Clearfield, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced the following schedule of maintenance activities in McKean County for the week of September 11. PennDOT performs year-round maintenance in its mission to provide a safe, efficient transportation system, and the scope of work in McKean County for the coming week is as follows:

Bridge Maintenance & Cleaning

• Route 346 in Bradford Township. Monday, September 11, through Wednesday, September 13.

Pennsylvania has some of the oldest bridges in the country, with their average age being more than 50 years. Preventive maintenance is important in extending the life of the structures. As such, PennDOT maintenance crews perform some bridge deck patching and structural repairs.

Manual Patching

• Route 1009 in Ceres Township. Monday, September 11, through Thursday, September 14. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours.
• Route 6 in Hamlin and Wetmore township and Kane Borough. Thursday, September 14, and Friday, September 15. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours.

Most permanent pothole patching is completed in the spring/summer when temperatures stay consistently above freezing. If potholes were not repaired, the road surface would break up further and require more expensive corrective measures.

Shoulder Maintenance

• Route 346 in Bradford and Corydon Township. Monday, September 11, through Friday, September 15, 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
• Route 446 in Eldred Township. Thursday, September 14, and Friday, September 15.

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 important highway maintenance operations. When drainage systems do not function properly, water collects on the roadway, weakening pavement, accelerating the formation of potholes, and creating the potential for icing conditions in the winter months.

Side Dozing

• Route 646 in Bradford, Foster, and Keating townships. Monday, September 11, through Thursday, September 14. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours.
• Route 446 in Eldred and Keating townships. Thursday, September 14, and Friday, September 15. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours.
• Route 6 in Keating and Liberty townships and Port Allegany Borough. Thursday, September 14, and Friday, September 15. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours.

Side dozing removes excess material from beneath guiderail areas. This improves drainage and allows water to sheet flow off the roadway. This is an important highway maintenance operation. When drainage systems do not function properly, water collects on the roadway, weakening pavement, accelerating the formation of potholes, and creating the potential for icing conditions in the winter months.

Signing:

• Various routes throughout the county. Monday, September 11, through Friday, September 15. This work takes place off the roadway and has minimal, if any, traffic impact.

County maintenance organizations have crews responsible for installing and repairing signage along state roads. They also review installed signs to determine if, because of age, vandalism, damage or other reasons, a sign needs to be replaced.

Surface Treatment

• Route 2004 (Christian Hollow Road) in Norwich Township. Monday, September 11, through Wednesday, September 13.
• Route 46 in Keating Township. Monday, September 11, through Wednesday, September 13.
• Route 6 in Hamlin Township. Thursday, September 14, and Friday, September 15.

Commonly known as “oil and chip” or “sealcoat,” this operation is a preservation strategy used to maintain mainly low-traffic-volume roads for a five to seven-year period. It is also used on high-volume roads to extend pavement life between resurfacings. Generally, it takes about two days for the stones to fully bond in the hardened asphalt. Motorists should reduce their speed on these roads until the stone and the asphalt fully adhere. This maintenance seals the road surface to keep water out, restores the friction of the surface to enhance traction and is very cost effective.

PennDOT urges motorists to exercise caution in these and all work zones to ensure their own safety as well as those of county maintenance staff.

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

Road concerns can be called into 1-800-FIX-ROAD. If calling after hours, please leave a name and phone number.

For more information on PennDOT’s maintenance activities, visit www.PennDOT.pa.gov/about-us/maintenanceactivities.

Motorists can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.

511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.         

Subscribe to PennDOT news in Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Juniata, McKean, Mifflin, and Potter counties at www.penndot.gov/District2.

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