New equipment clears way for easy winter travel

PennDOT and the State College Public Works Department say they are ready to make the drive to school even easier this year when winter weather strikes.

The new design allows for the salt or anti-skid material to be coated in an anti-icing solution before it is applied to the road, Chubb said. By coating the salt, its ability to dissolve ice is much greater than applying the salt or anti-skid dry to the road surface.

PennDOT representatives said the new spreaders are 50 percent more efficient in salt distribution than older designs.

State College Borough will not see any of these new trucks this winter, but is still ready to combat the elements, said Lee Lowery, director of Public Works for the borough.

"Right now, no trucks in our fleet are outfitted with this, but it is something that we have been looking into," Lowery said.

State College has 11 trucks that plows can be affixed to, three salt trucks and one truck for limestone grit application. Municipalities such as State College are independent of PennDOT and receive no equipment or help clearing roads from it.

Because State College has state roads within its borders, Lowery said, PennDOT contracts the borough to clear the roads, and pays them by lane-miles.

Lane-miles are calculated by the amount of travel on a state road in one direction, Chubb said. Therefore, if a road is two miles long and takes two passes to clear, the township clearing the road gets paid four lane-miles.

According to Chubb, townships are given the option to care for and maintain state roads within their jurisdiction, but the state is still responsible for clearing the roads if the township opts not to clear the roads for PennDOT.

"Twenty years ago, before we had this agreement, people were calling us mad that the roads weren't clear when it was the state's responsibility to clear that particular road," Lowery said. "We were essentially having to clear state roads to get to the roads which we needed to plow. When this contract option came to us we figured why not get paid to do something we are already doing?"

PennDOT's winter budget allows for payments to about 750 municipalities to clear state-owned roads within their jurisdiction. PennDOT is responsible for clearing 40,500 miles of interstate roadway and 25,000 miles of bridges throughout the state. This year, $146 million has been allocated for the clearing and maintenance of roads and bridges, according to a PennDOT news release.

"If it's a light winter, we make money, but if it's a heavy winter, we normally lose money," Lowery said. "But in the long haul, we do a little better than break even."

State College uses a three-phase process during snowfall for snow removal, Lowery said. The first phase comes when the police place a call to the Public Works informing them of icy roads. If this happens, the three salt trucks and one grit truck State College owns hit the streets and apply salt and/or limestone grit.

The second phase occurs during snow fall. If snowfall exceeds 2 1/2 inches or more, the town's plow trucks begin to plow the streets and stay out until the snow stops falling. The third phase happens when the snow stops, when the town completely clears the urban streets and hauls the snow completely off the streets and ship the snow out of town.

Starting in mid-November, PennDOT plans to have a toll-free number available for motorists to call and receive updates on weather and road condition reports for all interstate highways. The toll-free number would be updated twice a day during fair weather and more frequently during adverse weather conditions.