Just before 7 a.m. today, icy weather crept into Northern Blair County and blasted Tyrone, Bellwood and the surrounding areas with a layer of frozen precipitation that caused some pretty tricky driving conditions.
\nBut thanks to the local men and women who work on our roadways each and every day, drivers can expect to be operating their vehicles in the best conditions possible.
\n\u201cWhat can you say?\u201d asked state Department of Transportation Director of Public Relations Asbury Lee. \u201cIt\u2019s winter and we\u2019re tackling the conditions with everyone we\u2019ve got.\u201d
\nAccording to Lee, PENNDOT has its road crews working in dual-shifts, which provides for \u201caround-the-clock\u201d coverage.
\n\u201cRight now, we\u2019re treating the roads with salts and anti-skid,\u201d said Lee. \u201cThis is the second ice storm we had this year, but we prepared well for this weather today and we have a good hold on the situation.\u201d
\nIcy conditions in Bellwood and Tyrone also had work crews tending to their trucks early this morning.
\n\u201cOur crews have been out working the roads since the weather hit at about seven o\u2019clock,\u201d said Tyrone Mayor Patricia Stoner. \u201cThey\u2019re lying down plenty of salt and anti-skid all in an effort to keep the roadways clear and safe for driving.\u201d
\nStoner said crews would plow the streets when more than an inch of snow accumulates. She noted the borough is not responsible for clean-up on Pennsylvania, Clay and Washington avenues and 15th and Tenth streets. These roads are the responsibility of PENNDOT.
\nIn Bellwood, crews were also out early. According to Susan Waite, borough secretary, workers were out salting the roadways just before 7 a.m.
\n\u201cOur roads seem to be always good,\u201d said Waite. \u201cOur guys are really persistent about keeping everything clear on the roads and making sure driving conditions are adequate.\u201d
\nAccording to Waite, four trucks worked the entire morning.
\n\u201cEveryone needs to exercise much more caution when driving in conditions like this,\u201d said Lee. \u201cIt sounds repetitive, and it needs to be. Drivers need to be more careful.\u201d
\nLee said in conditions such as the ones experienced by motorists this morning, the first thing to remember is slow down and allow more distance between you and the vehicle in front of you.
\n\u201cAnd use that little bit of extra caution,\u201d he said. \u201cBe aware of the drivers pulling from side streets, watch for children as they dart in and between cars parked along the roadways, and keep an eye on the guy driving in front of you.\u201d
\nLee also cautions drivers operating in \u201cslushy\u201d conditions.
\n\u201cThe tendency is to let you guard down a little when everything\u2019s slushy, but that\u2019s not the best idea,\u201d he said. \u201cIf a driver strays off into the slushy areas, it can actually pull the car out of control.\u201d
\nHe also cautioned drivers concerning Pennsylvania law and clearing snow and ice from windows.
\n\u201cIt only takes a few extra minutes to get all that stuff off there,\u201d he said. \u201cEven when you make it to work and decide to go to lunch midway through the day, make sure the ice and snow is off all windows. It\u2019s the law.\u201d
\nThe National Weather Service is calling for sleet and snow and a significant accumulation of ice by evening. An inch or so of snow and sleet also possible. Highs in the lower 30s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.
\nTonight is calling for more freezing rain, sleet or snow is likely this evening, then cloudy with areas of fog. Little additional snow and ice accumulation. Temperatures steady in the lower 30s. Light and variable winds. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just before 7 a.m. today, icy weather crept into Northern Blair County and blasted Tyrone, Bellwood and the surrounding areas with a layer of frozen precipitation that caused some pretty tricky driving conditions. But thanks to the local men and women who work on our roadways each and every day, drivers can expect to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47684\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}