Due to the predicted severity of the winter storm forecast for Sunday, January 25, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced vehicle restrictions in North Central Pennsylvania in addition to those announced yesterday across the Commonwealth. The purpose of the restrictions is to help ensure roadways remain passable during the most challenging conditions of the winter storm, and PennDOT will remove them when conditions improve.

Starting at 1:00 AM on Sunday, January 25, the following restrictions will be implemented:

• Route 350 between Bald Eagle and Philipsburg in Centre County will be closed to commercial motor vehicle (CMV) traffic.
• The commercial vehicle chain-up site located along Route 153 northbound before Boone Mountain in Clearfield County will be activated.
• The CMV detour around Route 6 between Port Allegany and Smethport in McKean County will be implemented. The detour uses Route 155, Route 446, and Route 46 and adds approximately five minutes of travel time.
• The commercial vehicle chain-up site located along Route 322 westbound before the Milroy exit and Seven Mountains will be activated.

Signage is installed a mile ahead of each designated chain up area and will flash while activated. CMV drivers are required to pull off at these areas and equip their on-board chains to the tires on their drive axels before climbing Boone Mountain or Seven Mountains. Those without chains on board are required to choose an alternate route. A companion chain removal area is located at the summit of each mountain.

The Route 6 detour will be communicated via the variable message boards posted along the detour route and through the DriveWyze app, a mobile tool for professional drivers that offers free safety alerts.

The district’s regional traffic management center will communicate all these restrictions by activating changeable message signs along the impacted routes.

Although PennDOT crews will be treating roadways, the department’s primary goal is to keep roads passable, not completely free of ice and snow. PennDOT will continue to treat roadways throughout the storm until precipitation stops and roads are clear.

While PennDOT recommends not traveling during winter storms, motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, 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 1,200 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional X alerts.