suggestions for emergency necessities, including checklists, are available online.
To help the public prepare for the season and share information about winter services, PennDOT offers operational information and traveler resources on its winter web page. The site also has a complete winter guide with detailed information about winter services in each of PennDOT’s 11 engineering districts.
“Winter road maintenance is a core part of PennDOT’s mission, and the department has not only made its usual seasonal preparations but also continued to find new ways to help the public navigate winter travel,” Carroll said. “Keeping our roads as safe as possible is a team effort, and we’d love to have people join our team – sitting in our plow trucks, but also as our teammates in getting everyone home safely each day.”
PennDOT is also adding and expanding tools and safety measures for the public:
PennDOT is expanding automated weather messaging corridors where roadside weather station readings are used to alert drivers of potential whiteout and slippery driving conditions ahead. The department piloted a corridor last winter on Interstates 79 and 90 in Erie County and will be expanding this technology to major interstate corridors throughout the state. On these corridors, when weather stations in the area indicate low visibility, high levels of snow intensity, and a decrease in the friction levels of the pavement, changeable message signs approaching the area are automatically updated with warning messages to inform drivers they are approaching dangerous driving conditions: “Whiteout conditions ahead, reduce speed.”As part of PennDOT’s data-sharing agreement with Waze (through which the department currently provides crash, work-zone, and other data for navigation purposes), beginning this winter PennDOT plow trucks and Freeway Service Patrol vehicles will appear within the navigation provider’s “Roadside Hazard” category. Waze users will hear and see alerts about the vehicles as they approach them, providing enhanced safety and information for the public and those working on the roads.PennDOT is partnering with Fleetworthy (formerly Drivewyze) – a trucking information application – to provide vehicle restriction information to truck drivers when they’re in effect during the winter season. Truck drivers using the service will receive an alert in their vehicle when approaching an interchange with a road where a restriction is in effect, providing an additional, advance notice when inclement weather requires these restrictions. Through the same partnership, PennDOT and the PA Turnpike provide work-zone truck-specific alerts through this service.