First Selectman's Corner - August 9, 2019 - Road Maintenance
August 9, 2019
As the summer months cruise by us, it’s time for another town news update. Cedar Lane, our largest road project of the summer, is now nearly complete. With just some driveway aprons and backfill remaining, it should be done soon. Here’s a review of what we’ve completed so far this summer:
When considering our road infrastructure, one needs a bit of background. Let me start with what we as a town maintain. Our DPW team currently maintains a total of 82.6 miles of roads of which 73.4 miles of those roads are paved and the remaining 9.2 miles consists of unpaved (or dirt) roads. Ask any one of our team and they’ll tell you, the unpaved roads are an unusual assortment that require a lot of work (usually consisting of grading a minimum of twice per year).
So far this summer, we’ve completely repaved Johnnycake Lane (0.4 miles) and Cedar Lane (1.2 miles) for a total of 1.6 miles to date. Last up on our list is the eastern section of West Road (0.5 mile) which will increase the total to 2.1 miles that will have been reconstructed (by summers end). If you live in the West Road area – please be aware that construction will commence soon – so please be careful in work zones. As we prepare to resurface; this process usually starts with tree cutting. 2.1 miles of paving is a tall order and requires good, dry weather - and a healthy budget of roughly $500,000.
Of course road reconstruction is only one portion of our program, the second consisting of preventative maintenance. Several of our asphalt roads have received summer maintenance that includes “Chip Seal.” This is a process of oiling the road and applying a new stone covering. The roads that received this treatment include: Dings (1 mile), Harrison (0.7), Hayward (1.2), Hidden Hill (0.2), Kinsey (0.7), Maple Hollow (1.5 miles), Shafer (0.5 mile), Tanglewood (0.6), Turnbull (1.2) and Winchester (0.7 mile). Altogether, roughly eight (8.3) miles of our roads have received this maintenance treatment – that will prolong the life of these roads – at a more affordable price of $200,000. We were fortunate to get this much work done – again, in large part due to the dry weather.
All together 10.4 of our 73.4 miles of paved road (14%) received substantial maintenance and all of our unpaved roads were graded. We’re fortunate to have a talented team of guys in our Public Works Department taking care of our infrastructure. They do a great job!
Of course that’s not all we do… As I’ve mentioned before we have several large, beautiful parks…that require a lot of attention too. We probably mow 50 acres of grass per week as well as manage the beach at Brodie (with some summer time help).
As the summer season draws to a close, I hope you all get a little family time in before that happens. In just a few short weeks – school will be reopening – and the leaves will start to change. Catch one of our last few concerts at Brodie Park, hike one of our many town trails or just spend a quiet afternoon at Stanclift Cove. If you’re feeling adventurous, take a canoe down the Farmington or a Kayak up to West Hill. The water is perfect!
As always, if you have questions about town maintenance, parks or events, please feel free to send me a note at djerram@newhartfordct.gov.
Enjoy!
Dan