Street Improvements, Boyd Park, Election!
Street Improvements on State Street and Reed Street
If you did not already know, Prologis, the company that acts as the landlord for the Amazon plant outside of Cheverly, paid for a civil engineer to design a traffic calming plan for State Street and Reed Street, with input from the residents. Prologis is paying for this as a show of good faith in being a good neighbor to Cheverly. Discussion with the civil engineering firm took place last year — the plan involves two speed tables on State Street (at the corners of 61st Avenue and 62nd Avenue), and the reshaping of the corner of Reed Street and Jutewood Avenue, to force motorists to slow down around that downhill curve (which also leads into State Street).
Over the summer and into fall of 2021, the plan, which residents had bought into through discussions at Ward 4 Civic Association meetings, had gotten held up at the county level approval process (the “mandatory referral” process by the Maryland—National Capital Park and Planning Commission, or MNCPPC). After inquiries and nudging from various Cheverly town officials (including myself, the mayor, and the town attorney), the county did approve the work, but by then the weather was too cold / inconsistent do perform the asphalt work, which had to be put off until this spring.
Representatives from Prologis and the contracting group to perform the work were present at the most recent Ward 4 Civic Association meeting on April 18, and discussed the coming plans. The speed tables will be installed, and have an attractive surface, but they will take 72 hours to cure after the speed tables are built, in order to comply with their warranty. At that meeting I voiced a concern about residents potentially being stuck in their blocks, since many of the side streets are dead-ends. However, the plan is to install the speed tables one at a time. Flag person(s) will be present to ensure traffic gets rerouted. Additionally, since State Street is the main thoroughfare in the Old Fourth Ward, and is often used by commuters to find a shortcut to Sheriff Road, an electronic sign will be placed at the entrance to the Old Fourth Ward by Columbia Park Road and 64th Avenue, because both State Street and 64th Avenue are narrow enough to cause major backups if a lot of commuters get surprised by construction work and have to turn around.
The work, while initially scheduled to begin in the beginning of May, has been pushed back to allow time for Prologis to communicate with the affected residents directly. The total time on the road work itself is expected to take 4 to 6 weeks. Further details on the plan will be forthcoming, and I have asked Ms. Bertha Ballew of Prologis to make the literature available to both me and to the town staff, so that it may be posted on the town website and the Cheverly cable channel.
Boyd Park — Water Main, Bathroom Repairs
You may have noticed that there are portable latrines in Boyd Park, and that the bathrooms are unavailable. There is a broken water main that affects both the bathrooms and the faucet for the watering the community garden, so the main valve has been shut off. Mr. Dylan Galloway, our town administrator, has asked for bids on repairing the toilets and water main. The first bid he received was so high that it would have been either cheaper or the same cost to completely rebuilt the building with the bathrooms. Other bids were slow coming in. He has been nudging the remaining interested bidders to supply their bids expeditiously, so that we can move forward on getting the repairs made. I have also forwarded to Mr. Galloway other requests for improvements on Boyd Park, such as a card / gaming table for the shaded area on the opposite side of parking lot. He indicated that the gaming table, and a soft surface on which to place it, seemed like an easy lift; other requests (such as resurfacing of the basketball court and obtaining an adjustable basketball net fixture) will require some comparison shopping.
Election, May 2, 7 AM to 8 PM, Town Hall
Voting takes place at 6401 Forest Road, Cheverly MD
Even if you are not currently registered, or even a citizen, you may still be eligible to vote in the town election by registering at the polls — details on requirements may be found on the town website.
VOTE MAY 2
