THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION KEEPING YOU UP TO DATE WITH ALL OF PENNDOT’S PROJECTS AND INNOVATIONS THROUGHOUT com THE YEAR PennDOT Manages Papal Visit - Related Travel to Philadelphia Join Us in Getting Natural Beauty of Benezette Ceremony Highlights Ready for Winter! Highlighted on New Bridge International Agreement November 2015 PennDOT Manages Papal Visit - Related Travel to Philadelphia By Charles Metzger, Community Relations Coordinator and Gene Blaum, Assistant Press Secretary, PennDOT District 6 1 Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia in late partners, which included the United States responders with unrestricted access for the September was a historic and immensely Secret Service; Pennsylvania State Police; safety of everyone involved,” McClain added. successful event marking the pope’s initial City of Philadelphia; Federal Highway trip to the United States and first papal stop Administration; World Meeting of Families; The operation began in the spring under the in the City of Brotherly Love since Pope John Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission; direction of then-Acting District Executive Paul II in 1979. Pennsylvania Emergency Management Christine Reilly. The District 6 team, led by Agency; Pennsylvania National Guard; Acting Assistant District Executive for The announcement that Pope Francis would Federal Emergency Management Agency; Services Lou Belmonte and Traffic travel to Philadelphia for the World Meeting Delaware Valley Regional Planning Operations Manager Manny Anastasiadis, of Families ignited detailed planning to Commission; SEPTA; Port Authority Transit worked in close coordination with Secretary prepare for a momentous event that would Corporation (PATCO); Delaware River Port Richards, Special Assistant to the Secretary attract hundreds of thousands of spectators, Authority; Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Leo Bagley, Emergency/Incident many from around the globe. PennDOT staff Commission; New Jersey DOT; New Jersey Management Section Chief Jon Fleming, worked in concert with federal, state, and Turnpike; Delaware DOT; Maryland ADE-Maintenance John Krafczyk, Highway municipal agencies, plus transportation Department of Highways; Engineering Maintenance Manager Lorraine Ryan, and organizations throughout the mid-Atlantic Districts 4, 5 and 8; and the emergency key Department staff to coordinate the region, to develop a Traffic Management operation centers in the five counties in traffic, emergency management, and Plan designed to maintain public safety and District 6. maintenance details. serve the travel demands of law enforcement and emergency vehicles. “The enormity of Pope Francis’ visit required District 6 also worked closely with the high-level, multi-jurisdictional coordination Delaware Valley Regional Planning District Executive Kenneth McClain said the to produce a comprehensive plan to move Commission, which developed detailed successful execution of the plan marked the travelers through the region, divert through traffic models and traffic projections on culmination of more than five months of traffic to highways outside Philadelphia, and regional highways to assist in the planning planning and preparation with external provide law enforcement and emergency for the papal visit. 2 As a result of requests from local PennDOT and neighboring Mid-Atlantic were at the ready to assist motorists if governments and law enforcement, states deployed a cohesive, long-distance necessary. weekend-long closures of Interstate 76, travel advisory and diversion plan utilizing Interstate 676 and U.S. 1/City Avenue were 335 electronic Highway Message Signs to The District 6 maintenance team made sure instituted due to street restrictions in inform Philadelphia-bound travelers of regional highways were in fine shape for the Philadelphia, anticipated large crowds, and highway restrictions, and provide alternative Pope’s arrival by clearing brush, sweeping the necessity for law enforcement and first routes. A special service-plaza poster also expressways, and performing additional responders to move quickly within the city. was produced and placed in Welcome duties to ensure pumps, emergency swing Interstate 95 remained open throughout the Centers and service plazas throughout the gates, and other highway equipment worked weekend. Mid-Atlantic region to inform motorists of properly. District 6 also made special papal weekend travel information. provisions to accommodate the many To orchestrate the closing of two major customers who were anticipated to stop at interstates, PennDOT maintenance McClain thanked PennDOT’s Central Office the I-95 Welcome Center in Delaware personnel and equipment were stationed at and Engineering Districts for their County and I-95 Rest Area in