Clearfield, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced the following schedule of maintenance activities in Potter County the week of May 25. PennDOT performs year-round maintenance in its mission to provide a safe, efficient transportation system, and the scope of work in Potter County for the coming week is as follows:

Joint & Crack Sealing (Hot Pour Mastic)

• Route 1001 (Sweden Hill /Fox Hill/Brookland Road/South Main Street) between Route 6 in Sweden Township and Route 1003 (South Street) in Ulysses Borough. Tuesday, May 26, through Friday, May 29. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours and may deploy a pilot vehicle. When encountering a pilot vehicle with a “Pilot Car Follow Me” sign mounted on the rear and a revolving yellow light, drivers must remain behind it until it has left the roadway. Do not pass.
• Route 1008 (Cross Road) between Route 49 and Route 1003 (California Branch Road) in Ulysses Township. Tuesday, May 26, through Friday, May 29. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours and may deploy a pilot vehicle. When encountering a pilot vehicle with a “Pilot Car Follow Me” sign mounted on the rear and a revolving yellow light, drivers must remain behind it until it has left the roadway. Do not pass.

Crack sealing and hot pour mastic operations prevent water intrusion from seeping through cracks or joints in an asphalt road, which can lead to potholes and pavement breakup. They are proactive preventive maintenance strategies to prevent water from entering the roadways and accelerating the formation of potholes and other failures.

Patching

• Route 6 between Denton Hill in Sweden Township and the Potter-Tioga County line approximately 1.5 miles east of Galeton Borough in Pike Township. Tuesday, May 26, through Friday, May 29. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours and may deploy a pilot vehicle. When encountering a pilot vehicle with a “Pilot Car Follow Me” sign mounted on the rear and a revolving yellow light, drivers must remain behind it until it has left the roadway. Do not pass.
• All of Route 1002 (North Hollow Road) in Sweden Township. Tuesday, May 26, through Friday, May 29. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours and may deploy a pilot vehicle. When encountering a pilot vehicle with a “Pilot Car Follow Me” sign mounted on the rear and a revolving yellow light, drivers must remain behind it until it has left the roadway. Do not pass.

Most permanent pothole patching is completed in spring or summer when temperatures stay consistently above freezing. Manual patching consists of filling potholes with warm mix asphalt using a shovel. It is then leveled and compacted. Mechanized patching consists of milling paving notches, cleaning the surface, applying tack to all edges to act as a glue. A paver then places warm mix into the milled paving notches, and a roller compacts the material. If patching was not performed, the damaged road surface would deteriorate further, and PennDOT would need to completely rebuild the road or perform more costly corrective measures.

Pipe Replacement & Cleaning

• Route 4001 (Sartwell Creek Road) between the McKean-Potter County line in Roulette Township and Kio Hollow Road in Pleasant Valley Township. Tuesday, May 26, through Friday, May 29. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours and may deploy a pilot vehicle. When encountering a pilot vehicle with a “Pilot Car Follow Me” sign mounted on the rear and a revolving yellow light, drivers must remain behind it until it has left the roadway. Do not pass.

Pipe replacement and cleaning are essential in maintaining water flow around state roadways. Controlling water flow is one of the most important aspects of maintaining pavements. Uncontrolled water flow will damage both the pavement surface and the area under the pavement, which causes deterioration across the length of the pipe.

Shoulder Maintenance

• Route 44 between Route 6 in Sweden Township and Route 144 in Abbott Township. Tuesday, May 26. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours and may deploy a pilot vehicle. When encountering a pilot vehicle with a “Pilot Car Follow Me” sign mounted on the rear and a revolving yellow light, drivers must remain behind it until it has left the roadway. Do not pass.
• Route 2002 (West Branch Road/West Street) between Route 44 in West Branch Township and Route 6 in Galeton Borough. Wednesday, May 27, and Thursday, May 28. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours and may deploy a pilot vehicle. When encountering a pilot vehicle with a “Pilot Car Follow Me” sign mounted on the rear and a revolving yellow light, drivers must remain behind it until it has left the roadway. Do not pass.

Shoulder cutting removes excess material and debris from unpaved shoulder areas. Shoulder grading involves the shaping and stabilizing of those same areas. Both operations improve drainage, allow water to leave the roadway, and eliminate shoulder drop-offs. These are crucial highway maintenance operations because when drainage systems do not function properly, water collects on the road, weakens pavement, accelerates the formation of potholes, and creates the potential for icing conditions in the winter months.

Vegetation Management

• Route 1001 (Sweden Hill/Fox Hill/Brookland Road/South Main Street) between Route 6 in Sweden Township and Route 1003 (South Street) in Ulysses Borough. Monday, May 18, through Friday, May 22. This work takes place on or beyond the shoulder and has minimal, if any traffic impact, however PennDOT urges drivers to exercise caution in all work zones.
• Route 3001 (East Fork Road) between Route 872 in Wharton Township and Route 44 in West Branch Township. Drivers are cautioned to stay alert for mowers in the travel lane. This work takes place on or beyond the shoulder and has minimal, if any traffic impact, however PennDOT urges drivers to exercise caution in all work zones.

Mowing, herbicide spraying, and selected tree thinning help maintain a safe roadway free of obstructing vegetation, improving visibility to spot signage, traffic control devices, and other motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, and animals approaching the road. Additionally, a well-maintained roadside can improve drainage and prolong the life of the roadway.

This schedule is subject to change due to weather conditions, emergencies, or other unforeseen interruptions.