—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 18,1978
40
PennDOT is pessimistic about snow removal
HARRISBURG - The
Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation is about to
face another dilemma ...
Winter.
“We have yet to recover
from the $B5 million cost of
last Winter, and some
forecasters are predicting
another severe snow
season,” George S. Pulakos,
acting Secretary of Tran
sportation, commented
Monday.
“The tremendous Spring
road break-up that followed
brought PennDOT to its
knees and made our fiscal
condition even more critical.
Now, it is almost Winter
again and we must prepare
for snow and ice removal on
the 45,000 miles of state
roads.
“But, our major problem
is that there will be even less
to spend than last Winter,”
Pulakos lamented.
“Pothole repair and
resurfacing of the worst
roadways consumed much of
our funds and the highways
construction program has
been halted since June, 1977.
And, we need about five
million dollars in state funds
for nearly 700 high priority
federal-aid safety projects,”
the Secretary explained.
What this means, ac
cording to Louis G. O’Brien,
PennDOT’s director of
Maintenance, is that Penn-
DOT will be forced to reduce
its snow removal efforts just
to stay solvent and still meet
the needs of motorists for
safe travel.
“Our main efforts will be
snow removal during the
hours of 4 a.m. to 10 p.m.,
with only emergency patrols
available outside this time
period,” O’Brien noted.
PennDOT will service
three types of roadways
during the coining Winter
season, he said: ex
pressways and high volume
traffic routes, secondary and
low volume traffic routes,
and the rural road system.
Expressways and main
traffic routes will receive
salt, but only in amounts
required to keep traffic .
moving.
Salt regulation will be
done by calibrating all salt
spreaders on state and
rented vehicles.
The use of chemicals also
will be drastically
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Those snowdrifts of last Winter are just a
memory now, but in a few weeks they may be
harsh reality. The Pennsylvania Department of
reduced on secondary and
rural roads and most snow
removal on these systems
will be done before and
during the morning and
afternoon peak traffic times.
A salt anti-skid mix will be
spread on hills and curves of
secondary and rural roads to
keep them passable, the
maintenance director
commented.
“We hope this program
reduction will not cause
severe problems. It will
require that motorists drive
at reduced speeds and in
well-maintained vehicles,”
he pointed out.
The limiting of salt and
chemicals should reduce
environmental damage and
inhibit future damage to
bridges and concrete
roadways.
PennDOT district
engineers and county
superintendents have
contacted school superin
tendents and school bus
operators to advise them of
legal requirements that
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school buses must carry
chains and must use them on
snow and ice-covered roads.
Winter plans also include
contracts with more than 470
cities, boroughs and town
ships to cinder and plow on
some, or all, state roads in
those communities.
According to Pulakos, this
is a very successful
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Highways says it does not have the means to keep
highways and roads cleared as much as it would
like to.
program. “It just makes
sense for local
municipalities to remove
snow on state highways that
they must drive over to clear
their own roads,” he said.
“Without the cooperation
and help from local officials,
I don’t know how we would
have gotten through last
Winter, or can get through
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this one, especially in
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
and other large com
munities,” Pulakos related.
“Whatever money is saved
by these reductions, or from
a less severe Winter, will be
used for sprmg road repair
programs which will benefit
the public on a year-round
basis,” Pulakos concluded.
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