Bucks County 37 closure points to ensure traffic could not assistance, including their role in helping to while traveling through the region. enter the highways. Municipal and inform travelers by way of posting papal Pennsylvania National Guard staff travel messages on Highway Message “A special thank you to all our employees coordinated the closure of U.S. 1/City Signs, and providing District 6 with who spent their time planning and Avenue, where St. Charles Borromeo additional assets to safely execute executing the Transportation Management Seminary is located in Lower Merion expressway closures, including 25 portable Plan in support of the papal visit,” McCain Township, Montgomery County. The electronic message boards, 1,000 cones, 55 said. “The plan was carried out without a seminary hosted Pope Francis during his barricades, and six portable lights. major incident, and I’m proud to say District stay in Philadelphia. 6 met its obligation of closing two critical To handle unexpected incidents, District 6 interstate highways and reopening them For citizens traveling to Philadelphia, deployed its 13 State Farm Safety Patrol tow well ahead of schedule. This event was PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Turnpike trucks throughout the weekend to keep unprecedented and our plan can serve as a Commission launched a detailed travelers’ travel lanes open, and PEMA and model for managing future special events.” website for the papal weekend. In addition, Pennsylvania State Police response teams Join Us in Getting Ready For Winter! As winter readies itself to settle into Pennsylvania, PennDOT urges during significant winter events. The more traffic a roadway has, the motorists to join the department’s 4,800 operators and roughly more attention it will receive from plows, so motorists may find 2,200 trucks in preparing for the season. deeper accumulations on less-traveled routes and should adjust their driving for those conditions. “PennDOT’s staff and equipment are working hard to be ready for winter’s arrival, and drivers are a huge part of our mission to keep Last winter, PennDOT used nearly 1.2 million tons of salt on state- roads as safe as possible this winter,” PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. owned roads. PennDOT has more than 667,000 tons of salt Richards said. “Motorists should prepare themselves and their stockpiled and will continue to take salt deliveries throughout the vehicles now, before winter weather hits.” winter. If motorists encounter snow or ice-covered roads, they should slow We remind you that that you can personally monitor more than down, increase their following distance and avoid distractions. Last 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on winter, there were 552 crashes resulting in four fatalities and 279 2,900 miles, by visiting www.511PA.com . 511PA, which is free and injuries on snowy, slushy or ice-covered roadways where aggressive- available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather driving behaviors such as speeding or making careless lane changes forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 770 were factors in the crash. traffic cameras. When winter weather hits, PennDOT’s primary focus is on interstates We’ve made a page devoted to winter on www.PennDOT.gov with and expressways, and equipment may be redirected to these routes much more information. Visit www.PennDOT.gov/winter . During winter weather, PennDOT’s primary goal is to keep roads passable and as safe as possible. Roads will not be free of ice and snow while precipitation is falling. Storm Management not pretreat include when a storm is forecast to start as rain (rain will wash the material away) or when there is enough salt residue 3 Each storm is different, and varies even from region to region. from a previous storm. PennDOT staff review weather reports and on-the-ground conditions to plan how to manage each storm. In addition to storm preparation, how PennDOT uses winter materials during storms varies by roadway and precipitation type . In a non-freezing-rain storm, department crews may pretreat with On higher-volume roadways, salt is the primary winter material used salt brine, essentially a mix of water and salt, from the backs of anti- through a storm, especially during rush hours and on bridges, icing trucks before frozen precipitation starts to fall. While salt brine hills, curves and intersections . On lower-volume roadways the isn’t needed for every storm , when it’s used it helps PennDOT get a amount of salt will be reduced and anti-skid will be used more jump start on removing ice and snow. Examples of when crews will because salt is most effective with higher traffic volumes . Our Plow Trucks Follow Specific Routes The Average PennDOT Plow Route = 40 Miles Average Plow Times During Winter