Road Improvement: Do It Right!

To the Editor:

My wife and I have lived on Walnut Tree Hill Road for 3½ years now. One of our first neighbor encounters was the presentation of a petition against widening the road. Widening the road, the petition argued, would alter the charm of the country road by removing 100-year-old trees and altering the paths of stone walls. We signed the petition, giving into nostalgia over road quality.

Prior to our second winter we were happy to see road construction, despite any trees that may pay the price, in an effort to remedy a natural spring run-off problem that resulted in 2-3-inch thick ice over a 50-yard length of road, and immediately prior to a stop sign.

As we had children we became concerned with how fast people drove on our little road. They seemed to follow the laws of fluids when the road narrowed – increased velocity with a reduction in area. Also, the trees and stone walls that give our little road character prevent snowplows from keeping the road sufficiently wide when we have winters like last year. So, when this past August we saw a town surveyor marking the road for eventual widening, drainage, and repaving, we were not too disappointed with the slight loss in character that our road would lose when compared with the advantages of upgrade. This same surveyor told us that the entire job would be done before this winter.

As the construction has unfolded I noticed that the drainage basins were being installed flush with the current pavement. The ones on the upper end of the road were installed higher than grade so that the new pavement could be brought up to it. I asked one of the crew about this and he said that they are only going to do the drainage work this year and follow up with the repaving in the spring. This is a problem!

The drainage basins normally have curbing that gets brought up the 6-8-inch tall backing, finishing the repaving job. If these backings are left exposed two problems will result.

1) Plows trucks will hit these raised structures with their plow blades, which create a dangerous situation for the plow and driver, and will tear up these newly placed drainage basins.

2) The slightly widened road will lead drivers right into these raised structures resulting in serious damage to their cars, or possibly serious accidents.

The road is already uneven, which means the plows can not scrape the road down to a level surface. Last year there were 3-4-inch snow potholes for the length of the road. Again, I chalk this up to character. However, the patched drainage basin construction is only going to make that situation worse.

If old trees are going to be removed, stone walls disrupted, and residents inconvenienced, then leave us with a road that is at least as navigable as the road we used last winter. Spend the money now and get it done right. It is irresponsible of the town to leave it any other way.

Thanks for listening,

Mario Galasso

95A Walnut Tree Hill Road, Sandy Hook October 15, 2001