PennDOT watchful as storm winds down

(Harrisburg) — PennDOT’s trucks are expected to remain on the roads this evening to watch for slick conditions as a winter storm moves out of the region.

The department’s District 8-0 includes Franklin and Adams counties — areas that have seen the brunt of today’s snowfall.

Some 310 trucks began pre-treating roadways yesterday in anticipation of the storm that’s also brought rain and sleet to the midstate.

Spokeswoman Fritzi Schreffler says plow truck drivers may not always be on the move when they’re on duty.

“You’re going to see areas where we are plowing, we are laying material, and you’re going to see areas where you’re driving by on the highway and you see our trucks sitting underneath underpasses and on the ramps, and really they’re waiting for something more to happen and they’re going to get out there.”

Schreffler says the district uses an “Incident Command Center” and “Traffic Management Center” to coordinate its coverage of its eight-county region that includes most of the midstate.

She says workers compile information from traffic monitoring cameras and drivers to get the big picture of the storm that can then be reported to PennDOT headquarters and the state Emergency Management Agency.

The department is also warning drivers to watch for slick roadways and black ice as night falls.