The City of Aberdeen has signed agreements with owners of one parcel of land along what will be the extended Middleton Road between Route 22 and Beards Hill Road.
Getting control of the private properties for the road has been a key to finishing the long delayed project; however, a deed to one of the properties won’t be turned over until the city does the work it says it will do, Mayor Patrick McGrady said.
To extend the road from Route 22 to Beards Hill Road, the concept of which dates back nearly 40 years, according to City Manager Randy Robertson, the city needs two parcels — one owned by the Klein family, owner of the neighboring Beards Hill Plaza Shopping Center, and one owned by Joe Salvo and his son, Kirk, and Charlie Vickers, of Middleton Road Holdings.
“The Salvos and Vickers are on board with deeding up to 2,900 feet to build the road,” McGrady said after the Aberdeen City Council meeting June 25. “We can’t do anything without a small sliver of the Kleins’ property. They know it, they say they want to do it. The question is how we all get to the same page.”
The first reference to an extended Middleton Lane was found in the city’s 1969 comprehensive plan, Robertson said.
“Forty-eight years later, we have executed a plan to move forward with the design of Middleton Road,” Robertson said.
Design will take 60 to 90 days and, weather-permitting, construction could begin by the end of the year.
“This is a red letter day 49 years in the making for this city,” Robertson said.
Council member Sandra Landbeck recalled joining the planning commission some 30 years ago and thinking that Middleton Road needed to be extended.
“It was a priority at that time,” Landbeck said. “All I can say is thank you for being patient with the City of Aberdeen.”
Joe Salvo, who was at Monday’s meeting, said it was good to be there, made sure to point out “we didn’t own the property 49 years ago.”
McGrady also thanked the Salvos and Vickers and said he looks forward to seeing a road built “sooner rather than later.”
The city budgeted $1 million for the project 18 months ago, the mayor said, and Salvo-Vickers agreed to contribute a defined amount of money to the road extension project and holds the deeds in escrow.
“Once they’re satisfied with its completion, they will give us the deed to the properties,” McGrady said.
Also at Monday’s meeting, the City Council approved a reduction of a city right -of-way on Middleton Road Holdings’ property.
McGrady said a small right-of-way that will be deeded to the city went from 30 feet long to 27.7 feet and will be used for public utilities.
The reduction was part of a revised final site plan for the property where Starbucks will be built, at the northeast corner of the Route 22/Middleton Road intersection.
The Salvos and Vickers plan to develop their property for retail/commercial uses.
