Mercury Way in Skyland becomes special road district

By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY

Staff Writer

 

The unplowed streets in Skyland were quite a problem last winter when the snow kept getting deeper and deeper. Even the county plows could not clear the streets – the snow was five feet deep and kept getting deeper as the snow kept falling day after day. There was no way out for the residents who were snowed in for three weeks; some of that time was spent without electricity.

There was a giant berm at the top end of Mercury Way and no way to get out, except by walking and crawling over the 12-foot-high berm.

Mercury Way has always been an unmaintained county street since the 1910s when Skyland developer Charles S. Mann put in the roads. In March of 2021, Mercury Way resident Dawn Selleck began exploring the idea of creating a special road district to get the snow plowed. If created, it would add a special district street tax to every property owner on Mercury Way for plowing and/or maintenance.

By forming a special district, the road would be maintained and plowed by the county. The county already plows and maintains Skyland Drive, a horseshoe-shaped street which is at both ends of Mercury. But the property owners had to agree to have additional taxes added to their property tax bills. Before snowplowing could take place, the road would have to be upgraded to county road standards.

In order to create a special district, there are numerous steps, and it takes time. Selleck took it upon herself to notify all the property owners of the idea and she held a public meeting with the homeowners on May 21, 2021, when Special Districts informed them of the requirements the county needed to form a special district.

If they agreed to the special road district idea, then a ballot would be mailed and residents would vote for or against creating the district. In order to have an election, there was a $2,400 election fee. That election fee would be lost if the ballot outcome failed to approve the formation of the special district.

Selleck tried to get the other “planet” streets in Skyland to participate, which would have spread the election fee among more residents. However, she could get no additional streets to support the idea.

As a result, Selleck moved ahead for just her street, Mercury Way. Most of the full-time residents were already paying about $250 a year for a private snow plow each winter anyway, so having a county plow for about the same amount added onto their taxes sounded good.

The road condition in 2021 of the one-lane-wide Mercury Way was very poor; the grade is very steep, the thin asphalt was filled with potholes and they had a big rock on the side of the road impinging on the street width. The county said the road was not in good enough shape to plow. They would have to repave it and remove the rock.

The election was held and passed. The tax went on the county bills almost immediately, before any work on the road could begin. They knew that the winter of December 2023-24 would be the first year of snowplowing, as the road needed to be repaired first.

All summer long, the residents thought the work might be done, since the equipment was on the mountain to fix the potholes on Lake Drive. The tax was being paid, but with no sign of road work. They knew the county had said the road wasn’t good enough to plow and they began to be concerned that winter was again approaching.

After approval by the board of supervisors accepting the vote for the special district by the residents, in October 2023, the road crews came and removed the large boulder jutting into the roadway that had forced the road to curve around it. That rock had made traveling down Mercury Way very dangerous, and many cars had scrapes from it on that narrow curve. This was an encouraging sign that something may be happening soon.

At the end of November, crews showed up and began pulverizing the old asphalt of Mercury Way. The crews notified the residents and made way for them when they needed to leave or arrive. The huge pulverizing machine ate up the thin asphalt that still existed on the pothole-filled street in strips of roadway four feet wide at a time. It spent the day making four runs at Mercury Way, closing the roadway and, although very noisy, it was generally quite appreciated by the residents. The pulverized base was steam-rolled for driving.

On Wednesday, Dec. 6, all the heavy equipment with steamrollers and dozens of workers showed up and began to pave the roadway. One resident said the workers kept checking that the asphalt was at least six inches thick on top of the pulverized base. They also made sure the road connected smoothly with the various driveways of the dozens of homes lining the street. So much so, that they ran out of asphalt that first day and needed to return on Thursday to complete the last 50 yards of roadway to connect smoothly with Skyland Drive.

A poll of the residents show they agree the street is now more beautiful than ever and that each of their property values has probably increased, because anyone can now drive up their beautiful new smooth street. Without the huge boulder stopping UPS and other larger vehicles and fire trucks, they anticipate better Amazon deliveries to their homes as well.

“It was a lot of work,” Selleck said, “but now that I see this road I am thrilled! I am almost anxious for snow, knowing I will be able to drive out of my driveway this year when it snows after the plow goes by.”