Public Strongly Urged to Stay off Roadways in Eastern Half of PA

Flooding, downed trees and mud slides causing multiple road closures and some gridlock

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- PennDOT and Pa. Turnpike Commission are strongly urging motorists to avoid all unnecessary travel in eastern Pennsylvania, including the area from Harrisburg north to the New York border, east to the New Jersey border and south to the Maryland border.

Currently Interstate 80 is closed in both directions from Exits 232 to 236 and Interstate 81 is closed in both directions between Exits 90 and 100. Also, hundreds of secondary roads are closed.

Many roads that are open are experiencing extremely high traffic, resulting in gridlock in many regions.  In addition to flooding, mud slides and downed trees continue to pose safety risks along roadways in the rain-drenched regions.

For your safety as well as the safety of other motorists and emergency responders, motorists are urged to avoid unnecessary travel until conditions improve.

Motorists can check road conditions on more than 2,900 miles of state roads by calling 511 or by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, average traffic speeds on urban interstates and access to more than 500 traffic cameras.

Follow PennDOT on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PennDOTNews.

Media contacts:

Steve Chizmar, PennDOT, 717-525-5304 or 717-319-7638  

Carl Defebo, PA Turnpike, 717-645-2265

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Transportation