PennDOT fills in the gaps with new survey
PennDOT has launched their annual survey for 2017 in hopes of improving local operations.
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PennDOT has launched their annual survey for 2017 to get input on how to help improve operations from Erie county and surrounding communities, which include Crawford, Warren, Venango, Forest and Mercer counties. Erie is part of PennDOT’s District 1 and is responsible for the state-maintained transportation network of this region. In District 1 alone there are over 3,600 miles of road and over 2,000 bridges being maintained. Besides basic demographic information, motorist and pedestrians have the opportunity to weigh in on categories such as road smoothness, traffic flow, construction, safety, customer service and communications. People who take the survey can rate PennDOT’s performance in those areas and provide feedback.
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The survey is to provide data that will allow PennDOT to better make decisions when planning work on the roads. Information for the survey’s in the past have helped them identify specific road issues, helped make decisions on time of paving, where to set up work zones, how to accelerate construction projects, and input on winter maintenance.
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“We see this survey as an opportunity to have our customers help us examine and improve our operations,” said PennDOT District 1 Executive William G. Petit. “The views of our customers are very important to us. We are asking residents of northwestern Pennsylvania to participate in this year’s survey and help District One continue to improve our performance”.
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According to PennDOT, the 2017 survey has been reworked to make it easier to fill out and more user friendly. Survey responses are all anonymous, but if you choose to provide your contact information, a PennDOT manager will call to discuss issues you would like to talk about.
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Brandon Moten, a Penn State Behrend student, thinks a survey would be an excellent way to getting opinions about roadways. He says, “I feel that’s a useful method to see how the public feels about Erie roads. I would definitely take it cause I feel some parts of Erie streets are ignored when they shouldn’t be.”
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Survey’s should take only ten minutes to complete. The survey is available until November 22, 2017 and can be filled out at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/D1DOT. The survey can also be accessed at the PennDOT website at www.penndot.gov by clicking on “Regional Offices,” then clicking on the map for District 1 in northwestern Pennsylvania, and finally clicking on the survey link.