Tim Smith: MDOT SHA never stops working on Md. highways. Here’s an update on some in Prince George’s. | COMMENTARY

Maryland is opening for business once again as the recovery from the COVID-19 emergency continues. For months, many people have been in their homes as the medical community worked to get a handle on the pandemic.

Throughout the coronavirus emergency, the dedicated men and women at the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) never stopped working. Twenty-four hours a day and even in severe weather conditions, our personnel is always working to improve, maintain and patrol our roadways.

The period during the pandemic has been no different. Internally, we made sure our facilities and equipment received proper deep cleaning and set up our staff to telework to address citizen phone call and emails, project planning and other functions.

Our crews in the field have taken advantage of lower traffic volumes to complete projects while practicing safe distancing and other health precautions on job sites. We provided protective equipment, obtained sanitizer from local distilleries and did everything we could to keep our personnel and contractors safe.

We are proud of the work these essential employees have done to keep the supply chain open so that residents could receive the goods they need and essential workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis could get where they were needed.

Throughout the state, crews in every roads district took advantage of additional time on the roadway to pull ahead of schedule.

In Prince George’s County, crews working on I-95/I-495 (Capital Beltway) over Suitland Road project utilized lower traffic volumes to close extra lanes on I-495 during the day. Such work had initially been limited to nights, but the daytime closures helped us gain precious time and make significant progress.

MDOT SHA also begin construction on the three-year, $29 million project to improve safety and operations for motorists, bicyclist and pedestrians along a 1.4-mile stretch of US 1 (Baltimore Avenue) from College Avenue/Regents Drive to MD 193 (University Boulevard) at the University of Maryland College Park. Crews prepared for construction by completing utility work during the COVID-19 emergency, setting the stage for construction to begin in earnest on a project that will create job and economic development opportunities.

To keep the public informed, MDOT SHA created a video overview for the US 1 project, and for the MD 212A reconstruction project in Beltsville. These types of updates allow us to engage the community without holding large public meetings that would have been impossible under COVID-19 restrictions.

Another nearby project is in the Fort Meade area, where crews are nearing completion of MD 175 between Disney and Reece roads, widening a roughly one-mile section of the roadway from two to six lanes. Crews expect to begin final paving by the end of the summer.

These are just a few examples of how our crews and construction partners have showed incredible flexibility while still maintaining a safety focus on the greater good.

As our state reopens and more people take to the roads, we ask motorists to remain alert and slow down for roadside operations. In July, we experienced the tragedy of a contractor being fatally struck in a work zone. This serves as a reminder to us all to make safe driving our highest priority.

The bottom line is that during the COVID-19 pandemic, our focus has not shifted from Maryland citizens, our customers and our employees. We are responsible for Maryland’s roadways and keeping them open and accessible for everyone. That will never change, even during a global health crisis.

Tim Smith is administrator of the MDOT State Highway Administration.