21st Century connectivity
The Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland boasts a well-developed infrastructure to facilitate connectivity and economic growth. The Salisbury Regional Airport serves as a key air travel hub. For maritime commerce, ports like Salisbury's support trade and transportation. A network of highways, including U.S. Route 13 and U.S. Route 50, ensures efficient road travel. Robust telecommunications infrastructure provides reliable communication. Railroads contribute to freight movement and connectivity. Public transit options enhance local mobility, complementing this comprehensive infrastructure framework.
Subtitle: fun detail
The Salisbury‐Ocean City Wicomico Regional Airport, headquartered in unincorporated Wicomico County in Salisbury, is home to Maryland’s second largest passenger-served airport and is the only regular scheduled passenger service on the Delmarva Peninsula. It features a 150-acre fully developed technology park, with build-ready sites and access to runways/taxiways.
Centrally located near the crossroads of two major highways, US 50 and US 13, the airport supports American Airlines scheduled service, FedEx cargo service, Maryland State Police helicopter operations, and a wide range of general-aviation activities, including corporate-jet operations, primary flight training, on-demand charter service, and light-plane business and recreational flying. Directly and indirectly, the airport supports 1,300 jobs and generates annual revenue of $84 million.
Airports for private planes include the Crisfield Municipal Airport in Crisfield and the Ocean City Municipal Airport in Ocean City.
Located on the Wicomico River, the Port of Salisbury is the second largest port in Maryland. Among the companies doing business in the port are Chesapeake Shipbuilding Corporation, Perdue Agribusiness, Vulcan Materials and Center Point Terminals. The port area plays an important role in supplying fuel, aggregate, and agricultural products to the Delmarva Peninsula. The Wicomico River’s navigable channel is congressionally authorized to be maintained up to a depth of 14 feet, with a width up to 150 feet. Currently, the terminals on the Wicomico River are privately owned and operated, and the cargo they handle is dedicated to their respective firms.
Source https://salisbury.md/port-of-salisbury-study
The Delmarva Central Railroad (DCR) Company operates 188 miles of rail line in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, including along the US 13 transportation corridor through the LESMD Region of Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties. The lines run raw materials, grain, and freight to and from the region. Interchanges with Norfolk Southern, as well as the Maryland & Delaware Railroad extend the local economy's reach beyond the Delmarva Peninsula.
Major transportation assets within the LESMD Region include road, rail, air and water. Augmenting this range of assets is the physical intersection in Salisbury of US 50 (East-West) and US 13 (North-South), which helps serve as a catalyst to cohesive regional economic development.
Shore Transit, a division of the Tri-County Council for the Lower Eastern Shore of Mryland, is the public transit agency for the Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore Counties of Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester.
Shore Transit offers public transportation via fixed route and origin-to-destination services and provides a low-cost transportation alternative to residents on the Lower Eastern Shore. Fixed routeservice is provided within the small urban MPO area in Wicomico County – serving Salisbury, Delmar and Fruitland. Regional Fixed Routes serve the rural areas of Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties. In total, there are seven Fixed Routes providing public transit service throughout the three counties, servicing over 100 bus stops. Primary Fixed Route paths travel along major highway corridors in Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties: U.S. Route 13, U.S. Route 50, and U.S. Route 113. Shore Transit also has eleven transfer points to connect to other buses - either more of its services or to other transit agencies.
Quality internet access is a key component of the region’s ability to create, attract, and retain job‐creating businesses and institutions. Access improves the productivity and competitiveness of local businesses, provides additional teleworking opportunities for residents, and allows for better access to local government agencies and educational resources. While broadband access has grown over the past decade, ongoing efforts to continue expansion and provide last-mile infrastructure are needed to reach currently unserved and underserved populations.
Increasing the availability of broadband Internet is critical in attracting entrepreneurs and startups to the area. Additionally, large-scale farming reliant on sophisticated equipment may also be hindered by the availability of broadband internet resources.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the region include Bay Country Communications, Bloosurf, Choptank Fiber, Delmarva WiFi, Eastern Shore Communications, Simple Fiber, Verizon, Xfinity (Comcast), and others. With the emergence of new state, federal, and local government partnerships, improved internet connectivity has become a top priority for the Lower Eastern Shore. As a result, notable efforts have been made by ISPs and entities like Maryland Broadband Cooperative to expand middle-mile networks and extend last-mile infrastructure making connectivity to retail customers a reality.
Natural Gas service for the region is provided through local distribution centers regulated by the MD Public Service Commission (MD PSC) and include Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, Penn Fuel Gas, Inc., Elkton Gas Company, Easton Utilities Commission and Eastern Shore Gas Company.
The Maryland portion of the Del-Mar Energy Pathway Project extending natural gas infrastructure to Somerset County was completed in late 2021. Anchor customers include the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Eastern Correctional Institution. Prior to the infrastructure extension, Somerset County was one of only 3 counties in the state of Maryland without access to natural gas.
https://opc.maryland.gov/Consumer-Learning/Natural-Gas
Electric service is provided to customers throughout the Lower Eastern Shore by Choptank Electric Cooperative and Delmarva Power
Delmarva Power’s service territory comprises the majority of northern Delaware and eastern Maryland. The electricity provided to Delmarva Power’s customers is supplied by the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection (PJM).
Choptank Electric Cooperative, a member-owned electric distribution Co-op, serves approximately 55,000 residential, commercial, and industrial metered accounts in all nine counties on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Choptank Electric Cooperative is a full member of Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC).
Water and sewer infrastructure is an area of critical need in the region. Efforts to upgrade and expand the water/sewer infrastructure must continue to move forward in order to support existing development as well as future commercial and residential growth. Failure to do so will limit business expansion and continue to strain the existing system.
