HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 06-27-2002-10c 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: June 27, 2002
Action Agenda
Item No. IO-G
SUBJECT: Update on Hydeaway Estates/John Robinson Request
DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
County Engineer, ext 2300
County Engineer's Report
TELEPHONE NUMBERS:
Hillsborough 732.8181
Chapel Hill 968-0501
Durham 688-7331
Mebane 336-227-2031
PURPOSE: To provide information requested by the SOCC relative to efforts to have the roads
in Hydeaway Estates added to the state Secondary Roads system.
BACKGROUND: Since December 2001, the BOCC and County staff have been working with
NCDOT and Mr. John Robinson to have the roads of Hydeaway Estates (Glenn and Cherry
Streets, Tanya Drive) included in the state's Secondary Roads system.
The state has now agreed to include the roads in the secondary roads system if: 1) the roads
are brought up to current standards for unpaved roadways, and 2) right-of-way for Tanya Drive
is dedicated to NCDOT. The estimated cost of the improvements is approximately $35,000.
Mr. Robinson has indicated that the community cannot or will not provide the necessary
funding.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: None
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board receive the report as
information.
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MEMORANDUM
TO: County Commissioners
COPIES: John Link, County Manager
Goof Gledhill, County Attorney
FROM: Paul Thames, PE, County Engineer
DATE: June 24,2002
SUBJECT: Mr. John Robinson/NCDOT ruling on accepting Tanya, Cherry and Glenn Streets into
state roadway system
As per the request of the BOCC,I have again been in contract with NCDOT staff(Chuck Edwards,the
new District Engineer) and Mr. John Robinson about the possibility of NCDOT accepting Tanya, Cherry
and Glenn Street(Hydeaway Subdivision off of Mill Creek Road in Cedar Grove Township) into the
state secondary roadway system. Commissioners may recall that having NCDOT assume maintenance
responsibility for these roads was deemed to be the most effective way of addressing conflicts and issues
reported by Mr. Robinson as troubling residents of the Hydeaway subdivision(personal safety [of Mr.
Robinson], speed limits, "home-made"speed bumps, access and denial of access [to the roadways],
etc.).
NCDOT staff has determined that the roads of the subdivision,regardless of the irregularities in the
platting of road rights-of-way, do meet some of the requirements of the General Statutes and NCDOT
policy related to NCDOT's acceptance of roads into the secondary roads system. That is to say that:
1)the failure of the developer to properly execute the assignment of right-of-way to the public before
1975 will not prevent inclusion of Glenn Street,Tanya Drive and Cherry Street into the secondary roads
system; and 2)the roads in Hideaway subdivision do not meet current standards for cleared right-of-
way,travel surface,drainage, etc.,and will have to be improved to meet those standards before NCDOT
will accept maintenance responsibility for them; and 3)Tanya Drive does not have a formal right-of-way
declaration and property owners along Tanya Drive will have to cede the right-of-way to NCDOT before
it can be accepted into the secondary roads system.
All of NCDOT's requirements related to the inclusion of the Hydeaway Subdivision roads into the
secondary roads system are outlined in detail in the attached letter from the District Engineer to Mr.
Robinson. The District Engineer has indicated in a telephone conversation that he estimates the cost of
such improvements to be approximately$75,000 per milg of roadway. Hydeaway Subdivision contains
0.44 miles of roadway, leading to an estimated construction cost of approximately$35,000.
It does not appear that NCDOT will change its determination that the roads of Hydeaway subdivision
meet the criteria for inclusion into the secondary roads system only if the roads are improved as
necessary to meet current standards for unpaved roads. According to NCDOT staff that I have spoken
with,these standards and requirements have been NCDOT policy for many years and are not subject to
modification, at least at the local level. However,the Board will recall that its legislative agenda
includes an initiative to"support legislation providing the North Carolina Department of Transportation
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with flexibility statewide in addressing acceptance and maintenance of post-1975 recorded subdivisions
with unpaved roads to address unintended exclusion from the state-maintained road system." If
successful,this initiative could provide the wherewithal to address Mr. Robinson's concerns at some
point in the future.
If I may provide additional information or clarification on this issue,please advise.