- Maryland State Highway Administration
-
Maryland State Highway Administration 
Agency overview Formed 1908 Jurisdiction Maryland Headquarters 707 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202 Agency executive Neil Pedersen, Administrator Parent agency Maryland Department of Transportation Website http://www.marylandroads.com The Maryland State Highway Administration (abbreviated MDSHA, MSHA, or simply SHA) is the state agency responsible for maintaining Maryland numbered highways[1] outside of Baltimore City.[2] Formed in 1908 as the State Roads Commission (SRC),[3] it is tasked with maintaining non-tolled bridges throughout the state, removing snow from the state's major thoroughfares, administering the state's "adopt-a-highway" program, and both developing and maintaining the state's freeway system.[citation needed] It is a division of the Maryland Department of Transportation and is currently overseen by Neil Pedersen.[4][5]
The headquarters for MSHA is located in Baltimore City. This building houses numerous divisions and offices, such as:
- Office of Planning and Preliminary Engineering
- Office of Highway Development
- Office of Structures
- Office of Environmental Design
- Office of Construction
- Office of Policy and Research
- Office of Real Estate
- Office of CHART and ITS Development (Note that "CHART" is an acronym for Coordinated Highways Action Response Team and provides incident response services throughout the State, though it only provide regular patrols on interstates and a select few major arterials.)[6]
Signal testing at the Office of Traffic and Safety
MSHA also maintains four research labs located throughout the State, as well as the Office of Traffic and Safety (OOTS) located in Hanover -- which houses several additional divisions. Some other services provided at the OOTS complex include:
- Traffic Engineering Design Division, which is responsible for the development of new traffic signals, signal modifications, upgrades, and signal phasing.
- Office of Maintenance, which provides assistance with recurring maintenance tasks that require more intensive study—particularly roadway safety and resurfacing projects.
- The Statewide Operations Center is responsible for requesting incident response teams for incidents on State roadways. Responders may including police, fire, medical, CHART, HazMat, MEMA, environmental, or maintenance teams. This facility is also equipped to operate as a Statewide Transportation Emergency Operations Center.
- The signal shop, which provides personnel and equipment for the maintenance and programming of signals along State roadways in every county[7] except Montgomery County.[citation needed]
- The sign shop, which designs and fabricates signing for use throughout the entire state.
While OOTS and the Districts oversee the installation, modification, operation, maintenance, and removal of traffic signals along State roadways, Montgomery County differs in that it is responsible for the operation and maintenance of all signals within the County—even those along State roadways. However, the Districts and OOTS still controls decisions regarding the installation, modification (including phasing), and removal of signals. A result of this agreement is that it relieves MSHA of some of the additional resource cost of the regular duties with regards to signals.
Districts
MDSHA sign sticker.There are seven districts in the State. These districts at the least, have divisions for traffic, construction, maintenance, and utilities. Each district also oversees several maintenance shops—typically one per county. The following is a table of the districts, counties within their jurisdiction, and their respective headquarters.[8]
District Counties Headquarters 1 Wicomico County
Salisbury 2 Cecil County
Kent County
Queen Anne's County
Talbot County
Caroline CountyChestertown 3 Montgomery County
Greenbelt 4 Baltimore County
Lutherville 5 Anne Arundel County
Calvert County
Charles County
Saint Mary's CountyAnnapolis 6 Washington County
La Vale 7 Frederick County
Frederick References
- ^ Annotated Code of Maryland, Transportation Article, §8-601
- ^ Official website of Baltimore City
- ^ Maryland Highway Centennial
- ^ "Maryland Manual On-Line". Maryland State Archives. http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/24dot/html/24agen.html#highway. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
- ^ "Maryland Manual On-Line". Maryland State Archives. http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/24dot/html/dot.html#highway. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
- ^ http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/24dot/html/24agen.html#chartoffice
- ^ http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/24dot/html/24agen.html#traffic
- ^ "State Highway Administration - District Reference Chart" (PDF). Maryland State Highway Administration. 2006-02-23. pp. 1. http://www.sha.state.md.us/aboutus/orgchart/f830_1.pdf. Retrieved 2007-04-03.[dead link]
External links
Roads and highways in Maryland 
Highway systems Interstates · U.S. Routes
State highways: (2–199) · (200–399) · (400–599) · (600–799) · (800–999)
State highways shorter than one mile: (2–699) · (700–799) · (800–899) · (900–999)
Former state highwaysHighway agencies State Highway Administration (MDSHA) · Maryland Transportation Authority (MdTA)State and insular area departments of transportation in the United States Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Puerto Rico · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · WyomingCategories:- State agencies of Maryland
- Transportation in Maryland
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