12:30 p.m. EST, December 7, 2013
The Maryland State Highway Administration is destroying Mountain Maryland. During the winter of 2012, the agency applied 48,352 tons of salt on 600 lane-miles of highway in Garrett County. That is more than 80 tons per lane-mile of highway.
During the same winter, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan received 305 inches of snowfall — 50 percent more than Garrett County — yet used only 24 tons of salt per lane-mile. Other locations, such as Minnesota and Maine, used only 10 to12 tons per lane mile during the same season.
I fully understand the need to keep our roadways safe during winter weather, but the third “snowiest” place in the U.S. used less than a third the salt Maryland did while receiving far more snow. Something is wrong with that.
Over the past 10 years, the SHA has contaminated hundreds of wells, deforested countless acres of timber and been directly responsible for the untimely demise of many motorists’ vehicles. It is time it was held accountable for the damage it has caused. It’s also time for SHA administrators to be held to the same environmental standards imposed on Maryland businesses and residents.