OWINGS MILLS SHOP(Western Baltimore) District 4

GOLDEN RING SHOP(Eastern Baltimore) District 4

SHA CREWS

Dear Governor O’Malley:

So often, citizens only contacttheir government leaders when thereis a complaint or a problem. Thiscorrespondence, however, is a letter ofcommendation for the hard workingmen and women of the Maryland StateHighway Administration.

This afternoon, we ventured out ofour Baltimore neighborhood for thefirst time since the blizzard hit Marylandthis past weekend. At one point, wewere driving on the Baltimore Beltwayfrom the Edmonson Avenue exit toHarford Road. We were both impressedby the condition of the road; clear ofsnow from shoulder to shoulder, withdry pavement in all lanes. During ourjourney, we saw highway crews workingto remove more snow from thehighway right-of-way.

The employees of the Maryland StateHighway Administration should becommended for an excellent jobperformed under arduous conditions.They deserve the thanks of Marylandcitizens as well as the thanks oftheir leaders.

Sincerely,James R. and Amy F.

DAYTON SHOP(Howard County) District 7

Would you please pass my greatestappreciation to the Dayton Shop for theexcellent job that they do on all thestate roads they are assigned, be itwinter or summer. I am a HowardCounty resident and drive Rt 32, 97, and108 daily to work and it is simplyamazing the difference in roads when Ienter Montgomery County. Your DaytonShop just did not get this way. Theyhave been consistent for many years.Somehow, they have been able tomaintain a truly dedicated staff thatmakes me proud of the area that I live inand always tell my friends how fortunatewe are to have them. The last snowstorm

we had on 2/2/2010 when I left WestFriendship Fire Station 3 at 4am andwent on Rt 99 and 32 it was clear as if itnever snowed. Great, great job.I know today’s storm will be handled

in the same manner because that is theway they are.

John C.

WESTMINSTER SHOP(Carroll County) District 7

DAYTON SHOP(Howard County) District 7

FAIRLAND SHOP(Montgomery County) District 3

ALL SHA CREWS

We live in PA and work close toWashington. That means that every daywe travel many miles on Marylandroadways. We cannot even begin to tellyou how impressed we were thismorning with the job the road crewsdid. We set out at 4 am most morningsand had not one bit of trouble gettingto work. Even at that hour we saw roadcrews working hard to keep the roads

A special “thank you” to all of our SHA employees who went aboveand beyond during this past winter season. You did an amazingjob and we are so grateful for all of your hard work!

safe. And since our livelihoods, if notthe safe keeping of our lives dependson the job the Maryland Crew does. Wecan say that it is much appreciated. It isnot an easy job: bad driving conditions,long hours, inconsiderate drivers toname a few things we can think of.One of the roads we travel out of PA

is MD 140 from Westminster. Not onlywere the lanes clear but the shoulder aswell. We were chatting on how was itpossible to get so much done when wesaw at least 10 trucks and plows, in tworolls clearing everything at once. Howsmart is that? I mean in a short orderthe whole of MD 140 was cleared. Andas you know that is one heavily traveledroad on good days.

Please, send our thanks andappreciation on to all those hardworking men and women!!

Renee & Gary H.

HAGERSTOWN SHOP(Washington Cty) District 6

I am a resident of Sharpsburg, andlive along Maryland Route 34. I wouldlike to comment on the recentperformance of the SHA during therecent snowstorms, and no, this is not acomplaint – the SHA did an outstandingjob. I could not believe how MD 34stayed mostly clear throughout both

storms (plus the big snow inDecember) and how quickly I was ableto get out. Since the storm I’ve been allover the “tri-state area” and into DC andI can definitely say that the roads inWashington County are the cleanest inthe area. (I’m also sending my thanksalong to the Washington Co.Commissioners for the great job theRoads Department did.)I just felt like I needed to let

someone know that we really need tothank these folks for the work they did– if you would pass this along to thepeople who take care of the roads atthe SHA regional office I wouldappreciate it. Hopefully these finepeople will get some recognition from

the citizens – they deserve it.PS – someone also needs to thank

the contractors who pitched in too.

Bill W.

