PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It’s been a more active winter for crews on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, but administrators say it has also been a safer one.
The region has had more snow than in recent years, but this winter has seen fewer crashes on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Chief Operating Officer Craig Shuey said it’s all about timing.
“These storms aren’t hitting us in the middle of rush hours,” he said. “They’re hitting us at the times when the roadway is the most open,” which has been on the weekends.
“If it hits us on a Tuesday at 6 in the morning through noon, or through the rush hour in the evening, there’s a much greater chance for us to have a lot more crashes than in the storms that we’ve had this year.”
Shuey said when a major snowfall is in the forecast, most drivers heed the warnings.
“There is something to be said for a big storm. People kind of prepare for it. They expect it. They stay off the road,” he said. “Little nuisance storms that happen during the commuting hours, they have a tendency to create a lot more havoc.”
So far, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has actually used less road salt than previous winters but has spent more, Shuey said, because the price of salt has gone up.