Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners weigh speed humps and multi-site sidewalks; staff to return with costs and funding options
Summary
Commissioners discussed neighborhood traffic calming on Wildwood Parkway and plans to complete sidewalks on Buck Hewitt and Willows Road. Staff gave preliminary cost estimates and said they would return with refined numbers and options for timing and funding.
St. Mary's County commissioners discussed traffic-calming and pedestrian projects including speed humps on Wildwood Parkway and new sidewalks on Buck Hewitt and Willows Road during the May 14 budget work session.
Why it matters: the projects affect neighborhood safety, emergency response, and the capital budget; commissioners raised trade-offs between near-term capital spending and long-term debt amid state funding and other mandates.
Commissioners reported a citizens' forum that recommended speed humps for Wildwood Parkway to reduce speeding. County staff offered an estimate of about $85,000 to install 10–12 speed humps (roughly $5,000–$7,000 apiece) and suggested placing any approved funding into project HW0901 (removal of roadside obstacles/traffic mitigation). Staff cautioned that the existing allocation in that project did not specifically earmark money for humps.
On sidewalks, staff presented a packet of cost estimates. Willows Road sidewalks were estimated at about $1.7 million including design, land acquisition allowances, and 15% contingencies; construction-only costs for Willows were estimated at approximately $763,000. For Buck Hewitt, staff supplied separate estimates if work were done on one side to form a continuous loop: the north side estimate was $916,000 (including design, stormwater, contingencies) with about $448,700 for construction alone; the south-side estimate was $922,000 with about $435,000 for construction-only.
Commissioners debated whether to spread construction over two years and whether state aid or park-impact fees could offset costs; staff said Buck Hewitt is a state functionally classified road and may be eligible for a 50 percent state offset, pending review. Commissioners also discussed the operational impacts on emergency services (snowplows and response vehicles) and the technical difference between speed "bumps" and wider traffic-calming "humps." A county staff member explained that speed humps are typically 8 to 10 feet long and are gentler for vehicles and snowplows, while bump-style devices are shorter and more jarring.
Board direction: Commissioners asked staff to return next week with refined cost figures, eligibility for state funding, suggested timing (FY13 vs. FY14), and any procurement implications for accelerating work into FY2013. Several commissioners said they preferred to "sleep on" the proposals and review them with colleagues before deciding.
Ending: Staff will bring back detailed estimates and recommendations in time for the next work session so the board can decide whether to incorporate the measures in the revised CIP.