TIM DAVISLaVale Shop (Allegany Cty) D6

JIM WAMPLERLaVale Shop (Allegany Cty) D6

LAVALE SHOP(Allegany County) District 6

The City was having anextraordinarily hard time keeping sideroads open, sidewalks cleared, enoughparking available to keep businessmoving, and enough lane open alongMain Street to allow for safe passage ofvehicles. We called Tim Davis, whoscheduled clearing additional pavementon Main Street (US 40 Alt/State Road)using a blower, which made a bigdifference. Upon contacting Jim

Wampler for help with the side streetsand where to put all the snow, theywere informed that we were unable toassist with anything off our R/W. Jim didgive some suggestions for alternatesources, which they found very helpful,and they appreciated his professionaland courteous reply.

Chris H. and Rich H.

ANDREW CRAWFORDDE District 6

GARY SHANKADEM-District 6

DWAYNE BITTNERRME Keyser’s Ridge Shop

LYNN FRAZEEKeyser’s Ridge Shop, D6

DAVE LOWDERMILKKeyser’s Ridge, D6

DORSEY GUARDKeyser’s Ridge, D6

RANDY FLOWERSHagerstown Shop, D6

DON MORGANHagerstown Shop, D6

On behalf of the residents ofFriendsville, our town council membersand myself, I want to thank you, GaryShank, Assistant District Engineer fromyour office along with Dwayne Bittner,Garrett County Resident MaintenanceEngineer for your assistance with therecent clean up of February 27th – 29thfrom the snow storms. Garrett CountyTeam Leader Lynn Frazee and fellowemployees Dave Lowdermilk andDorsey Guard did a tremendous job inrunning equipment to help with snowremoval. We were in desperate needand they were very helpful and efficient.A separate thank you for the

assistance of Randy Flowers and DonMorgan was sent to their supervisor in

Hagerstown. They worked very wellwith our Garrett County Team.Being a very small community with

limited equipment and resources theirassistance was invaluable to us. Again,thank you and your employees forhelping us in our time of need. Pleasefeel free to visit our town; hopefully wewon’t have so much snow next time.

Sincerely,

Mayor of Friendsville

ERIC DUBBERTCHART

I am writing this email to commendone of your employees, Eric Dubbert.On Sunday February 7, 2010 at about12:00pm my wife and I were travelingnorthbound on I-270 exiting off Exit 11when suddenly we were stuck in about2 feet of snow. Within 5 minutes ofattempting to dig ourselves out, EricDubbert pulled up from behind,

blocked off oncoming traffic and pulledus out to safety in no time. Hisprofessionalism and how he handledthe situation was greatly appreciatedand we admire his level of service.Please feel grateful to have such anexceptional employee working with theMaryland State Highway Administration.

Thanks,

William K.

LAPLATA SHOP(Charles County) District 5

I’m extremely pleased with the snowremoval conducted during and afterthis season’s record snow fall. Lateyesterday, two snow plows removedabout 1’ of snow on our court ~ whilesnow was still falling heavily. Their workand attention to detail was critical inreducing the total accumulation andmaking streets passable. The nextmorning, an SHA supervisor appeared

~ I complimented the previous night’swork. Later, the snow crew appearedfor their regular fine-tuning andremoval of more snow.In all of our 30 years living in

Ellenwood, I’ve admired the snowremoval work ~ the work has alwaysbeen prompt and effective. Thank youCharles County Snow Crew!

Charles D.

SHA CREWS

I am a resident of MontgomeryCounty. I write to thank the SHA peoplewho did such a great job clearing theroads after the most recent snowstorms. I imagine you have heard a lotof complaints about snow removal, butas someone who lives in Maryland, andworks in Virginia, I know that SHA did agreat job, much better than the crews inVirginia. Please thank everyone involvedfor me, especially the plow drivers.

Douglas V.

SHA CREWS

I realize you likely get manycomplaints but I felt your departmentdeserves a real compliment. Growingup in Maryland but currently residing inPA, I was one of those unfortunate soulswho was caught up in the February furyof snow-storms as I attempted to takemy family on a vacation to Colorado.Staying in Laytonsville, MD, I was ableto observe first hand, the tireless workand dedication by the DOT to keep theroads clear. Frankly, I had better luckgetting to and from the airports thanthe airports had in getting the runwaysclear enough for a plane take-off.I just wanted to extend my

appreciation and applause for theefforts the DOT made in keeping theroads passable during 2 horrific snowstorms. You all did really GREAT.

