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Upper Delaware Council Sponsors River Safety Billboards Campaign
Photo: Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River water safety billboard on PA Rt. 652.
NARROWSBURG – The Upper Delaware Council (UDC) joins the National Park Service (NPS) Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River in promoting a safe summer recreational season by sponsoring a public river safety campaign.
A series of billboards were installed by Adams Outdoor Advertising starting May 18 and will be in place through September 7 at common entrance points to the park unit.
They encourage the use of life jackets while swimming, boating, fishing, or floating. Designed by Adams’ Pocono Region office, the graphic illustration shows the backs of four pals standing riverside and reads, “Always have their backs! Tell friends: WEAR IT”.
Two digital billboards are located on Interstate 84 East coming from New York and New Jersey into Pennsylvania and at a new site this year on PA Rt. 6 in Hawley. A new static billboard can be found on PA Rt. 434 near Greeley headed towards Rt. 6 or Rt. 590 to access the Roebling Bridge in Lackawaxen. Three poster boards are installed on Rt. 6 between Milford and Greeley, on Rt. 6 in Pike County, and PA Rt. 652 near Honesdale.
On average, two people drown each year in the Upper Delaware River – but no one wearing a properly fitted personal flotation device has ever been among those dire statistics.
Every person on the river using any aquatic device or vessel is required by law to have a life jacket within reach. Children 12 years of age and younger must wear those life jackets. During high water events (six feet+) and in cold water months (between Nov. 1 and April 30), life jacket wear becomes mandatory for everyone.
The NPS offers life jacket loaner stations for anyone to borrow at numerous sites along the river between Memorial Day and Labor Day, as well as a recorded hotline at (845) 252-7100 to check on river conditions. Alerts are posted for site-specific river precautionary information at https://www.nps.gov/upde/index.htm.
The UDC, whose voting members are 13 local governments, the State of New York, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that border along the river, is administering the $5,000 motivational billboards campaign. For more information on the non-profit organization, please visit www.upperdelawarecouncil.org, Facebook and Instagram.