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Governor Wolf thanks PennDOT crews

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Today in Lancaster, Harrisburg, and York Governor Wolf and PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards visited with PennDOT crews to thank them...
PennDOT and Winter Weather Preperations

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Today in Lancaster, Harrisburg, and York Governor Wolf and PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards visited with PennDOT crews to thank them for their service over the past winter storm weekend.

“I would like to truly thank the thousands of PennDOT workers whose tireless efforts during this historic storm helped to clear our roads and keep Pennsylvania citizens safe,” said Governor Tom Wolf. “Most of our 2,200 trucks and 4,800 equipment operators have been working shifts around the clock during the storm and will continue until clean up concludes.”

PennDOT crews continue to clear snow in the Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley and the central and southern regions of Pennsylvania in the wake of the massive snow storm that buried wide areas of the state.

“Our crews worked long and hard over the weekend to stay on top of the 10 to 30 inches of snow that blanketed much of the state,” said PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards. “We are gratified that many drivers heeded our warnings to postpone travel, and now we continue to wrap up and be prepared for whatever is coming our way in the weeks ahead.”

PennDOT crews worked all weekend including Sunday to push back and open routes shoulder to shoulder and are now using loaders to removing snow from areas where plows cannot reach, such as bridges. Urbanized areas will take longer based on parked cars and sidewalks. PennDOT also had patrols out overnight checking for icing from snow melt and the refreezing as overnight temperatures plunged.

The governor also discussed the state’s response efforts to a backlog of vehicles near Somerset over the weekend. PennDOT joined local responders, State Police and National Guard in supporting efforts by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to address stopped traffic approaching Allegheny Mountain over the weekend. PennDOT Friday night and Saturday plowed adjacent state and local roads up to the Turnpike emergency gate to assist in any evacuation of stranded vehicles that could be accomplished.

Motorists can check 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 770 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 accessible on the 511PA website.

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