Todd N.

GLEN BURNIE SHOP(Anne Arundel County) District 5

Last night I submitted service requestforms to ensure areas of concern wereon the “to-do list.” This morning, whenI went to the store I noticed that theSHA snow team had completed bothrequests – what a wonderful surprise.Please pass on my thanks to all whohave worked so tirelessly over the pastweek to serve our community andmake our roads safe.I also noticed a team from New York

working MD 170 this morning – kudosto the SHA for bringing in out-of-statehelp so quickly.

Craig H.

ANNAPOLIS SHOP(Anne Arundel County) District 5

GLEN BURNIE SHOP(Anne Arundel County) District 5

I would like to lodge a compliment,that’s right I said “Compliment." I wasstuck at work Wednesday during thesecond storm and was dreading theride home at 10:30 PM after it hadsnowed all day. Much to my surprise;Routes 3, 97, 695 and 2 were cleared, insome spots down to the pavement andI didn’t even have to put my truck into4X4. Thanks to all the folks who plowedthose roads.

Michael M.

ANNAPOLIS SHOP(Anne Arundel County) District 5

LAUREL SHOP(Prince George’s County) District 3

FAIRLAND SHOP(Montgomery County) District 3

ALL SHA CREWS

My husband and I want to take thisopportunity to thank you and yourincredible team for all you have done tokeep the main roads as best you canunder the horrific conditions we havebeen faced with during this storm.My husband had to work both

Saturday and Sunday (we live inAnnapolis and his job is in Rockville)

and because of the hard work of theDepartment of Transportation, youhave made his commute much safer,easier and we are very thankful. Much“Kudos” to all.

Sally M.

PRINCE FREDERICK SHOP(Calvert County) District 5

ALL SHA CREWS

Just wanted to pass on my thanks tothe MD & Calvert Co. snow removalcrews for the outstanding job inclearing MD roads after last weekend’sbig storm. I live in Lusby and work inNorthern VA. When I drove to ChantillyVA on Monday I found all the local,state, and beltway roads in MD inexcellent condition….much, muchbetter than corresponding roads in VA.Job well done!

Mike S.

CAMBRIDGE SHOP(Dorchester County) District 1

I live on Maryland Highway 343 inDorchester County. Since last Fridayyour crews have been performingexceptionally out here and I applaudthem (the sub-contractors too). Keepup the great work!

Edward C.

GOLDEN RING(Baltimore County) District 4

OWINGS MILLS SHOP(Baltimore County) District 4

Your guys ROCK!!! I had to go pickup my wife yesterday (Sunday) and Icouldn't believe how unbelievably cleanthe roads were! I used Dulaney ValleyRd to get over to White Marsh mall areaand all roads had practically NO SNOWon them!! Thank you and "Hats Off!" toa job well done. I know the crewswork(ed) hard and long hours, and it isawesomely appreciated!!! How you guysgot almost 3 feet of snow off the roadsin 24 hours, I will never figure out!?!?!!!Keep up the great work!

William P.

DISTRICT 2 CREWS

Just wanted to write and say thankyou for a job well done. I know it took atremendous amount of man hours toget our roads clear during this record-setting storm. Thanks so much to thetireless individuals who worked so hardand for so many hours to keep us safeand able to get about these past fewdays. You certainly deserve ourgratitude! Thanks again.

Faye J.

GAITHERSBURG SHOP(Montgomery County) District 3

I would like to send out aCOMPLIMENT to the road crews thathandled MD 381 and 373 in PrinceGeorge’s County during this storm. Ihave been a resident and a user of theseroads for over 28 years and incomparison to the other roads that Ihave taken, this storm, these were"absolutely" treated EXCELLENTLY.Gone are the days when, especially on

MD 381, we knew our road crews andkept them going during such times asthese with coffee, sandwiches, and hotsoup (which I'm sure they would like tosee come back) – BUT I just wantedthem to know that there are stillcustomers who keep their eye out foryou guys and appreciate the time, care,and attention that you give to us andour safety – trust me it is appreciated!

Brenda M.