PennDOT preps for nor’easter
“If you can stay home, stay home and let our crews go out there and do their jobs.”
That was the message PennDOT District 6 Acting Assistant District Executive for Maintenance Bob Kennedy gave at a Tuesday afternoon press conference outlining the agency’s preparations for handling the second nor’easter to bear down on the Delaware Valley in just five days at the agency’s maintenance facility on Swede Road.
Kennedy laid out the regions plans to tackle this latest winter storm, which he said will be treated as a serious weather event, especially in the aftermath of last Friday’s storm which downed trees and left thousands without power.
“Once again we’ll have strong winds, heavy rain followed by heavy wet snow in significant accumulations,” Kennedy said.
PennDOT will be devoting all of its 420 trucks and snow removal apparatus to keep the roads as safe and passable as possible and to deal with emergencies, including fallen trees.
A mobile equipment team from Western Pennsylvania consisting
of five dump trucks with wing plows from Erie and two graders from the Pittsburgh area have been dispatched to assist with operations in Upper Bucks County, which PennDOT expects to be the hardest hit.
Kennedy said PennDot elected not to initiate their anti-icing program because the rainfall preceding the snow would have washed the brine from roadways rendering it ineffective.
“Temperatures are going to be right around freezing, either a degree above or below, and that’s going to help us through this,” he said.
“So without having the brine down, it’s not going to matter much.”
Kennedy noted that PennDOT has 70,000 tons of salt on hand which will be sufficient to handle this storm as well as any future storms that could barrel through the region this season.
The district’s Incident Command Center will be online and salting operations will begin around 8 p.m., once the rain starts. And plow operations will begin when the snow starts to accumulate.
For accumulations of 8 inches or more, Kennedy said, plow trains, consisting of multiple trucks will be used on highways.
“Please don’t pass the plow trains,” he warned, asking motorists to keep in mind that the average snow route on interstates is about two to two and half hours and secondary roads may take even longer.
Kennedy advised motorists to visit 511pa.com to view traffic cameras on major routes and keep abreast of snow plow operations in real time.
He said crews are well rested despite the despite coming off a busy week and urged all motorists to exercise caution and stay safe.