2010 Annual Report - Maryland State Highway Administration

I
Overview of State Highway Administration
Major Program Responsibilities
An excellent highway system is crucial to a strong economy, maintaining the
quality of life of Maryland’s citizens and keeping people safe as they travel.
SHA is one of the six agencies of the Maryland Department of Transportation
(MDOT). SHA operates, maintains and constructs the state’s highway system
enabling mobility and access for people and goods from and through the State
of Maryland. SHA owns and maintains the numbered, non-toll routes in
Maryland’s 23 counties that represent the backbone of Maryland’s
transportation system. This infrastructure forms the majority of the National
Highway System (NHS) 1 in Maryland that connects local and county roads to
major activity centers and other modes of transportation such as mass transit,
the port, airports and railroads. Core SHA responsibilities include:
managing traffic safety programs designed to reduce fatalities, personal
injuries and crashes on ALL roadways in the State of Maryland;
responding to emergencies, including winter storm and other severe
weather events, and to crashes and other incidents on the state highway
system;
managing Maryland’s federal-aid highway program, including federal
funding that is provided to local jurisdictions.
Maryland Highway Mileage
17%
83%
SHA Local or Toll
SHA’s highest priority is to improve highway safety on all roads in Maryland.
Through implementation of the Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), SHA and
its partners provide overall performance targets to guide progress towards that
goal. The new SHSP effort has begun with five emphasis areas intentionally
focusing on the more critical safety areas - such as impaired driving and
aggressive driving/speeding - through the use of the three E’s of traffic safety –
Engineering, Education and Enforcement.
SHA roads carry 66 percent of the total traffic in the state, 2 or 37 billion vehicle
miles of travel (VMT), with 85 percent of the freight carried on the state’s
highway system. For SHA, this translates to:
owning and maintaining 5,100 centerline miles (17 percent of total miles in
Maryland) or 17,000 lane miles (25 percent of total lane miles);
owning and maintaining 2,600 bridges (50 percent of the total number of
bridges in Maryland);
providing access to other transportation facilities; e.g., transit, freight rail,
Port of Baltimore and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood
Marshall Airport;
working in collaboration with citizens, communities and elected officials to
deliver high-quality projects; this includes the planning, design and
construction of hundreds of projects from minor ones that improve
accessibility to major ones such as the Intercounty Connector (ICC).
Travel on Maryland Highways (based
on VMT)
34%
SHA
Local or Toll
66%
SHA also focuses on environmental compliance and stewardship as a key
performance area (KPA) with initiatives including:
dedicated programs that improve water quality within and along SHA
facilities;
environmental protection of natural resources during project construction;
enhancement of the existing environment in addition to required
environmental mitigation replacement for impacts;
environmental stewardship training and awareness.
1
The National Highway System is a federally
designated category of roads important to the
nation’s economy, defense and mobility.
2
Except specific facilities owned by MDTA and
Interstate roads in Baltimore City.
4
STATE HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION | FY 2010 Annual Report