July 25, 2011
First and foremost, the extension of Cedarday Drive is a component of a larger plan to enhance connectivity of the county's road network. When putting together the County's Capital Budget with limited resources, our criteria includes what projects have developer funded improvements, provide the most benefits and are ready to be advertised. The two projects that met the criteria were Cedarday Drive Extension and North Avenue Bridge. The design for Cedarday Drive Extension was started late 2008 with the possibility of obtaining federal stimulus money. Consideration to move forward with the design was:
Shown in the preliminary approval plan from 1986;
Right of Way deeded to the County by the developer in 2004;
$1.2 million dollar Bridge built by developer in 2006;
Cedar Lane Park opened in 2008;
Problem with ingress/egress with the closing of Wheel Road for construction of the roundabout in 2010;
Concerns of ingress/egress with closing of Wheel Road for future construction.
In summary, the extension of Cedarday Drive has been years in the planning, and was a requirement to handle the increased traffic in the area caused by the development of Cedarday Estates. I have read the numerous letters, e-mails that have been sent to me by concerned residents from the larger Cedarday Community. I have weighed those concerns with the overall considerations that were made when your community was being planned. In addition, I agree with the community's concerns regarding the need for pro-active traffic calming measures and the potential impact of Cedar Lane Park. To address these specifically, I have instructed the Department of Public Works to work with the community to implement a traffic calming plan prior to the opening of the Cedarday Drive extension. I have also reached out to the operators of Cedar Lane Park to discuss the need to implement a traffic control plan that would limit the use of Cedarday Drive by park visitors. Given the explanations listed above and the considerations by the community, I firmly believe that this project has been and is currently important to the Cedarday Community and the County's overall road network as a whole.
If you have any additional questions, regarding this project, I am including contact information for my office, and the project managers in the Department of Public Works.
Cordially,
David R. Craig
Harford County Executive
The following is a copy of a letter from John McHugh, executive director of the Cedar Lane Sports Foundation, to Harford County Parks & Recreation Director Arden McClune and Public Works Director Bob Cooper, regarding the proposed extension of Cedarday Drive. It was sent to residents of Cedarday communities along with the county executive's letter:
Dear Arden and Bob,
After recently attending the meeting with the Cedar Day Community residents I want to inform you of our intents to resolve future concerns of the extension Cedar Day Drive. As I indicated in the meeting we will assist in any manner possible to help reduce the impact of the new road on the Cedar Day Community as it relates to our activities.
A few items that we discussed at the meeting.
All event organizers will be notified to use Rt. 136 as their entrance and exit for tournaments and events.
All buses bringing teams to the tournament will be directed to use Rt. 136.
A letter will be sent to each Recreation Council requesting that notification be sent out that the preferred entrance for their members using CLRP be Rt. 136.
We will coordinate with DPW to post signage directing people to Rt. 136 when they leave CLRP and that either "No Right Turn" or "Local Traffic Only" to the right will be posted.
We will coordinate with DPW and the Sheriff's office to manage traffic entering and exiting the park entrance and Rt. 136 as needed.
Hopefully these initial steps will help reduce the impact on the Cedar Day Community. We are still in a learning curve regarding the management of parking/traffic flow and are always looking to improve. We will continue to make adjustments as needed and will work the county to put the best plan in place for all concerned.
Best regards,
John McHugh
Executive Director
Cedar Lane Sports Foundation
