Maryland Celebrates PARKing Day

Thousands of people and organizations nationwide created actual (albeit temporary) parks in parking spaces that normally hold vehicles on Friday. SHA participated in PARK(ing) Day, an annual worldwide event where artists, citizens and groups transform metered parking spaces into temporary public parks for one day. SHA created its temporary park at the corner of Calvert and Monument streets, adjacent to SHA’s Headquarters Building in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood.
SHA’s PARK(ing) Day featured a miniature water treatment project similar to those used along highways throughout Maryland. SHA volunteers also created a working model to demonstrate how stormwater runoff can be filtered with trees, pervious concrete and bio-swales that collect and cleanse water as it drains through different layers before being discharged into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The Administration uses these practices to both beautify our State’s roads and to filter pollution before it reaches our waterways to keep it clean.

SHA is very pleased to participate in this national event to highlight our commitment to the natural environment. This is an excellent way for us to connect with our neighbors and share innovations in improving water quality and protecting the Bay.

PARK(ing) Day began in 2005 in San Francisco and occurs annually the third Friday in September. Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has become a global movement, with organizations and individuals using creativity to turn a single parking space into something green for one day.