Clearfield, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced the following schedule of maintenance activities in McKean County the week of September 18. 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

• Various routes throughout the county. Monday, September 18, through Friday, September 22. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours.

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

Manual Patching

• Route 6 in Hamlin and Wetmore township and Kane Borough. Monday, September 18. 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 maintenance crews were not repairing potholes, the road surface would break up further and require more expensive corrective measures.

Pipe Replacing & Cleaning

• Route 770 in Bradford and Lafayette townships. Monday, September 18. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control.
• Route 6 in Smethport Borough and Keating Township. Tuesday, September 19, and Wednesday, September 20. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control.
• Route 155 in Port Allegany Borough. Thursday, September 21. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control.

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 446 in Eldred Borough and Eldred Township. Monday, September 18, and Tuesday, September 19. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control.

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.

Side Dozing

• Route 446 in Eldred and Keating townships. Monday, September 18, through Wednesday, September 20. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours.
• Route 1002 (Champlin Hill Road) in Eldred and Keating townships. Thursday, September 21, and Friday, September 22. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours.

Side dozing removes excess material from beneath guide rail areas, which improves drainage and allows water to sheet flow off the roadway. Side dozing is a crucial highway maintenance operation 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.

Signing

• Various routes throughout the county. Monday, September 18, through Friday, September 22. This work takes place off the roadway and has minimal, if any, traffic impact.

Signs are the most prominent way PennDOT communicates roadway safety and other information to our customers. County maintenance organizations have crews responsible for installing and repairing signage along state roads and reviewing installed signs to determine if replacements are needed. Reasons for replacing a sign include age, vandalism, or damage.

Surface Treatment

• Route 46 in Keating Township. Monday, September 18. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control.
• Route 2004 (Christian Hollow Road) in Norwich Township. Tuesday, September 19. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours.
• Route 6 in Hamlin Township. Wednesday, September 20, through Friday, September 22. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control.

Commonly known as “oil and chip” or “sealcoat,” this operation is a preservation strategy used to maintain mainly low-traffic-volume roads for five to seven years. It is also used on high-volume roads to extend pavement life between resurfacing. Generally, it takes stones about two days to fully bond in the hardened asphalt. Motorists should reduce their speed on these roads until the stones fully adhere to the asphalt. 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 safety and the safety of county maintenance staff.

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

Customers can report road concerns by calling 1-800-FIX-ROAD. If calling after hours, please leave a name and phone number.