State Highway Administration Gets Ready for Winter

Tuesday's wet weather was the first test of the State Highway Administration and its preparations for winter. 

Crews deployed all over the state in the early morning hours in anticipation of possible snow accumulation. And crews remain on alert in anticipation of crowded roads due to the Thanksgiving holiday. 

"We spend the days approaching any storm event by preparing," said State Highway Admininstrator Melinda Peters. "By mid-afternoon [Monday] we had our operations plans in place and understood."

The SHA will also be on the alert for heavy traffic associated with the Thanksgiving holiday, and there will be a full staff at the state operations center (SOC) in Hanover. 

"It's the holiday travel season and this is a peak travel day," said Joseph Sagal, a deputy director of operations for SHA. "So we'll have entire personnel in."

SHA officials briefed the media Tuesday on its overall winter preparedness. The agency said it has a budget of $46 million for snow and ice removal and has 380,000 tons of salt available at 94 facilities. 

The $46 million is nearly $20 million lower than the agency's expenditure during 2012-2013, but about $9 million more than what was spent in 2011-2012. 

Last year was a relatively mild winter in most of Maryland, but SHA did combat major snow in the western portion of the state due to the storm known as Sandy. 

SHA said there has been an average of eight snowstorms per winter since 2000 in the Baltimore-Washington area. 

At peak, SHA could deploy up to 2,400 pieces of equipment to combat winter weather, and has up to 2,700 workers available. 

The SHA said it boosted the number of traffic cameras it has at its disposal. There are 15 new state-owned cameras and 58 local feeds, bringing the full total to about 700. The majority are concentrated on the Baltimore-Washington area and can be viewed on the SHA's website. 

SHA issued a reminder about the agency's CHART website (chart.md.state.us) which offers updates on any road or lane closures and other traffic conditions. 

It also operates the md511.org website that allows anyone to log in and receive customized traffic alerts via text or email. 

SHA also offered the following tips for winter travel: 

• Don't drive if you don't have to
• Pack a winter survival kit including a shovel, blanket, water, jumper cables, flares and a flash light. 
• Remember that bridges, ramps and overpasses freeze first
• Don't use handheld cell phones
• Stay at least 7-8 car lengths away from plows