Maryland State Highway Administration

The Maryland State Highway Administration (abbreviated MDOT SHA or simply SHA) is the state transportation business unit responsible for maintaining Maryland's numbered highways[1] outside Baltimore City.[2] Formed originally under authority of the General Assembly of Maryland in 1908 as the State Roads Commission (S.R.C.), under the direction of the executive branch of state government headed by the Governor of Maryland,[3] it is tasked with maintaining non-tolled/free 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/expressway system. Since the reorganization of the several commissions, bureaus, boards, and assorted minor agencies with departments of the executive branch and establishment of the Governor's Cabinet in the early 1970s following the adoption of several individual reorganization recommendations after the rejection by the voters in a November 1968 referendum of the 1968 proposed overall new state constitution prepared by the 1967-1968 Constitutional Convention. It is now a division of the larger establishment of the Maryland Department of Transportation and is currently overseen by an administrator.[4][5]

Maryland State Highway Administration

Agency overview
Formed	1908 (1908) (as State Roads Commission)
Jurisdiction	Maryland
Headquarters	"707 Building", 707 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. 21202
Agency executive	Tim Smith, Acting Administrator
Parent agency	Maryland Department of Transportation
Website	https://www.roads.maryland.gov/

Agency Headquarters in Baltimore

MDOT SHA headquarters is located in the City of Baltimore and houses numerous divisions and offices, including:

• Office of Planning and Preliminary Engineering
• Office of Highway Development
• Office of Structures
• Office of Environmental Design
• Office of Policy and Research
• Office of Real Estate

Signal testing at the Office of Traffic and Safety

MDSHA sign shop

MDOT SHA also maintains a complex in Hanover, which is home to:

• Office of Construction
• Office of Traffic and Safety (OOTS), which includes the Traffic Engineering Design Division, which is responsible for the development of new traffic signals, signal modifications, upgrades, and signal phasing; the Signal Operations Section, which provides personnel and equipment for the maintenance and programming of signals along State roadways in every county[6] except Montgomery County.; and the Sign Operations Section, which designs and fabricates signing for use throughout the entire state.
• 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.
• Office of CHART and ITS Development ("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 select major arterials.)[7]
• The Office of Materials Technology (OMT) which consists of the Executive Services area and eight Divisions: Field Explorations, Engineering Geology, Pavement and Geotechnical, Asphalt Technology, Concrete Technology, Soils and Aggregate Technology, Structural Materials and Pavement Markings and Materials Management. All are crucial in the maintenance of current roadways as well as the development of new ones.