PHIA News Digest – Vol. 57
This year was a big year for PennDOT, 2016 will be bigger: Leslie Richards
As 2015 draws to a close, I wanted to report on what I and my nearly 12,000 colleagues at PennDOT have done for you this year.
On the road and bridge system, PennDOT awarded 608 highway and bridge construction contracts worth more than $2.5 billion, almost double what we were able to do about two years ago.
If it gets icy, drivers must adjust, PennDOT says
It’s been a mild December, with the greatest driving danger so far being heavy rain.
And now we’re in for a change, but at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, they’re fretting that plowable snow isn’t in the forecast.
“It’s potentially more dangerous,” local spokesman Sean Brown said about the forecast for sleet and freezing rain.
PennDOT details year’s projects
The state Department of Transportation spent more than $172 million improving roads and bridges throughout north-central Pennsylvania this year, including work done in Centre County.
Improvements included roadway paving and resurfacing, safety enhancements and bridge rehabs, repairs and replacements, a PennDOT news release said Monday. District 2 completed 56 major projects in 2015, including 26 bridge replacements and paving of 167 miles of state highway in nine counties, including Centre.
New technology to improve efficiency of PennDOT plow trucks
Snow and cold weather have largely skirted around Southwestern Pennsylvania so far this winter, but when they hit, the state Department of Transportation will be ready.
New technology – the Automated Vehicle Location system – has been added to more than 700 plow trucks, which will allow PennDOT to better track its trucks and plan their routes.
PennDOT resurfaced 215 miles of local roads in 2015
More state roads in Southeastern Pennsylvania were resurfaced this year than in each of the previous six years, state officials reported recently.
The state Department of Transportation resurfaced 215 miles of roads in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, Bucks and Chester Counties at a cost of $104 million, officials said. Statewide, PennDOT resurfaced more than 6,000 miles and awarded about $2.5 billion in contracts for bridge and road work in 2015.
PennDOT applies for emergency funding for washout repair
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has applied for emergency state funding to repair a section of Route 322 that was washed out by rainy weather.
Repair work will start “as soon as feasible” after a contractor is selected, which could happen as early as this week, a PennDOT spokesman said Wednesday.
Pa. LCB, police and PennDOT team for app to help revelers get home safe
Before you pop, clink and cheer the new year, state officials hope party-goers will scan, click and plan a safe ride home.
The state Liquor Control Board, state police and PennDOT have teamed up to encourage residents to download a free smartphone app called SaferRide that’s designed to get people home safely if they’ve been drinking.
