Allentown, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is announcing the District 5 region winners of the Paint the Plow safety outreach contest.
Paint the Plow is a statewide initiative that highlights safe winter driving while showcasing the artistic talents of students across Pennsylvania. Students paint snowplow blades with original artwork reflecting a theme selected by PennDOT.
This year, Pleasant Valley High School of Monroe County won the “Fan Favorite” award, determined by online voting at penndot.pa.gov/PaintThePlow. The fans decided their plow design best captured the spirit of this year’s theme “Don’t race. Allow some space.” An honorable mention went to Lehigh Career & Technical Institute
Members of the public were invited to vote for their favorite plow from 15 area schools that entered in this year’s regional contest. Votes were accepted from December 8 through December 14, 2025. Pleasant Valley High School received 1,318 votes to earn the “Fan Favorite” honor.
The “Judges’ Pick” award was presented to Pocono Mountain High School of Monroe County, selected by a panel of PennDOT representatives. Their design stood out for its creativity and connection to the winter safety message. An honorable mention in this category went to Pleasant Valley High School of Monroe County.
Throughout the winter season, the student-painted plow blades are put into service on state-owned roadways.
Statewide, more than 78 schools participated in this year’s Paint the Plow, with over 22, 000 votes cast in the online “Fan Favorite” competition. Photos of all the plows can be viewed on PennDOT’s Paint the Plow website.
As a reminder, PennDOT urges motorists to practice caution around snowplows. Always maintain a distance of at least six car lengths behind a plow, avoid driving in blind spots, and never attempt to pass or drive between plows operation side by side in a “plow train”. Keep your headlights on to help plow drivers see your vehicle more clearly.
To help make decisions regarding winter travel, motorists are encouraged to “Know Before You Go” by checking conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, 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. Users can also see plow truck statuses and travel alerts along a specific route using the “Check My Route” tool.
For more information on PennDOT's winter preparations and additional winter-driving resources for motorists, visit the department's winter website.
Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Berks, Carbon. Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District5.
Information about infrastructure in District 5, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.pa.gov/D5Results. Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov.
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