A significant winter storm is set to impact the area overnight Monday into Tuesday morning, bringing heavy, wet snow and mixed precipitation that is already causing school closures and delays across Franklin and Washington Counties, and prompting the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Pennsylvania Turnpike to implement vehicle restrictions and reduced speeds on several major interstates. Motorists are strongly advised to avoid unnecessary travel during the storm, with accumulations of up to six inches possible in some areas.
Current reports show Greencastle-Antrim, Waynesboro, Chambersburg School District, Washington County Public Schools and Fairfield School Districts are closed.
Wilson College, Hagerstown Community College, and Shippensburg University will all operate on a delayed schedule. Penn State Mont Alto will open at noon.
PennDOT is urging motorists to avoid unnecessary travel, but those who must head out will see speed reduced to 45 mph on the following roads:
· Interstate 81 from the Maryland state line to Mile 96.8 District line
· Interstate 78, entire length
· Interstate 83, entire length
· Interstate 283, entire length
· PA 581, entire length
· US 15, entire length
· US 11, from Duncannon, Perry County, north to the District line
· PA 283, entire length
· US 30 from PA 24 to PA 462
· US 22 from I-81 to Millerstown, Perry County
· US 222, entire length
On roadways with speed restrictions, commercial vehicles not affected by restrictions on these or other roadways must move to the right lane.
Although PennDOT crews have been treating roadways, the department’s primary goal is to keep roads passable, and they will not completely free of ice and snow. PennDOT will continue to treat roadways throughout the storm until precipitation stops and roads are clear.
While PennDOT recommends not traveling during winter storms, 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 1,200 traffic cameras.
