Montoursville, PA – In an effort to enhance the safety on north central Pennsylvania roadways for both construction workers and motorists, the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) have teamed up to deploy “Operation Yellow Jacket” in highway work zones.
“Operation Yellow Jacket” places state police troopers inside PennDOT vehicles in active construction zones. While inside the vehicles, they can monitor for traffic violations such as speeding, tailgating, distracted driving, and other violations. If the trooper sees a violation, they will communicate to another trooper in a marked PSP patrol unit to initiate a traffic stop.
“Our goal is to change driver behavior and to increase work zone safety,” said Public Information Officer Trooper Sara Barrett, Pennsylvania State Police Troop F. “Speeding, distracted driving, and aggressive driving behavior is dangerous and can cost people their lives. We want the public to realize that the state police have a presence in work zones and are actively working to promote work zone safety.”
“Traffic control in work zones have a purpose and are designed with safety in mind for both the workers and the motorists,” said Assistant District Engineer for Maintenance Ken Bair. “When necessary, speed limits are decreased in work zones due to the complexity of the changing traffic patterns. It is important that motorists slow down, pay attention to the road, and follow all posted signage.”
The strategy is part of a broader effort to curb the number of work zone crashes in the region. In 2024, PennDOT recorded 1,250 work zone crashes in Pennsylvania, resulting in 22 fatalities, and 62 serious injuries. Since 1970, PennDOT has lost 91 workers in the line of duty.
State law requires drivers to slow down, turn on their headlights, and obey all posted speed limits and traffic patterns when driving through work zones. Under Title 75, Section 3326, motorists caught by police driving 11 mph or more above the posted speed limit in an active work zone, or who are involved in a crash in an active work zone and are convicted for failing to drive at a safe speed, automatically lose their license for 15 days. Additionally, fines for certain traffic violations — including speeding, driving under the influence, and failure to obey traffic devices — are doubled for active work zones. The law also provides for up to five years of additional jail time for individuals convicted of homicide by vehicle for a crash that occurred in an active work zone.
Motorists can check conditions on major 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 X alerts.
Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Tioga, Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, Union, Snyder, Northumberland, Montour and Columbia counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District3.
Information about infrastructure in District 3, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.pa.gov/D3Results. Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov.
Follow PennDOT news on X, Facebook and Instagram.
MEDIA CONTACT: Trooper Sara Barrett, PSP, 570-524-2662 or sabarrett@pa.gov
Maggie Baker, PennDOT, 570-368-4202 or magbaker@pa.gov
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