While there won’t be a resident-operated toll this summer, several of the short-cuts around Surf City traffic will still be closed to beach traffic.

SURF CITY — Summer is upon us once again and that means trips to the beach — but for residents of Cedar Landing 2 and Creek Estates near Surf City, it also means increased traffic on their private street, Cedar Avenue.

Last year residents of the neighborhoods and members of the Cedar Landing 2 and Creek Estates Road Maintenance Organization (CL-CERMO) made news when they decided to erect an impromptu toll booth the help cut down on thru traffic.

Related: Facing heavy traffic and poor street maintenance, these Pender County residents made their own toll

But this year, heading into the holiday weekend, Jeff Connerly of CL-CERMO said plans are not in place to host another toll booth, despite the success from last year.

“The weekend will be interesting, to say the least. While the tolls last year were successful we just are not able to set up and staff them this weekend, there is a higher priority challenge facing us. With the 100 inches plus Florence last year a lot of road repair is badly needed,” Connerly said.

Because the roads are private, the community is responsible for funding all of the repairs on its own — despite the consistent use of the road as a shortcut to Surf City by non-residents.

“Since we have NO assistance from City, County, or State we only have limited funds to work with and therefore cannot just contract all of the work to be done at one time. This is especially true when one considers the ongoing basic day to day maintenance and repair work that is required. The multiple major road repairs will have to be scheduled on an “as funds are available” basis,” he said.

As he said multiple times last year, the purpose of the toll road is not to make money off of tourists, the group actually hopes the state will realize the importance of the route and take over ownership of it — as well as maintenance.

“As a first step, we are closing Cedar Ave near the intersection of Ashley Lane and Cedar Ave. for the repair of the culvert that was damaged and developed a sinkhole after Florence. It is important to note that this action is taken to repair Cedar Ave from damage incurred in 2018 and mitigate the risk to vehicles from other damages to our roads,” he said.

It appears that CL-CERMO has ignited a trend in the area as the adjacent neighborhood, Deer Run has opted to close Doe Ridge Road to the public to cut down on traffic.

That notice is attached below.

“The adjoining subdivision, Deer run, has also decided to take steps to ensure a safer community by closing Doe Ridge Road … The end result will be that there is no through traffic from/to Hwy 210.  access and egress will only be available from the public roads off of Rowland Ave., J.H. Batts road and Little Kinston, Connerly said.

“The work on Cedar Ave will be stopped Tuesday for regular School bus travel as well as other emergency and delivery services,” he concluded.

Michael Praats can be reached at Michael.P@Localvoicemedia.com