Timely reminder: get ready for winter! Or else!!
Last February, PennDOT, "lost" a storm and took heavy criticism to the point that an investigation was launched to find who they could blame. We blogged that "not all investigations are done in Washington."
Well, the report's in. And in the middle of sweltering August, the public and lawmakers are being told (by Government Technology.com) that maintenance of the state's RWIS sensors was neglected, depriving PennDOT of crucial and timely information about deteriorating roadway conditions. The problem was aggravated by failure of different state agency "silos" to communicate with each other. Result: chaos and worse.
Gov. Ed Rendell has promised to hire more snowfighters for this winter, repair the broken RWIS sensors and develop a protocol for when the Interstate highways will be closed if it is impossible to maintain them to safe operating conditions.
