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Due to the severity of the winter storm, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is temporarily reducing the speed limit on several roadways in the east central PennDOT District 5 region that includes Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, and Schuylkill counites.

PennDOT is urging motorists to avoid unnecessary travel but those who must head out will see speeds reduced to 45 mph on the following highways:

• Interstate 80 in Carbon and Monroe counties;

• Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County;

• Interstate 380 in Monroe County.

On roadways with speed restrictions, commercial vehicles not affected by other restrictions on these or other roadways must move to the right lane.

In addition to the speed restrictions, vehicle restrictions are at Tier 1 of the commonwealth’s weather event vehicle restriction plan on the following roadways: 

• Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County. 

Also, Tier 4 vehicle restrictions are in place on the following interstates:

• Interstate 80 in Carbon and Monroe counties;

• Interstate 380 in Monroe County

Under Tier 1 restrictions, the following vehicles are not permitted on affected roadways: 

• Tractors without trailers; 

• Tractors towing unloaded or lightly loaded enclosed trailers, open trailers or tank trailers; 

• Tractors towing unloaded or lightly loaded tandem trailers; 

• Enclosed cargo delivery trucks that meet the definition of a CMV; 

• Passenger vehicles (cars, SUV’s, pickup trucks, etc.) towing trailers; 

• Recreational vehicles/motorhomes; 

• School buses, commercial buses and motor coaches; and 

• motorcycles. 

On roadways with Tier 4 restrictions in place, no commercial vehicles are permitted. Additionally, all school buses, commercial buses, motor coaches, motorcycles, RVs/motorhomes and passenger vehicles (cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, etc.) towing trailers are not permitted on affected roadways while restrictions are in place.

The purpose of the restriction is to help ensure the interstates remain open during the most challenging conditions of the winter storm. When conditions improve, PennDOT will remove the travel restrictions.  

Restrictions will be communicated via variable message boards, the 511PA traveler information website at www.511PA.com and smartphone apps. Motorists can also sign up for alerts on the website. 

Although PennDOT crews are treating roadways, the department’s primary goal is to keep roads passable, 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 1,000 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. 

For more winter driving tips and information on how PennDOT treats winter storms, visit www.penndot.pa.gov/winter.  

Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District5. 

Follow regional PennDOT information on Twitter at www.twitter.com/511PAAllentown, and like the department on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PennsylvaniaDepartmentofTransportation and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/pennsylvaniadot. 

MEDIA CONTACTS: Ronald J. Young, Jr., M.P.A., 610-871-4555, ronyoung@pa.gov; Sean A. Brown, 610-871-4556, sebrown@pa.gov. 

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