DAUPHIN, Pa. – On Monday, December 5, PennDOT maintenance crews will repair the pavement on southbound Interstate 81 in Franklin County that was damaged when a gasoline tanker overturned and caught fire on Thanksgiving night. Southbound I-81 will be limited to a single lane between Exit 20 (Route 997/Scotland) and just north of Exit 17 (Walker Road) starting at 8:30 a.m and continuing until the repairs are completed in the late afternoon.
The area of damaged asphalt pavement that will be removed and replaced is roughly 100 feet long and 40 feet wide. This operation is weather-dependent, and could be postponed if it rains.
Motorists are asked to be alert, to obey all work zone signs, and to slow down when approaching and traveling through the work area, for their safety as well as for the safety of the road crews.
The highway was damaged and truck driver William Golladay, 48, of Mount Jackson, Virginia, was killed when his tanker truck, crashed at around 6 p.m. on November 22 near milepost 19. The tanker hit a guide rail and the gasoline in the tanker caught fire forcing the closure of I-81 between Exit 20 and Exit 17 for about 5 hours.
Motorists can also check conditions on I-81 and more than 40,000 roadway miles by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, is available 24 hours a day, for traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 770 traffic cameras, 94 of which are in south central Pennsylvania.
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.