HARRISBURG – PennDOT roadway line painting has begun in earnest in District 2, with a crew currently in Centre County, painting priority roadways. The crew will then move to the interstate roadways in Centre, Clinton and Clearfield counties.
High volume roadways such as expressways, freeways, and interstates are painted first. Later this summer, crews will move to painting lower priority routes within the district. PennDOT District 2 currently has one paint crew in operation with a second crew to join operations later to address painting roadway lines in all nine counties. District 2 covers Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Juniata, McKean, Mifflin and Potter counties.
Annual painting helps to improve the visibility of road lines and enhances roadway safety. By the end of this line painting season, PennDOT District 2 will paint over 10,000 line miles and will use more than 100,000 gallons of white and yellow paint. Over 520 tons of glass beads are embedded into the paint for better reflectivity.
With safety the number one concern during all painting operations, the following tips can help motorists decrease smeared paint lines and increase roadway safety:
- The line painting operation is a moving operation. “LINE PAINTING – WET PAINT” signs and flashing lights are mounted on the back of equipment to warn motorists of the painting operation.
- Motorists should stay at least eight to ten car lengths behind line painting equipment to avoid running over wet paint. The paint spray guns are two inches off the roadway surface and cannot spray a vehicle. Paint can only get on a vehicle if a driver runs over wet lines.
- Depending on weather and surface conditions, paint can take more than five minutes to dry. When poor conditions arise, the paint operation is put on hold until conditions improve.
- Motorists should never pass a paint truck unless instructed to do so by a police officer or PennDOT crewmember.
- The paint truck will pull over to allow cars to pass when conditions are safe to do so.
- If a driver does get paint on their vehicle, it can be removed by soaking with cleaning products such as “Simple Green”, “Oops”, or “WD40” and then power washing at a car wash. The paint used for line painting is a water-based paint and can be removed with household cleaning products.
You can find information on roadway construction, maintenance operations, and 511 updates on traffic conditions at www.dot.state.pa.us.