CRANBERRY TWP — More than a dozen road projects are ongoing in Butler County, officials said Monday, and drivers should be aware of the workers manning those work zones.

PennDOT officials presented ongoing projects, safety initiatives and partnership opportunities at an open house and talked with officials from the county, area municipalities and representatives for state representatives.

Brian Allen, assistant district executive for design, discussed what the department is doing to ensure the safety of drivers and workers along state roads. Allen said that over the years, safety initiatives have helped make state roads safer, with officials recording an overall reduction of traffic accidents and fatalities.

One effective tool in improving road safety is high friction surface treatment.

The treatment is an effective, albeit expensive, polymer binder that increases pavement friction on a roads deemed at risk for high rates of vehicle accidents.

Allen said areas with the treatment installed see a significant reduction in traffic accidents on wet roads and turns. However, the treatment is not cheap and can only be installed in select areas deemed to be at risk for vehicle accidents. Additionally, PennDOT installs signs, reflectors, reflective tape, lighting and other features to help reduce accidents.

Mike Mattis, PennDOT's Butler County maintenance manager, reminded those gathered at the open house of the danger to road crews and brought up a slide of the PennDOT Worker Memorial. The memorial shows the number of workers killed while working on state roads, signified by helmets and safety vests.

“We have to encourage drivers to slow down in work zones,” Mattis said. “Even one of those hard hats and vests are too many.”

He added that state troopers and area police officers face risks on the road that could also be avoided if drivers slowed down and followed the rules.

Mattis encourages officials to make use of the department's “agility opportunities.” These opportunities allow municipalities, organizations and others to partner with PennDOT to more efficiently pool resources and get more done with less.

Mattis said PennDOT has several partnerships with municipalities and organizations in Butler County, including with area fire departments.

He said those interested in more information should contact PennDOT's Butler County agility coordinator Chris Robinson at 724-284-8800.

Also Monday, Joe Dubovi, District 10 executive, gave an overview of PennDOT's job and resources, explaining that while the department is working to upgrade and replace aging infrastructure, it still requires further funding to keep up with the need.

Dubovi explained that since the passage of the Act 89 Transportation plan in 2013, PennDOT has been able to increase its funding and repair additional roads and bridges. However, the act has not led to as much of an increase as they hoped. “Act 89 did not meet the identified need,” he said. “It did close some gaps.”

Dubovi said traffic on interstates is expected to increase by about 1.5 billion tons of goods to flow on state roads by 2040. Currently, it's around 867 million tons.

Additionally, just over half the roads in the state are considered to be in “excellent” or “good” condition, and around 51 percent of bridges have reached their 50-year design life.

In Butler County, PennDOT has more than a dozen construction projects in the works, including several upgrades and repairs to Interstate 79 and Routes 228, 68 and 422.