Town Road Repaving Projects Face Delays

A combination of factors, including a very wet October, has caused the town to fall behind schedule on its annual autumn road repaving project.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said November 3, “It’s been one of the toughest construction seasons I’ve seen in a very long time.”

In addition to very wet conditions during October, various technical problems have posed road repaving delays, he said. The town hires contracting firms for repaving projects.

Repaving projects facing delays are those on Brookwood Drive, Orchard Hill Road, Sawmill Ridge Road, and Westwood Terrace, he said. The town hopes to complete those projects this fall, he said.

A project to repave Taunton Lake Road is planned to start this fall, but that work will not be completed this fall, Mr Hurley said. Work will resume next year.

Repaving planned for about ten other local roads will be delayed until next year, he said.

Typically before roads are repaved, stormwater drainage improvements are made to those roads, as needed.

The town expects to halt its paving projects this fall sometime before Thanksgiving, Mr Hurley said.

The public is upset by the delays, but the circumstances causing those delays are beyond the town’s control, Mr Hurley said.

Paving companies do not pave roads when it rains, Mr Hurley noted, citing the extremely wet October weather conditions. That excessive wetness has caused problems in obtaining the various materials required for road repaving, he said. 

Also, public utility companies have had problems meeting town requirements concerning the placement of utility poles, Mr Hurley said.

The state’s recent regulatory crackdown on trucking companies, stemming from a serious trucking accident in Avon last summer which left four people dead, has resulted in there being fewer construction trucks available for road repaving projects, Mr Hurley said.

Although all the town road improvement work which had been planned for this fall will not be completed this fall, work will resume next spring when weather conditions improve, he said.