Indiana, PA – With snow expected over the weekend, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) District 10 is reminding motorists to slow down, pay attention and use caution on area roadways, especially during snow squalls or in low-visibility conditions.
District 10 (Armstrong, Butler, Clarion, Indiana, and Jefferson Counties) is actively monitoring projected weekend precipitation types, rates, and times to determine the best treatments for roadways.
In a nonfreezing rainstorm, department crews may pretreat with salt brine, essentially a mix of water and salt, before frozen precipitation starts to fall. While salt brine isn't needed for every storm, when it's used it helps PennDOT get a jump start on removing ice and snow. Examples of when crews will not pretreat include when a storm is forecast to start as rain (rain will wash the material away) or when there is enough salt residue on the roadway from a previous storm.
In addition to storm preparation, how PennDOT uses winter materials during storms varies by roadway and precipitation type. On higher-volume roadways, salt is the primary winter material used through a storm, especially during rush hours and on bridges, hills, curves and intersections. On lower-volume roadways the amount of salt will be reduced, and anti-skid will be used more as salt is most effective with higher traffic volumes.
While avoiding or delaying travel during winter storms is the safest choice for motorists, PennDOT offers this advice if travel is necessary:
- Remove all snow and ice from your vehicle.
- Turn on your headlights. If caught in a snow squall, turn on your hazard lights as well.
- Use your defroster and wipers to keep windows clear of snow and ice.
- Drive at a speed that suits weather and roadway conditions.
- Stay in your lane and increase your following distance.
- Do not drive distracted.
- Stay alert and keep looking as far ahead as possible.
- Be patient.
- During whiteouts if you must stop, do so only when you can safely pull off the roadway.
- Always buckle up.
The department also asks motorists to allow plenty of space when driving near plow trucks. Also, for their own safety and the safety of plow operators, motorists should never attempt to pass a truck while it is plowing or spreading winter materials.
To help make decisions regarding winter travel, motorists are encouraged to "Know Before You Go" by checking conditions on Pennsylvania roadways 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 1,000 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.
Users can also see plow truck routes/locations along a specific route in 511PA using the "Check My Route" tool. Plow truck locations will be indicated by dots along a roadway. The time it takes for a plow truck to pass by the same point on the route depends on how heavy precipitation is and how much traffic is on the roadway. During a heavy and/or steady snowstorm, if snow is falling at one inch per hour and a truck route takes three hours to complete, three new inches of snow has fallen at the start of its route before the route is finished. Crews continue to complete routes throughout the storm, but roadways will not be free of snow or ice during the storm.
Subscribe to PennDOT news in in Armstrong, Butler, Clarion, Indiana, and Jefferson counties at www.PennDOT.pa.gov/District10.
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