Sixty-seven signs have been placed throughout St. Mary’s County to help residents easily identify evacuation routes. These signs are for all hazard events and route all secondary road traffic north out of the County at either Route 5 in Mechanicsville or at Route 234 towards Route 301.
The signs are one additional tool to aid citizens if an evacuation order is issued due to severe storms or other emergency event requiring citizen evacuation.
High visibility Emergency Shelter signs have also been placed at all three County High Schools (Chopticon, Great Mills, and Leonardtown) designating the County’s primary shelters. Leonardtown High School has two signs near Route 5, and will be the first shelter to open in an emergency event.
These signs were purchased with Homeland Security Grant Program Funds and installed by staff at the St. Mary’s County Department of Public Works and Transportation. Overall state planning was done by the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA); Daniels Consultants Inc; Tom Tran Inc.; and the Southern Maryland Regional Emergency Managers. These entities worked with the Department of Public Safety and Public Works and Transportation to develop a statewide Evacuation Traffic Management Plan. The Plan addresses sign placement, traffic routing based on specific events, detailed mapping, personnel requirements for specific events and staging locations. St. Mary’s County is the first county in the state to complete placement of evacuation routes and sheltering signs.
A map of evacuation routes in the county is posted on the Dept. of Public Safety’s website at www.stmarysmd.com/Emergencycomm. Click on “Emergency Preparedness Map.