December 01, 2016
With the winter season in full swing, PennDOT is reminding residents of guidelines for shoveling or plowing snow around state-owned roadways to help ensure safe travel through the season.
Maintaining safe and passable roads is PennDOT’s top priority when dealing with winter weather. To help meet that need, PennDOT urges residents to not shovel snow onto state roads that have already been plowed. Snow should not be shoveled onto any roadway as this can increase the potential for crashes, and property owners can be held liable for any resulting crashes.
State law requires citizens to use and maintain their property in ways that
avoid creating hazardous road conditions for others, including not obstructing highway lanes and drainage facilities with snow and ice. Fines can be as high as several hundred dollars.
PennDOT offers the following guidelines for shoveling or plowing snow on property adjacent to state-owned roadways:
• Snow should be shoveled or plowed to the right side of the driveway as you are facing the intersecting roadway (see attached diagram). By piling the snow away from the oncoming direction of the snow plows, the snow will not be pushed back onto the driveway.
• Eliminate snow piles at the property entrance whenever possible. High accumulations of snow can obstruct the vision of motorists, posing a safety
hazard.
• Do not push snow onto roadways at any time. This creates a hazardous condition for all vehicles.
For more winter driving tips and information on how PennDOT treats winter storms, visit www.penndot.gov/winter.
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 825 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.