Town wants look at traffic patterns

Growth continues in Leonardtown and so will traffic, as plans move forward for new neighborhoods, a new library and new schools. Town officials asked the St. Mary's County commissioners last week to take a comprehensive look at the traffic impacts on Hollywood Road from the Hayden Farm to the intersection at Route 5, and north up that road to the Clark Farm.

"As you are aware we have concerns regarding the impacts of development of the Hayden Farm including traffic, moving government services farther from the downtown business district," an Oct. 12 letter said.

The St. Mary's commissioners purchased the 172-acre Hayden Farm earlier this year and later voted to build a new library on it across Hollywood Road from the library's current location.

The library board recently learned it was awarded $765,000 from the state for fiscal 2011 to help pay for the new facility. The total project is estimated to cost $15.9 million.

"In an ideal world, we'd be able to find a spot downtown for the library — that would be the best for the town," said Mayor J. Harry Norris III on Wednesday. "The farther we move out of town, the more it does hurt the downtown."

"The problem with trying to put it downtown is there isn't a place to put it," said Commissioner Thomas A. Mattingly Sr. (D), who represents the Leonardtown/Hollywood area of St. Mary's.

"I support a new library," Norris said. "I certainly don't want to block the library at this point."

Mattingly said the Leonardtown library will still draw people to the town if placed at the Hayden Farm location.

"It's a very popular library. It has great circulation. With that it brings more people to the town," he said.

Commissioner Daniel H. Raley (D) said Wednesday, "This is not a Leonardtown library. This is a central county library," and it needs parking spaces for its visitors.

"When I got in office the issue of the Lexington Park library had been languishing for years. They couldn't figure out where to put it," he said. "It's built and thousands and thousands use the facility each year."

He said of the Leonardtown library, "Let's get the thing built. If we can't learn lessons from past problems than what have we done?"

He added, "It's just a shame it's come up now in an election year."

Commissioner Larry Jarboe (R) voted against the new library stating the existing building could be renovated.

"We have a lot of issues," Norris said of the town's concerns. "It's not just the library." St. Mary's Hospital is expanding. College of Southern Maryland's Leonardtown campus is nearing completion of its wellness center and pool.

In addition to the library, two new schools are planned for the Hayden Farm. Planning for the detention center's expansion continues.

"We have some major projects going on Hollywood Road itself," Norris said. "I just want to make sure to get ahead of this from a traffic perspective."

"We're proposing with Leonardtown to do a transportation plan on Route 245," said Commission President Francis Jack Russell (D). "I think it's just reaffirming that," he said of Leonardtown's letter.

"Every project that we approved typically there's a traffic study done," Mattingly said. "That's normally part of the process we go through. I would expect to do that anyway."

While the town and the county work to update the comprehensive growth plan, "I've said since we started the comprehensive plan that we need to be coordinating our comprehensive plan and their process. I've been saying that all along," he said.

The countywide transportation plan needs to be in synchronization with the town's, "otherwise it's worthless," he said.