LEWISTOWN — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced the following schedule of maintenance activities in Mifflin County this week. PennDOT performs year-round maintenance in its mission to provide a safe, efficient transportation system, and the scope of work in Mifflin County for the coming week is as follows:

Crack seal and hot pour mastic

• Route 22 eastbound between Business 22 and State College exits today; PennDOT will implement single-lane closures while this work is completed.

• Route 322 eastbound starting approximately 1.5 miles before the Milroy exit and continuing to the Reedsville-Belleville exit Wednesday Thursday. PennDOT will implement single-lane closures while this work is completed;

• All of Route 1006 in Armagh Township. Friday.

Crack sealing and hot pour mastic operations prevent water intrusion from seeping through cracks or joints in an asphalt road, which can lead to potholes and pavement breakup. They are proactive preventive maintenance strategies to prevent water from entering the roadways and accelerating the formation of potholes and other failures.

Manual patching

• Route 322 westbound starting approximately three miles west of the Milroy exit and continuing approximately 1.5 miles through Thursday. PennDOT will implement single-lane closures while this work is completed.

• Route 322 eastbound starting approximately half a mile east of Stone Creek Road and continuing approximately half a mile through Thursday.

Most permanent pothole patching is completed in the spring/summer when temperatures stay consistently above freezing. If maintenance crews were not repairing potholes, the road surface would break up further and require more expensive corrective measures.

Shoulder maintenance

• Route 4002 (Sharpsburg Road) starting at Route 4004 (Front Mountain Road) and continuing westbound approximately 630 feet to the Huntingdon-Mifflin County line in Menno Township Wednesday. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours.;

• Route 4004 (Front Mountain Road) between Route 4002 (Sharpsburg Road) in Menno Township and Route 4007 (Willis Road) in Union Township though Wednesday;

• All of Route 4009 (Waynesburg Road) in Menno Township through Wednesday;

• Route 655 between the Huntingdon-Mifflin County line in Menno Township and Route 1005 (Main Street/Tea Creek Road) in Brown Township Thursday and Friday. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours.

Shoulder cutting removes excess material and debris from unpaved shoulder areas. Shoulder grading involves the shaping and stabilizing of those same areas. Both operations improve drainage, allow water to leave the roadway, and eliminate shoulder drop-offs. These are crucial highway maintenance operations because when drainage systems do not function properly, water collects on the road, weakens pavement, accelerates the formation of potholes, and creates the potential for icing conditions in the winter months.