PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. — Cleanup crews working along the Pennsylvania Turnpike no longer have to get out of their pickups to clear debris from the highway, thanks to technology making their jobs safer.
It happens roughly 7,000 times each year. According to Chief Operating Officer Craig Shuey, Pennsylvania Turnpike crews are called to remove things such as ladders, mattresses, deer carcasses — and anything else imaginable blocking a lane.
Most of the time it can be a dangerous job for Turnpike workers like Ralph Valenteen.
"We have a lot of cattle shoots,” he said. “It's just two walls and two lanes. You have no shoulder to go to, nothing."
The danger all crews face was evident Wednesday after three construction workers died when a box truck struck their vehicle on I-83 in York County.
But Valenteen says his job is safer now that the Turnpike has been using a device on its trucks for the past two years called a LaneBlade. It resembles a plow with ends that fold in at the touch of a button from inside the truck. It allows workers to corral road debris without having to walk near speeding traffic.
Shuey says debris creates danger when a driver is speeding along an enclosed highway.
"People are less attentive to what's happening,” he said. “More likely to panic stop. More likely to not be paying attention to what happens when traffic comes to a stop."
Valenteen says the front-mounted bendable plow has features that make the cleanup more efficient.
"We have a screen and even at night time, we have an infrared camera,” he said. “And it lights up the road like it's daylight. So you see what debris you're pushing."
The Turnpike has 26 devices in its statewide fleet.