The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is pleased to announce the 2024-25 District 9 winner of the Paint the Plow safety outreach contest.
Paint the Plow is a statewide outreach aimed at promoting winter driving safety and fostering appreciation for high school art programs and student creativity. Students are invited to paint a plow blade with an original design based on a provided theme.
Bedford High School from Bedford County, won the “Fan Favorite” award, which was determined by online voting through penndot.pa.gov/PaintThePlow. The plow depicts the Bedford Bison mascot frozen in a block of ice on an icy background with this year’s theme “Use your reason when it’s freezin’.” Tussey Mountain High School receives a very special nod for coming in second with its illustration of a driver texting and driving, thus choosing between good and evil options for distracted driving through a winter scene complete with a snowplow and Mother Nature.
Members of the public were invited to vote for their favorite plow from seven area high schools that entered in this year’s regional contest. Votes were accepted from December 9, through December 15, 2024. Bedford High School received 1,338 votes to win the 2024 “Fan Favorite” honor. Long-time previous winner Tussey Mountain High School came in second with 984 votes.
In total, seven high schools across District 9 – Bedford High School, Chestnut Ridge, and Tussey Mountain, all from Bedford County, Cambria Heights, and Penn Cambria, from Cambria County, Southern Huntingdon, from Huntingdon County, and Berlin Brothersvalley, from Somerset County - participated in this year’s competition.
Two non-competing schools reached Honorable Mention status for District 9. Students from Glendale Elementary in Cambria County and Tussey Mountain Middle School in Bedford County designed wonderful plow art just for fun and as practice for when they are old enough to compete in high school.
During the winter weather season, the painted blades are used to maintain state-owned roadways.
Statewide, more than 75 schools participated in Paint the Plow and 23,140 votes were cast. Photos of all the plows can be viewed on the PennDOT’s Paint the Plow website.
Additionally, PennDOT reminds motorists to give plow trucks on the road plenty of space, staying at least six car lengths behind. There may be blind spots where it is difficult for the plow operator to see the smaller vehicle. Never try to pass or get between several trucks plowing side by side in a "plow train,” and keep your lights on to help the operator better see your vehicle.
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.
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 Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon, and Somerset counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District9.
Follow PennDOT District 9 on X and like the department on Facebook and Instagram.