"Senator Currie asks me every time he sees me whether we have resolved the Reisterstown Road Shoppers Food Warehouse issue," Pedersen wrote in an e-mail in February 2004 to another state transportation official. "How close are we to resolving it?"
The year before, Currie had sent Pedersen a "traffic impact analysis" prepared by a Shoppers consultant recommending the traffic signal on Reisterstown Road in Owings Mills.
Kenneth A. McDonald, former chief of the Engineering Access Permits Division, asked his staff in an e-mail to review the proposal. The analysis "was delivered to Neil by Senator Ulysses Currie," McDonald wrote. "Given the source ... I must ask for ... an expedited review."
Ultimately, State Highway Administration officials determined that a new traffic signal was not justified, but Pedersen requested his staff to reassess the Reisterstown Road proposal, records show. "Senator Currie has been involved," McDonald wrote in an explanation to SHA staff.
Pedersen then wrote in a letter to Shoppers Vice President R. Kevin Small that "we would be glad to revisit the possibility of signalization in the future." Currie was copied on that letter - as he was on numerous letters between state engineers and planners on deliberations related to the proposed Baltimore County traffic signal. To date, a traffic signal has not been installed.
Pedersen fielded multiple phone calls and had frequent communication with Currie, according to the documents. In 2005, Pedersen was apparently pressured to expedite a traffic light project near a shopping center in Laurel where the grocery chain planned to open a store. Pedersen wrote in an e-mail to his staff that it was "very critical" that the agency move quickly, noting that Currie's committee has oversight over its budget.
Pedersen, through a spokesman, declined to comment yesterday.
"It is very normal for legislators to look at traffic signals," said David Buck, an SHA spokesman. Buck said Pedersen "corresponds on a daily basis with dozens of legislators ... on behalf of themselves and their constituents about the status of traffic signals and improvements to state roads."
State officials said decisions on transportation projects are based on safety and engineering standards.
Regarding another project, Currie wrote Pedersen in August 2003 to "strongly encourage" officials to improve a College Park intersection at U.S. 1 and Cherry Hill Road, near a Shoppers Food store. In his letter, Currie said the "critical intersection" generates "numerous complaints to my office."
More recently, Currie has intervened on Shoppers' behalf for a project in Anne Arundel County. In March 2006, he set up meetings with SHA officials when the grocer wanted road-access improvements to a store in Parole. That request was eventually denied.
In January of that year, State Highway official Steven D. Foster attended a meeting with Currie and prominent Prince George's County developer Kenneth Michael, whose real estate brokerage division has Shoppers as a client. They met to discuss Michael's recommendation that the state fund $3 million in roadway improvements near a major development in Prince George's County where Shoppers would be a key tenant.
Currie continues to carry out his legislative duties. He is expected to preside today over a summer fiscal briefing to the Budget and Taxation Committee.
laura.smitherman@baltsun.com
gadi.dechter@baltsun.com
