Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Mike Carroll and Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PA Turnpike) Director of Maintenance John DelRicci today amplified the Shapiro Administration’s efforts to prepare the Commonwealth for the winter, highlighted job opportunities, and provided guidance on how Pennsylvanians can gear up for the upcoming winter travel season.

“Public safety is at the core of the Shapiro Administration’s mission, and PennDOT and our partners are prepared for the season ahead,” Secretary Carroll said. “We urge the public to be our teammates in making this season a safe one – prepare yourselves and your vehicles before winter begins. We also encourage people to apply to join our full-time or temporary teams to help serve our communities.”

The public can access travel information on nearly 40,000 state-maintained roadway miles year-round at www.511PA.com, and during the winter they can find plow-truck locations and details of when state-maintained roadways were last plowed. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,200 traffic cameras.

To help the public prepare for the season and share information about winter services, PennDOT offers operational information and traveler resources on its winter web page. The site also has a complete winter guide with detailed information about winter services in each of PennDOT’s 11 engineering districts.

As part of its mission and commitment to safety, the PA Turnpike has been preparing its vehicles and system to support roadway safety during the winter months. More than 600 equipment operators and safety patrol personnel as well as traffic operators are ready to provide 24/7 staffing and roadway assistance throughout the winter. The PA Turnpike understands the importance of supporting efficient and reliable travel and works to keep the PA Turnpike system as free of snow and ice as possible.

“We do our best to stay on top of winter weather to make the Pennsylvania Turnpike as safe as we can –because safety is core to our values, but we also need motorists to use safe driving habits and exercise caution during winter weather conditions,” DelRicci said. “As we gear up for winter, we need to work collectively to keep our employees and customers safe. Avoid driving during winter weather events when possible and when it’s not – reduce your speed, exercise extreme caution when you see amber or green lights and give plenty of distance between yourself and the plow trucks.”

With an estimate of over $207 million budgeted for this winter’s statewide operations, PennDOT deploys nearly 4,700 on-the-road workers, has more than 512,000 tons of salt on hand across the state, and will take salt deliveries throughout the winter.

PennDOT is actively seeking temporary equipment operators statewide for the winter season to supplement the department’s full-time staff. Details on minimum requirements – such as possession of a CDL – as well as application information​, are available at www.employment.pa.gov/penndot. Through the same website, job seekers can apply for other non-operator winter positions such as diesel and construction equipment mechanics, welders, clerks and more.

If motorists encounter snow or ice-covered roads, they should slow down, increase their following distance and avoid distractions. Additionally, seat belts should always be worn in a vehicle. Last winter in Pennsylvania, preliminary data shows that there were 8,329 crashes, 29 fatalities, and 2,959 injuries on snowy, slushy or ice-covered roadways. Eleven of the people who died weren’t wearing a seat belt, and 17 of the fatalities were in crashes where a driver was going too fast for conditions and drove out of their lane.

Motorists should prepare for potential wintry weather by ensuring they have supplies in their cars before heading out: food, water, blankets, extra gloves and hats, cell phone charger, hand or foot warmers, windshield brush and scraper, and any specialized items like medications or baby and pet supplies.

Southeastern region winter preparations

Carroll and DelRicci were joined today by PennDOT’s Delaware County Maintenance Manager Anthony Goreski, who highlighted PennDOT District 6’s readiness for the winter season across the five-county Philadelphia region.

District 6 is responsible for over 10,000 snow-lane miles on state highways in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties.

The District 6 fleet consists of 182 state-owned snowplow trucks and 262 contractor trucks and has more than 97,000 tons of salt on hand.

Assisting PennDOT this winter in the Philadelphia region are 89 municipalities that entered into winter maintenance agreements covering more than 2,500 snow lane miles, whereby local crews salt and plow specified state roads in each municipality.