Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is
announcing Route 51 (Saw Mill Run Boulevard) overnight High Friction Surface
Treatment (HFST) operations in the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County will
continue tonight, Monday night, July 24 weather permitting.
Beginning Monday
evening, crews will conduct HFST operations, requiring single-lane closures in
each direction on Saw Mill Run Boulevard at the intersections of Woodruff
Street, Crane Avenue, Edgebrook Avenue and Whited Street nightly from 9 p.m. to
6 a.m. through Saturday night, August 5.
HFST is an innovative
technique to improve the safety of motorists at high-priority crash locations
throughout the commonwealth. Road surfaces become polished in areas where
drivers brake often, like going around curves, down steep roads, or at an
intersection. This makes vehicles skid more because there is less friction
between the tires and the road surface. Wet road surfaces can also reduce
pavement friction and cause skidding or hydroplaning.
HFST is added to the
top of a road surface, using materials, such as bauxite, to create more
friction on pavement. These materials, called aggregates, are high quality and
are less likely to wear down than normal pavement. Having greater friction
helps to keep vehicles in their lane on slippery pavement around curves and
helps the driver to stop.
Crews from the
Truesdell Corporation will conduct the work.
For more information
on HFST, a low cost safety improvement, visit PennDOT’s
Innovation Council website.
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
1,000 traffic cameras.
511PA is also
available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by
calling 5-1-1, or by following regional twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA
website.
Contact: Steve Cowan, 412-334-5436
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