As the town has been doing for several years since removing its list of projected road work from the annual budget document, it has published which roads will be receiving attention over the summer and the rest of the 2022-23 “paving seasons.”

The idea is that the budget process is long, and items like the list of roads to be worked on are usually put into the document as early as December.

By putting only a dollar amount into the budget, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal said, the town can then formulate what roads it can work on in a time frame that allows it to have a better handle on variables such as what the price of asphalt will be when the work is about to be done. He said that a road list formulated six months prior to the road work often changed due to costs.

Rosenthal said that roadwork has been a priority for him since he took office and he’s made it a priority; removing the roadwork list from the budget and shifting the cost of roadwork into the regular budget instead of bonding money for it every year have been among the things he has done to improve how the town goes about it each year.

The town has 275 linear miles of road; while the work is “never done,” the roads are “markedly better” than when he took office, Rosenthal said.

This year, the town will be doing 15.6 miles of paving, which is a “similar amount of paving to previous years, if not a bit more.” Conversely, the town is doing no chip sealing this year. Chip sealing, which is patching pot holes and other crevasses in the roads, is a means to extend the life of the roads, but the town has a good reason to wait this year.

The state is using a new method of chip sealing this year on Route 302, using a new processed rubber chip seal.

“It’s a little more expensive, but it cures in 15 minutes,” said Rosenthal, who noted that older chip sealing requires the town to keep traffic off the patches for much longer periods of time. “This may be something for us to look toward, and we’re getting a free look at it because the state is using it.”

Roads to be overlay paved this year include Algonquin Trail, Ashford, Benjamin Drive, Black Walnut Road, Blakeslee, Boulevard, Bradley Lane, Carol Ann Drive, Cobblestone Lane, Cricket Trail, Diamond Drive, Great Quarter, Hitfield Road, John Beach, Kelley Court, Lyrical Lane, Nunnawauk, Old Gate Lane, Old Road (Mt Pleasant), Old Tavern, Osborn Hill Road, Park Lane, Pleasant Hill, Summit Road, Sunset Hill, Totem Trail, Turkey Roost Road, Twist Hill, West Farm Ridge, White Oak Farm, Wills Road, and Winding Brook.

Drainage projects will be done on Alpine Hill, Diamond Drive, and Johnny Cake Lane.

Mill and pave projects include Riverside Road, Rock Ridge Road, Toddy Hill, and Wendover Road.

The town will do full reclamation and paving work on Fairchild Drive.

The total budget for road work this year is $3 million. Additionally, Aquarion is contributing $372,000 towards the work on Riverside Road, where it is currently installing water lines. Riverside is going to be milled soon, so residents in that area are facing their last chance to hook into the town’s water line.

“I wish we could put every road people want paved in there, but we are getting to stuff over time,” said Rosenthal. “We’re not just sitting.”

Rosenthal said the town’s current price estimates are based on a “conservative estimate” for asphalt, but with oil prices currently dropping, he is holding out the possibility asphalt prices could drop to the point that extra work may be done. Thanks to those conservative estimates, Rosenthal said the town is “pretty comfortable that this list is not just a dream.”

“Odds are good this list is what we’ll be able to deliver on,” said Rosenthal.

Paving work can be done into November, but the town’s goal is to get it all done before then. Rosenthal also said it is possible that paving in one area or another may run into an issue that could push it into the spring.

Residents may review the entire road work plan by visiting newtown-ct.gov/home/news/2022-2023-road-work-plan.

Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.